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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of the Edmonton Public Library.
Nov 29, 2017
For a first novel, this one touches all the buttons that make you want to finish a novel. there's a payoff toward the end that is not sexual. "the river itself was dirtyu gray. thick looking and polluted. a clogged major artery moving through the states, falsely depicted as a bright blue line that cut the colorful map squares until it emptied into the gulf." "when the waitress brought the salsds I saw my mistake. there were blobs of blue cheese dripping over my lettuce and tomato, large spoonfuls of bacon bits dumped over the blue cheese, dozens of greasy croutons topping everything off. "I was surprised they didn't serve the salad in a bowl of lard." "Gary got tired after he ate. it took work to digest the amount of food he shoveled in and the rest of his body function slowed." "..And how he used to say he was the extra expert guesser. Derek said those were the days. I asked how his finals were going and he said he just had one more, macroeconomics. he'd read dad's book, and it was excellent." " '12 hours, ' Gary said. 'it's like an old-time movie with this guy coming for me.' " "the whole point of vegas was to legitimize these tough guys . when bugsy got killed it wasn't in some seedy back alley. he built las vegas. he made them all gentlemen. when they took him out it was in Beverly Hills." the two main characters are from nyc. they drive across the continent to get to vegas. Gary, the cousin, a huge man, owes a lot of money , due to gambling. He needs Dess to count cards for him at blackjack. Dess is a wrestler who was kicked off his team, due to an uncontrollable temper. Like a good independent movie, there is the Gwyneth paltrow introduced as the girlfriend, in the last one eighth of the book. the author tends to repeat certain of his effects. but, the readiing of it is a powerful one. I didn't fall in love with the characters. guess that qualifies it as a "noir novel," huh?