Overview

The true story of the mastermind counterfeiter who forged millions, replicated the impossible 1996 note, dodged the Secret Service, and healed his broken family. When Art Williams Jr.'s father abandoned the family and his bipolar mother lost her mind, a life of crime in Chicago quickly claimed him. Parking meter theft led to robbing drug dealers before Art fatefully met a man nicknamed DaVinci who taught him the skill of counterfeiting money. After just a few years, Art would print millions of counterfeit bills, selling them to criminal organizations, all while trying to raise a family on the side. Art's greatest challenge arose when the Treasury Department released the 1996 note, the most intricate and secure bill ever created. Between painstakingly perfecting a new hundred-dollar bill to bypass the naked eye and security measures alike, Art was slipping by the Secret Service hunting him, and searching for his long-lost father, a path that ultimately led to his undoing. Prison may have been the end, especially as Art Jr. found himself behind bars sharing a cell with his own son, but with the same creativity and ambition that locked him up, Art reinvented himself as a professional artist. Art's unbelievable journey extends beyond a life of crime to one of second chances, healing family wounds, and ultimately, triumph. Fans of Catch Me If You Can and The Art Thief won't want to miss this unforgettable caper story.

Full Product Details

9781635768411

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Reviews

"""[Kersten] ably weaves the minuscule details of currency security with colorful portraits of underworld characters. . . . Illustrating Williams not only as a delinquent genius but a sensitive young man seeking paternal love and aesthetic validation, Kersten configures a rollicking and captivating look into a compelling criminal mind."" --Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""The heart of this wonderful book, which reads like the script for a caper movie, takes us through the whole painstaking process--false starts, dead ends, and cliffhanger setbacks--as Williams improvises his way to becoming an expert counterfeiter. . . . [Kersten's] unsentimental refusal to gloss over the unsavory and depressing details of Williams's life, the private demons that haunt him and his whole dysfunctional family, gives this book its true authenticity of character."" --Washington Post (Best Book of the Year selection) ""A gripping testament to the ills of greed and egotism.""
 --Forbes

 ""An engaging account that mixes the drama of life on the run with the gritty and, at times, poignant reality of characters caught up in a modern underworld of deprivations, drugs, and organized crime.""
 --Financial Times ""Jason Kersten's tale about a Chicago slum-kid-turned-counterfeiter who made millions cracking the Treasury Department's toughest bill ever, the 1996 hundred-dollar note, has all the ingredients of a book you can't put down--intriguing characters, razor-thin escapes, and a writing style that keeps you racing through."" --Bruce Porter, author of the New York Times bestseller Blow: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All ""Jason Kersten delves into the arcane world of a master counterfeiter with a fine eye for detail and a novelist's grasp of character. A story about fathers and sons, filled with crime-fueled 'slamming' trips, drug pirates, and obsessive desire, I couldn't put it down. After reading this true tale of money and crime, I'll never be able to look at a C-note the same way again."" --Julia Flynn Siler, author of the New York Times bestseller The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty"

"""[Kersten] ably weaves the minuscule details of currency security with colorful portraits of underworld characters. . . . Illustrating Williams not only as a delinquent genius but a sensitive young man seeking paternal love and aesthetic validation, Kersten configures a rollicking and captivating look into a compelling criminal mind."" --Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""The heart of this wonderful book, which reads like the script for a caper movie, takes us through the whole painstaking process--false starts, dead ends, and cliffhanger setbacks--as Williams improvises his way to becoming an expert counterfeiter. . . . [Kersten's] unsentimental refusal to gloss over the unsavory and depressing details of Williams's life, the private demons that haunt him and his whole dysfunctional family, gives this book its true authenticity of character."" --Washington Post (Best Book of the Year selection) ""A gripping testament to the ills of greed and egotism."" --Forbes ""An engaging account that mixes the drama of life on the run with the gritty and, at times, poignant reality of characters caught up in a modern underworld of deprivations, drugs, and organized crime."" --Financial Times ""Jason Kersten's tale about a Chicago slum-kid-turned-counterfeiter who made millions cracking the Treasury Department's toughest bill ever, the 1996 hundred-dollar note, has all the ingredients of a book you can't put down--intriguing characters, razor-thin escapes, and a writing style that keeps you racing through."" --Bruce Porter, author of the New York Times bestseller Blow: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All ""Jason Kersten delves into the arcane world of a master counterfeiter with a fine eye for detail and a novelist's grasp of character. A story about fathers and sons, filled with crime-fueled 'slamming' trips, drug pirates, and obsessive desire, I couldn't put it down. After reading this true tale of money and crime, I'll never be able to look at a C-note the same way again."" --Julia Flynn Siler, author of the New York Times bestseller The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty"

"""[Kersten] ably weaves the minuscule details of currency security with colorful portraits of underworld characters. . . . Illustrating Williams not only as a delinquent genius but a sensitive young man seeking paternal love and aesthetic validation, Kersten configures a rollicking and captivating look into a compelling criminal mind."" --Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""The heart of this wonderful book, which reads like the script for a caper movie, takes us through the whole painstaking process--false starts, dead ends, and cliffhanger setbacks--as Williams improvises his way to becoming an expert counterfeiter. . . . [Kersten's] unsentimental refusal to gloss over the unsavory and depressing details of Williams's life, the private demons that haunt him and his whole dysfunctional family, gives this book its true authenticity of character."" --Washington Post (Best Book of the Year selection) ""A gripping testament to the ills of greed and egotism.""
 --Forbes

 ""An engaging account that mixes the drama of life on the run with the gritty and, at times, poignant reality of characters caught up in a modern underworld of deprivations, drugs, and organized crime.""
 --Financial Times ""An absorbed reporter grippingly relays the story of a rare trade and the troubled family relations of a talented grifter."" --Kirkus Reviews ""Jason Kersten's tale about a Chicago slum-kid-turned-counterfeiter who made millions cracking the Treasury Department's toughest bill ever, the 1996 hundred-dollar note, has all the ingredients of a book you can't put down--intriguing characters, razor-thin escapes, and a writing style that keeps you racing through."" --Bruce Porter, author of the New York Times bestseller Blow: How a Small-Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All ""Jason Kersten delves into the arcane world of a master counterfeiter with a fine eye for detail and a novelist's grasp of character. A story about fathers and sons, filled with crime-fueled 'slamming' trips, drug pirates, and obsessive desire, I couldn't put it down. After reading this true tale of money and crime, I'll never be able to look at a C-note the same way again."" --Julia Flynn Siler, author of the New York Times bestseller The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty"

Author Information

Jason Kersten is the author of the bestselling book The Art of Making Money as well as New York Times Notable Book, Journal of the Dead: A Story of Friendship and Murder in the New Mexico Desert. Between books, he often writes for national magazines such as Rolling Stone, Men's Journal, and Reader's Digest. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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