Ballantine
September 2007
On Sale: August 28, 2007
Featuring: Tony Valentine
416 pages ISBN: 0345475453 EAN: 9780345475459 Mass Market Paperback (reprint) Add to Wish List
Tony Valentine made his living and his name as a cop in Atlantic Cityβand 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 β92 Honda, Tony is low-profile, old-school, and has seen it allβuntil 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 didnβt just win at one slot machine or table game. He won at blackjack, roulette, and craps, and then beat the pants off the worldβs greatest poker player. Tony knows that goofy, loudmouthed Ricky Smithβor anyone else, for that matterβcouldnβt possibly bethat fortunate. But when βMr. Luckyβ 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 Rickyβs past, his friends, and the strange little town that is benefiting from Rickyβs 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 Tonyβs tail, and the investigation explodes in violenceβputting the lives of Tonyβs son and his young family in danger.
For years, Tonyβs 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.
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