James Swain: Deadman’s Bluff James Swain: Deadman’s Bluff
As a novice and amateur when it comes to writing book reviews, I expect I am going to make some mistakes. Case in point: While reading Deadman’s Bluff, James Swain’s continuation of the story begun in Deadman’s indobet 88, I got so caught up in the story that I did not stop periodically and take notes about what I liked or didn’t like about the story.
Quick read? Oh yeah.
So, going back to re-visit the story is not THAT big of a deal.
The basic plot remains the same: the fictional World Poker Showdown is in the process of being won by cheaters, and Tony Valentine is on the case. The Vegas story arc picks up in the latter stages of the tournament with the blind nephew of an Atlantic City mob boss cheating to build a massive lead going into the final days. The method used to cheat begins to become more apparent, and Gerry goes to Atlantic City to trace the leads back to a friend, murdered in the earlier book. While there, Gerry gets involved in busting a blackjack-cheating ring run by the same mob boss. Tony continues to apply pressure to the tournament cheater, and between the two of them the action brings the story to a very satisfying conclusion.
Along the way, Swain continues to entertain and inform us through comic-relief Rufus Steele, an old-time hustler modeled after Amarillo Slim. Rufus continues to build a massive bankroll through a series of scams and hustles and gets paid off every time despite angle-shooting that pushes the ethical edge. These sequences are great training for inventive bar bets.
You will have to read Deadman’s Poker before you read Deadman’s Bluff; the two books cannot be read separately or out of order. But both books represent a great continuation in the Tony Valentine series.
Here we go again…
Been working to figure out what’s happening with my post-pages, and finally gave up. Found a new template, set it all up on a test blog, it looks great in the blog preview… and looks nothing like it should when it’s published.
The sidebar titles should have a green background, with the titles centered in the background. The links should still be orange. Can a couple of you tell me what you’re seeing?
Oh yeah, I designed it for 1024 x 768 – I doubt 800 x 600 looks right, haven’t checked other resolutions.
