(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

There are hundreds of casinos in Las Vegas, and Billy Cunningham knows how to rip off every one. His scams are a thing of beauty—so perfectly orchestrated that onlookers believe he and his crew are winning fair and square. In a town where bosses will kill to protect their profits, Billy can’t afford to make mistakes, but even the best-laid plans can go wrong…
Desperate to keep his team out of jail, Billy agrees to help stop a legendary family of thieves from taking down a casino. But he has no intention of breaking the cheater’s code: never rat out your own kind. He’s running his own con on the casino’s psycho owner and his vicious, violent wife. Throw in a murderous drug dealer, a vengeful gaming agent, and the girl Billy’s never forgotten, and this scam artist is playing for sky-high stakes: a cool eight million, and the chance to live long enough to spend it.

I have been a fan of James Swain's Tony Valentine character for a while...and have always enjoyed the characterisation in his novels. This book was quite different and I don't know if I am ambivalent to it purely on its merits or because it ISN'T a Valentine book...

Let me start by saying that this is a very good story - as far as the story-telling goes. I appreciated the action sequences and the dialogue was also pretty well done. I was able to connect with the characters in this way.

However, what was disappointing to me was that Billy was kinda the opposite of what I loved about Tony Valentine - he is a cheat, a hustler and not a particular sympathetic character. I was, at times, actually hoping he would get done in...is that bad?

Also, I wasn't particularly impressed with all the bad guys being minorities, yet Billy's gang were as white as the pure driven snow...just a bit disappointing...


Paul
ARH