With a structure of the novel that made it somewhat hard to follow, a very complex plot revolving around Russian oil oligarchs, United States presidential candidates, and a phantom government agency's men and women, and wordy explanations of so much of the maneuvers of the characters, the novel was too slow moving for this genre. The stretch of the characters motivations and actions was hard to believe!

Thanks to Net Gallery and publisher for supplying an ARC of this work.

High Hand is a very complex tale of intrigue among spies, politicians, and oil men to both make money and create power. For some, getting their own candidate to become President of the United States was paramount. Others were more greedy. In the acknowledgments, the authors state that the book has been significantly changed from the original draft. They needed a villain, and they needed cohesion in the plot. They speak of a desire to be "geographically correct." Didn't they know that the sun rises in the east? Early in the book, they are in Los Angeles, and the sun is breaking over the ocean. The Pacific Ocean. Daybreak comes from the east. Despite their efforts to be correct, the typesetters must have not been paid well as many typos exist, most commonly with words beginning with th. Annoying.
Thanks, NetGalley for the ARC. I waited a long time to read this novel because the poker theme seemed off. Also, any novel with three (!) authors sends off warning signals. They are rarely any good, but High Hand isn't so bad.

I chose this novel because of the topical premise. I wasn't disappointed. It's a well crafted thriller, with enough twists and turns to make it move fairly quickly. I actually enjoyed the explanation of "mcguffin" as a plot device, now I shall look for them when I view movies or read. The only downside for me was that the character 'voices' didnt seem consistent, and at times I had to go back and read again in order to follow the story. If you like your thrillers mixed with money, greed and politics, I would suggest High Hand.

I found the plot of this book to be very believable and historically accurate.