"A sure bet"
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 using Moon's money. The chief of the tribe Running
Bear is watching the security tapes but can't see how this
scam went down so in desperation he calls in a consultant. Tony Valentine, founder and president of Grift Sense, finds
the cheaters who try to rip off the casinos. He has a lot
of experience doing that because he used to work as a
police officer in Atlantic City when gambling was first
legalized there. When he arrives on the reservation he
figures out how the scam was run but a quick job soon gets
very complicated as he becomes involved in tribunal justice
and stopping Rico's scam. Along the way, he wrestles
alligators, gets shot at and is almost killed by an out-of-
control Rico, owing his life to a super intelligent monkey. If this book sounds a bit crazy, that is because it is a
typical James Swain gritty yet humorous wild tale that also
educates the readers in the ways a con artist can rip off a
casino. The protagonist is a sixty-something year old
honorable man who always stays true to his principles and
values even if it makes him seem rigid to all the lesser
mortals. SUCKER BET is a sure bet. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 2, 2003
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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