Authors: James Swain
Mr. Lucky (30 page)
Praise for James Swain’s Tony Valentine novels
“Mixing humor, suspense, poignancy and insider lore, Swain is one terrific writer.”
—Wall Street Journal
“Swain’s mysteries…are a sure bet.”
—Chicago Tribune
“In Tony Valentine, Swain has created a classic detective who will have a long career as a serious hero.”
—The Flint Journal
“James Swain is the real thing, a writer of pure, athletic prose, capable of bringing alive characters as original and three-dimensional as our best novelists.”
—J
AMES
W. H
ALL
“This smooth, funny series has got to be one of the finds of the decade.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“An expert on casino swindles, the author packs his books with mind-boggling cons and scams…along with entertaining dialogue and vivid characters.”
—Publishers Weekly
MR. LUCKY
“Swain has hit on a winning combination…. [Valentine] is the kind of man you wouldn’t mind having on your side in a high-stakes poker game, let alone the game of life.”
—Washington Post Book World
“The momentum is great, the writing nimble, the action intricate. If you like Swain’s formula, as I do, you’ll get a lot of what you expect and love it.”
—Los Angeles Times
“
Mr. Lucky
hits the jackpot. Impossible to put down.”
—M
ICHAEL
C
ONNELLY
LOADED DICE
“Leaves us wanting more of this pulsing buoyant book.”
—Los Angeles Times
“A poker novel with the punch of a royal flush…
Loaded Dice
ought to be required reading.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Pure entertainment, building to a slam-bang ending.”
—San Jose Mercury News
“Great fun with just the right amount of edge—sort of like a night out at the blackjack table.”
—Booklist
SUCKER BET
“Ingenious entertainment.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Great fun…Swain, an expert on card trickery and casino cheating, is an entertaining writer whose breezy style and flair for wise-guy dialogue make the story zoom by.”
—Boston Globe
“A vivid insider’s look at casinos [that] hits the jackpot…
Sucker Bet
is a sure thing.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Swain has come up with a doozy…. The gambling details are a treat [and] the banter is worthy of a place at Elmore Leonard’s table.”
—Booklist
FUNNY MONEY
“Fascinating…dazzling…entertaining…I can’t think of a novel I’ve enjoyed more this year.”
—Los Angeles Times
“There’s a certain intelligence to a book that teaches you something—even something as esoteric as how to spot a casino cheat—and Swain juggles that mix of learning and adventure perfectly.”
—Houston Chronicle
“Smart, snappy…tremendously infectious.”
—St. Petersburg Times
“Great fun—with oddball characters, a twisted plot, and scheming dreamers out for the big score.”
—Lansing State Journal
GRIFT SENSE
“A well-plotted debut mystery that pays off handsomely…
Grift Sense
delivers a vivid and credible look at the gaming industry through eccentric yet believable characters.”
—Chicago Tribune
“One of the best debuts I’ve read in years. It has a great plot, wonderful characters, and a slick, subtle wit.”
—Toronto
Globe and Mail
“The hard-nosed dialogue and the fast-paced, serpentine plot deliver a page-turner of a mystery. Just when readers start to relax, thinking it’s clear sailing to the end, Swain throws yet another curve.”
—Canadian Press
By James Swain
GRIFT SENSE
FUNNY MONEY
SUCKER BET
LOADED DICE
MR. LUCKY
DEADMAN’S POKER
DEADMAN’S BLUFF
Mr. Lucky
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
2007 Ballantine Books Mass Market Edition
Copyright © 2005 by James Swain
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
B
ALLANTINE
and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., in 2005.
eISBN: 978-0-345-50019-9
v3.0
