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"A sure bet"
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 2, 2003
On the Micanopy Indian Reservation in the Florida
Everglades, Nigel Moon, a former drummer for an English
rock band, won eighty-four hands of blackjack in a row.
The dealer, Jack Lightfoot, did it on purpose at the
instructions of his partner Rico Blanco who intends to run
a scam Read more...
"Card Cheaters and Alligators"
Reviewed by Angela McQuay
Posted March 15, 2003
Set in Florida, James Swain's newest Tony Valentine book,
SUCKER BET, focuses on an Indian tribe that is losing money
from its casino. Tribe officials decide to contact Tony
Valentine, an ex-cop and expert on catching cheating
gamblers.
Valentine, a widower who has found himself involved in the
crooked world Read more...
"Bet you'll like this"
Reviewed by Maurice A. Williams
Posted April 8, 2003
James Swain has done it again: another fascinating tale
about Tony Valentine, president of Grift Sense, an
International Gambling Consultant Firm. Swain, considered
one of the best card handlers in the world, uses his
considerable knowledge of gambling to develop the character
of Tony Valentine, an extremely adroit nemesis Read more...
SummaryA hardened ex-cop with great instincts, a sharp eye, and a
short fuse, Tony Valentine still catches crooks, but a very
special breed of them. He nabs hustlers who rob casinos,
and finds the fatal flaw that allowed the place to get
ripped off in the first place. Sometimes that means biting
the hand that feeds him, but Valentine isn't paid to
sugarcoat the cold, hard truth. Along flashy strips and in
seedy dives, if there's a game to be fixed, Valentine knows
how to spot the tricks, the scams, the sleight of hand. And
with his new case, there's definitely more on the table
than meets the eye.
Harry Smooth Stone, head of security at the Micanopy Indian
Reservation Casino in South Florida, desperately needs
Valentine's expertise. A blackjack dealer has rigged a
game, dealt a player eighty-four winning hands in a row,
and disappeared. Valentine's gut tells him a different
story: that the runaway dealer is alligator food and his
employers are keeping secrets.
But the missing dealer is part of an even bigger, far
deadlier scheme. Valentine's trail leads him to Rico
Blanco, a ruthless gangster who once worked for John Gotti,
his shady, elusive partner-in-crime, Victor Marks, and a
bombshell named Candy Hart, a hooker with dreams of love, a
combination tailored made to double-cross. It appears they
have a con going down involving a cocky, filthy rich Brit
and his millions of dollars. Valentine's challenge: to
figure out how all the pieces of the seamy puzzle fit
together . . . before his luck runs out and his life goes
bust.
In prose that sizzles with style and a wicked sense of
humor, with plot twists that could cause whiplash, James
Swain takes readers behind the neon-lit scenes of casinos
and the gambling trade—and reveals a colorful cast of
hustlers and con men, bookies and grifters. Make no mistake
about it: on the crowded shelves of fiction, Sucker Bet is
a sure thing.
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