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    Mr. Lucky: A Novel of High Stakes
    Unavailable
    Mr. Lucky: A Novel of High Stakes
    Unavailable
    Mr. Lucky: A Novel of High Stakes
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Mr. Lucky: A Novel of High Stakes

    Written by James Swain

    Narrated by Tony Roberts

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Tony Valentine made his living and his name as a cop in Atlantic City-and is now known worldwide for his ability to spot the kinds of scams, grifts, and rip-offs that cost casinos billions every year. A man with a biting wit who drives a '92 Honda, Tony is low-profile, old-school, and has seen it all-until he meets the luckiest man on earth.

    Ricky Smith was once a small-town loser. Then he went to Las Vegas, jumped out the window of a burning hotel, lived to tell the tale, and tore up the Strip on an incredible winning streak. Ricky didn't just win at one slot machine or table game. He won at blackjack, roulette, and craps, and then beat the pants off the world's greatest poker player. Tony knows that goofy, loudmouthed Ricky Smith-or anyone else, for that matter-couldn't possibly be that fortunate. But when "Mr. Lucky" returns home to the little town of Slippery Rock, North Carolina, he keeps on winning everything from a horse race to a $50,000 lottery.

    Hired by a desperate casino, Tony starts to pry into Ricky's past, his friends, and the strange little town that is benefiting from Ricky's fame and fortune. Unfortunately for Tony, his cover is blown when he is forced to reveal a trick he has up his own sleeve: a pocket Glock he can shoot with laser-like precision. Suddenly, two men are dead, the cops are on Tony's tail, and the investigation explodes in violence-putting the lives of Tony's son and his young family in danger.


    For years, Tony's son Gerry has dueled with his own criminal impulses. Now, the Ricky Smith case has lured Gerry through the gates of temptation and into a murderous confrontation with the Dixie Mafia. With Tony stuck on the slippery slope of Slippery Rock and Gerry fighting for his life, the Valentines are finding out just how bad good luck can get.

    Against a neon-tinted backdrop of adrenaline rushes, hard crashes, big money, and high-wire tension, the inimitable James Swain has set his best Tony Valentine novel yet: a funny, furious ride with an astounding array of crooks, marks, and one killer scam.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMar 1, 2005
    ISBN9780739318058
    Unavailable
    Mr. Lucky: A Novel of High Stakes
    Author

    James Swain

    James Swain is the Amazon Charts bestselling author of more than twenty mystery novels and has worked as a magazine editor, a screenwriter, and a novelist. His books have been translated into a dozen languages and have been selected as Mysteries of the Year by Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews. The author of two previous novels in the Lancaster & Daniels series, The King Tides and No Good Deed, Swain has been nominated for five Barry Awards, has received a Florida Book Award for fiction, and was awarded France’s prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Writing. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys performing close-up magic. Visit him at http://jamesswain.com.

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    Reviews for Mr. Lucky

    4/5

    32 ratings2 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Swain knows how to tell a story and that knowledge is evident in each and every book in his Tony Valentine series. Valentine, a retired
      Atlantic City detective, now makes his living as a casino consultant,
      catching cheaters. Each book is a thrill ride of scams, con men, and
      cheaters.

      The fifth book in the series, Mr. Lucky, takes place primarily outside
      Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Except for the opening scenes which
      combine scenes from the Towering Inferno with every high stakes
      gambling movie, much of the story takes place in small Southern
      towns. Makes for a good change of pace. The storylines develop slowly with Valentine out to catch Mr. Lucky, a man who comes out of
      nowheresville with the Midas touch and can't seem to lose no matter
      what he does. Valentine's son Gerry also plays a fairly big role in this
      book, running his own investigation.

      This is a thoroughly fun read, well plotted, and easy to read.
    • 5/5
      Tony Valentine is back at it again chasing down gambling cheats. Ricky Smith is the big winner. He can't lose. And no one can figure out how. So they call Tony. This series is just delightful. The characters are all wonderful. And this time, I 'read' the CD version and the reader, Paul Boehmet, is just perfection.