Deadman's Bluff: A Novel
by James Swain
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Book Summary Information
Author: James SwainEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-05-30
ISBN: 0345475518
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: Fawcett
Book Reviews of Deadman's Bluff: A Novel
Book Review: Pure fun
Summary: 5 Stars
James Swain is obviously fascinated with the endless ways in which gamblers can be - and are - cheated. You don't have to be a gambler to enjoy his stories, which are really little more than descriptions of cheating devices and techniques with a thin plot wrapped around them and a strong character, Tony Valentine.
Valentine is a former Atlantic City cop who specialized in exposing casino cheating scams. Retired after the death of his wife, Valentine drifts into consulting for casinos around the world.
It's Valentine's adventures that form the core of Swain's novels. The backstory includes Mabel Struck, Valentine's elderly neighbor who has become his office assistant and increasingly becomes involved in his cases; his son Gerry, a former bookie now working with dad and an assortment of lesser characters.
There's always a core cheating scheme. This time it's how a sight impaired young man, Skip Demarco is managing to win a televised poker tournament. Skip is the nephew of notorious New Jersey mobster George Scalzo.
Swain's plots are always thin and this one is thinner than most. In fact, it has more holes than a gopher sanctuary. But in a Swain novel, the inconsistencies and holes don't matter. The real fun is in the knowledge of cheating that Swain imparts. Swain has an engaging writing style and a gift for animated dialog that sweeps you above and beyond the holes in the plot.
In this instance, Tony Valentine knows that Demarco is using a cheating technique developed by a friend of Valentine's whom Scalzo murdered. The search for the secret technique carries through the novel as Scalzo tries to have Valentine murdered and as son Gerry rips through another cheating scam in New Jersey casinos. There's also a minor romantic involvement between Tony Valentine and a sports broadcaster who has a small role to play in the comeuppance of the cheaters.
In between the cheating exposes, attempted and successful murders, the antics of an interesting backstory character named Rufus Steele, it's all pure fun. A great way to pass a couple of hours --- and learn a lot about the often ingenious methods people have devised to cheat.
Jerry
Summary of Deadman's Bluff: A Novel
?In this series about gambling, the main character is a big winner.??Janet Maslin, The New York Times
?Bask in Swain?s Las Vegas without having to set foot in the place and risk being skinned alive.?
?The Washington Post Book World
A blind poker player named Skip DeMarco is scamming the world?s largest poker tournament in Las Vegas, and cheating-expert Tony Valentine and his son, Gerry, have been hired to find out how. DeMarco is tied to some dangerously desperate characters who will go to extremes?even cold-blooded murder?to ensure that the obnoxious DeMarco wins big.
While Gerry flies to Atlantic City to suss out DeMarco?s secret, Valentine stays in Vegas and teams up with an aging grifter named Rufus Steele, who has his own score to settle with DeMarco. On opposite sides of a deadly game, father and son work their way through a colorful landscape of conmen and hitmen. Together, they will have to prove there?s more to any game of chance than meets the eye.
Featuring insider tips for catching poker cheats, as well as a glossary of card hustler terms!
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