Mr. Lucky: A Novel of High Stakes

From Publishers Weekly
In the stunning opener, gambler Ricky Smith takes a swan dive from a burning balcony into a pool as the Riverboat Casino in Vegas goes up in flames. Smith gets up, walks across the street to the Mint and proceeds to win a cool million, never losing a hand. The odds say no one's that lucky. Tony Valentine, head of Grift Sense, a gambling consulting company, gets called in to find out exactly how Ricky cheated, so the casino doesn't have to pay. For his fifth outing (Sucker Bet, etc.), Swain presents his 63-year-old retired cop with his most involved mystery yet. Readers gain expected info on chip scams, while the plot goes delightfully over the top like Agatha Christie at her wildest, with gypsies, drug cartels and one piece of misdirection after another (not least that dive from the balcony). Occasional preachiness interrupts the action, as Tony explains how awful killing bad guys makes you feel--but he still keeps shooting them in the head. The narrative nails gambling cold, noting that televised poker has convinced millions they know how to play: "Professionals had a name for these new players. They called them suckers." Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
What is casino consultant Tony Valentine doing in Slippery Rock, North Carolina? Catching cheaters, of course, but this time he's stumped. Sure, Ricky Smith of Slippery Rock--who escaped a Vegas fire by jumping five stories into the pool and then, still dripping, beat the house at every game in the casino--is cheating, but how can you cheat at everything? With Tony trying to figure out the scam behind the small-town charm, his wayward son, Gerry, a former scammer himself, is running an errand for Dad and finds himself in the middle of a Mob fight in Mississippi. If all Swain had going for him was a dynamite premise--inside dope on how casino games work--this series would still be good fun, but he adds all the sinew we look for in the best caper novels: quirky characters on both sides of the law who constantly surprise us with just the right mix of comedy, violence, and humanity. Yes, that's Elmore Leonard territory, but Swain has annexed a nice little subdivision all for himself. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
PRAISE FOR JAMES SWAIN

Mr. Lucky

“Mr. Lucky hits the jackpot. Impossible to put down.”
-Michael Connelly

Loaded Dice

“A sure bet . . . an involving plot that moves faster than a pair of dice and with a bigger payout than a game of blackjack.”
–Sun-Sentinel

“Swain builds tension through a series of beautifully calibrated lessons in fleecing casinos and hints of something bigger. . . . This smooth, funny series has got to be one of the finds of the decade.”
–Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Sucker Bet

“Ingenious entertainment.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Impossible to put down . . . endless fun . . . Sucker Bet is its own best payout.”
–St. Petersburg Times

“An avalanche of breathless action.”
–Los Angeles Times


From the Inside Flap
Tony Valentine made his living and his name as a cop in Atlantic City–and is now known worldwide for his ability to spot the kinds of scams, grifts, and rip-offs that cost casinos billions every year. A man with a biting wit who drives a ’92 Honda, Tony is low-profile, old-school, and has seen it all–until he meets the luckiest man on earth.

Ricky Smith was once a small-town loser. Then he went to Las Vegas, jumped out the window of a burning hotel, lived to tell the tale, and tore up the Strip on an incredible winning streak. Ricky didn’t just win at one slot machine or table game. He won at blackjack, roulette, and craps, and then beat the pants off the world’s greatest poker player. Tony knows that goofy, loudmouthed Ricky Smith–or anyone else, for that matter–couldn’t possibly be that fortunate. But when “Mr. Lucky” returns home to the little town of Slippery Rock, North Carolina, he keeps on winning everything from a horse race to a $50,000 lottery.

Hired by a desperate casino, Tony starts to pry into Ricky’s past, his friends, and the strange little town that is benefiting from Ricky’s fame and fortune. Unfortunately for Tony, his cover is blown when he is forced to reveal a trick he has up his own sleeve: a pocket Glock he can shoot with laser-like precision. Suddenly, two men are dead, the cops are on Tony’s tail, and the investigation explodes in violence–putting the lives of Tony’s son and his young family in danger.


For years, Tony’s son Gerry has dueled with his own criminal impulses. Now, the Ricky Smith case has lured Gerry through the gates of temptation and into a murderous confrontation with the Dixie Mafia. With Tony stuck on the slippery slope of Slippery Rock and Gerry fighting for his life, the Valentines are finding out just how bad good luck can get.

Against a neon-tinted backdrop of adrenaline rushes, hard crashes, big money, and high-wire tension, the inimitable James Swain has set his best Tony Valentine novel yet: a funny, furious ride with an astounding array of crooks, marks, and one killer scam.


About the Author
JAMES SWAIN is the bestselling author of Grift Sense, Funny Money, Sucker Bet, and Loaded Dice, and is considered an authority on crooked gambling and casino scams. He lives in Odessa, Florida, with his wife, Laura, where he is currently at work on his sixth Tony Valentine novel.

Visit the author’s website at www.jimswain.com


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Swain has hit on a winning combination in Mr. Lucky, creating not only considerable thrills but a rogue's gallery of likable characters, including Mabel Struck, Tony's colorful neighbor and assistant; Gerry, who is desperately trying to change his grifting ways; and Ricky Smith himself, who still earns our sympathy after we realize that he's a first-class jerk. And Swain's take on what lurks beneath the surface of an all-American small town gives the plot a few extra twists. But the vibrant heart of Mr. Lucky and the series is Tony Valentine, who can not only suss out casino scams but cares deeply about the people in his life and the lives he must occasionally take. He's the kind of man you wouldn't mind having on your side in a high-stakes poker game, let alone the game of life.Read all 8 "From The Critics" >


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