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James Swain is a sleight-of-hand and gambling expert, who used to run his own advertising agency. He is considered one of the best card handlers in the world. He lives in Odessa, Florida.
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Third in the Jack Carpenter series:
The Night Monster |
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Jack Carpenter witnesses his daughter's college basketball teammate being violently abducted. Jack is determined to rescue the abducted girl before it's too late.
Signed first printing. |
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| Hard cover / $26.00 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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Second in the Jack Carpenter series:
The Night Stalker |
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Abb Grimes, famous for killing 18 women, is days away from execution. He reaches out to ex-cop Jack Carpenter who was intimately involved in the Grimes case when he was head of the Broward County Missing Persons Unit.
Grimes's grandson has been lured from his home. The cops are convinced that the boy's father, Jed, is behind the kidnapping, particularly when there is another gruesome murder.
Jack races against time to solve the case.
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| Paperback / $7.99 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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First in the Jack Carpenter series:
Midnight Rambler |
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Jack Carpenter, infamous S. Florida cop, who busted the notorious serial killer Simon Skell, sacrificed his badge and marriage in the process. Carpenter must race against the clock to reaffirm the case when evidence surfaces that questions if Skell is really the Midnight Rambler. |
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| Paperback / $7.99 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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Seventh in the Tony Valentine series:
Deadman's Bluff |
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| Paperback / $6.99 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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Sixth in the Tony Valentine series:
Deadman's Poker |
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When a conman's deathbed confession turns into a deadly Las Vegas grudge match during the world's biggest poker tournament, Tony enlists the aid of an aging grifter who fleeces suckers with betting stunts. Tony has to save the tournament and stop a blind player out to heist the tournament. |
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| Paperback / $6.99 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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Fifth in the Tony Valentine series:
Mr. Lucky |
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Tony Valentine meets the luckiest man on earth. Ricky Smith, former small-town loser, went to Las Vegas, jumped out the window of a burning hotel, and lived to tear up the Strip on an incredible winning streak. He keeps on winning everything from a horse race to a $50,000 lottery.
When Tony's cover is blown, his son Gerry joins in helping Tony figure out the scam in this funny, furious ride with an astounding array of crooks.
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| Hard cover / $19.95 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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Fourth in the Tony Valentine series:
Loaded Dice |
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Armed with a special gift sense, ex-cop Tony Valentine can spot card cheats and even bigger games whose sole purpose is to relieve a casino of its cash. When his son goes AWOL, Valentine jets after him to Las Vegas. Once there, he lands inside a treacherous game with higher stakes than he has encountered before.
In a city where barracudas wear pinstripes and reality shifts depending on the neon light, a grave threat maneuvers through the streets: a new breed of criminal with an agenda propelled by fury that will shake not just Valentine, but the city of Las Vegas.
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| Paperback / $7.99 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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Third in the Tony Valentine series:
Sucker Bet |
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Harry Smooth Stone, head of security at the Micanopy Indian Rservation Casino in South Florida, needs Tony Valentine's expertise. A blackjack dealer has rigged a game, dealt a player 84 winning hands in a row and then disappeared. Valentine's gut teels him a different story:that the runaway dealer is alligator food and his employers are keeping secrets.
Ballantine Books 2003. |
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| Hard cover / $19.95 |
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Paperback available $7.99
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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Second in the Tony Valentine series:
Funny Money |
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With his old partner murdered in a bomb blast, Tony returns to Atlantic City to retrace Doyle Flanagan's last case. Investigating a $6 Million casino takedown, a square cop soon meets a whole lot of bent people, from a lady wrestler to some Manhattan mobsters; from a trio of casino consultants to a team of Eurotrash blackjack card counters. But while everyone around Tony is playing some kind of angle, he's determined to find a killer who's playing for keeps......
Atria 2002 1st edition, 1st printing. Signed by the author.
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| Hard cover / $24.00 |
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Paperback also available $6.99
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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First in the Tony Valentine series:
Grift Sense |
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Amid the neon and the big special ugly of Las Vegas, Frank Fontaine is beating the brains out of the Acropolis Casino. The house cops think the dealer, a blonde names Nola, is part of the con, but no one can prove a thing. For Tony Valentine, it's the first new scam he's seen in decades - and maybe the best. Three things Tony knows: The blonde is guilty, the grifter has lived a former life and the biggest scam is the one that hasn't happened yet.
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| Paperback / $7.99 |
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| To order email us at murdermb@gate.net |
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| Deadman's Poker |
| by Stephanie Saxon Levine |
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James Swain has done it again. This sixth in the Tony Valentine mystery series is a winner.
Tony Valentine is regularly retained by casinos from Atlantic City to Monaco to Las Vegas to spot cheaters and show them the door. Expert at cracking scams, he has partnered with his son, Gerry, who has just found one involving death.
A conman’s dying confession, quickly leads to a grudge match in Las Vegas during the world’s biggest poker tournament. Gerry and his friends mix it up with the mob, while Tony is helped by a grifter who fleeces suckers. Tony has been hired to save the tournament from a blind player. Gerry has even more at stake—trying to stay alive.
Deadman’s Poker is a tense, suspenseful ride, set in a milieu whose unfamiliarity, at least to this reader, makes it even more intriguing. James Swain is a master at creating a clever cast of characters, a cunning story line, dialog with snap and sizzle, and a way with setting that makes the casino another character. What’s more, the reader needs no prior knowledge of the world of gambling in order to enjoy Deadman’s Poker or any of the others in the series. Swain considerately includes insider tips for catching poker cheats, and a glossary of terms used by card hustlers. Although I didn’t need to refer to the glossary in order to follow the story, I found it an interesting addition, and enjoyed leafing through it.
All in all, Deadman’s Poker is an engaging read, one which you won’t want to miss. |
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| You may contact Stephanie Saxon Levine at murdermb@gate.net |
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| Posted 08-06-2006 |
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