Only When I Laugh Author:Len Deighton Back cover: — The year is 1968. The place is New York. Three virtuoso con artists are at work. — Silas is the leader, Bob is the young apprentice, and Liz, Silas' mistress, is in between. On Manhattan's Upper East Side, they pull of a "business deal" worth millions, utilizing their amazing talents for impersonation and dialect. — But back in London... more », Silas' plan to bilk an emerging - and mineral-rich - African nation misfires. Then Bob decides that it's time for him to take over the operation - and take over Liz at the same time.
A bank in Lebanon is their next target, and in the execution of the new caper each member of this brilliant trio gets what he or she deserves - each with a twist of lemon.
From Publishers Weekly:
Originally published in England in 1968, this early Deighton novel is set not in his familiar espionage milieu but in the world of international con artists. As caper novels go, it is entertaining, even cute at times, but it is far less than what Deighton fans expect from the author of such bestsellers as The Ipcress File, SS-GB and Berlin Game. Told in alternating chapters by the three members of the con team, Silas, Liz and Bob, the book recounts the trio's exploits, first in New York as they bilk a pair of businessmen and later in their London home base where they launch an ill-fated scheme to sell phony arms to a small African nation. The repartee among the three is as much a part of plot as are the details of the "stings." Bob's ambition to become the ringleader, as well as to separate Liz from Silas, leads to a final operation in Beirut.« less