Gambling Suspense

The 1950s are on the horizon, and Archer is in dire need of a fresh start after a nearly fatal detour in Poca City. So Archer hops on a bus and begins the long journey out west to California, where rumor has it there is money to be made if you’re hard-working, lucky, criminal - or all three. Along the way, Archer stops in Reno, where a stroke of fortune delivers him a wad of cash and an eye-popping blood-red 1939 Delahaye convertible - plus a companion for the final leg of the journey, an aspiring actress named Liberty Callahan who is planning to try her luck in Hollywood.

Comprising two distinct short novels - Monroe's Nightmare in Paradise and Bad Luck Shadow from critically acclaimed Victor McGlothin - Borrow Trouble is a hot double-feature that perfectly showcases each author's unique style.

WHOEVER SAYS CRIME DOESN’T PAY ISN’T DOING IT RIGHT. Billy Cunningham is the most wanted cheat in Las Vegas. His scams have cost the casinos so much money that the governor has ordered the gaming board to bring him in at any cost. Normally, Billy would lay low until the dust settles. But during a trip to Reno, he has a chance encounter with Special Agent Ray Lopez of the FBI. Billy helps Lopez catch a pair of serial killers called The Glitter Twins and a bond is formed. Lopez is a hero with a fatal flaw. He’s a gambling addict with huge debts. Seeing an opportunity, Billy recruits ...

Shell-shocked and missing a foot-lost to an IED during his tour of duty in Afghanistan, Captain Tom Forsyth has been sent "home" by the army and returns to his estranged mother's house. But Josephine Kauri, the "first lady of British racing", has always put the horses she trains first and her family last. Tom soon finds himself strained to the breaking point with his mother and stepfather. But there's another reason for the stifling tension at Kauri House Stables: Josephine is being blackmailed for a hefty sum every week - and forced to make her horses lose.

Desperate to break free of small-town Florida, Addie Anne Buckley dreams of following in the path of her glamorous aunt Jean—known to the world as Marilyn Monroe. When Aunt Jean plans a trip to Hollywood for Addie’s eighteenth birthday, Addie sees her chance to escape. One thing stands in her way: her boyfriend. Truitt Holt is Addie’s first and only love and will be joining her in California. But days before Addie’s due to leave, Truitt does an about-face and gives her a painful ultimatum: stay and marry him, or they’re through. Addie chooses her dream.

What if quitting gambling wasn’t about resisting urges but rewiring your brain? You’ve tried to stop. You’ve made promises to yourself, convinced this time will be different. But somehow, you get pulled back in, leaving you drained and searching for a real way out. The stress, the constant battle…it’s exhausting. But the truth? Quitting isn’t about willpower. It’s about freeing your brain from the faulty reward loops that make gambling feel irresistible.

Dove, a recovering alcoholic covered in Emily Dickinson tattoos, serves up drinks and small talk at a casino in Vegas. Russell is a man on a roll. He claims to be a chain-restaurant manager, yet his tells point to different skills. The two leave together at the end of the night, but when all pretense is stripped away, they find themselves in a fight for their lives.

Sin City. An artificial oasis of pleasure, spectacle, and entertainment, the gambling capital of America has reinvented itself so many times that it's doubtful that anyone knows for sure what's real and what isn't in the miles of neon and scorching heat. Las Vegas is considered the ultimate player's destination, no matter what your game. Las Vegas is the true city that never sleeps, where fortunes are made and lost every day, and where snake-eyes aren't found just on a pair of dice.

A husband’s chance at redemption turns sinister when a mysterious poker chip links his future to a violent past. When Jack Harper finds an old poker chip in his Las Vegas hotel room, he sees it as a symbol of his fresh start. The past few years have strained his marriage—marked by addictions, unemployment, and depression—but with this newfound luck secretly in his possession, Jack is determined to leave that past behind. This weekend’s getaway is the perfect anniversary gift for his wife, Emily, and he’s sure it will win back her love and admiration. Sixty years earlier, in the ...

When the Las Vegas's Riverboat Casino starts to burn down, bald, overweight Ricky Smith nosedives five floors into the pool. After this death-defying jump, Smith, a one-time loser, is miraculously transformed into a major-player winner. Battered and drenched, walking across the street to another casino, he begins a million-dollar winning streak at the tables.

Gambling is a dangerous, addictive, and expensive hobby, in fact it's the fastest growing addiction on the planet. Smart phone technology has sparked a global gambling epidemic, the temptation to gamble is now literally in the palm of our hands. Mind blowing, record breaking profits are being recorded by online casinos and sports betting companies. As a result, hard-working everyday people are gambling money they simply cannot afford to lose. I was one of the many who suffered extreme gambling addiction.

A Dash of Deception plunges readers back into the quirky cozy mystery world of Kick-a-me-Su, where Beth Anne Tucker’s inheritance of her Aunt Dolly's bakery comes with more than recipes—it's laced with secrets. A cryptic recipe hints at a hidden past, spectral gamblers linger with unfinished business, and a mysterious glowing bag raises more questions than answers. As Beth Anne navigates small-town quirks and uncanny encounters, this newly minted amateur sleuth discovers that baking isn't the only thing heating up. With danger looming and her aunt's past unraveling, Beth Anne must rely ...

California, 1949. Aloysius Archer is on his way to start a new job with a renowned private investigator in Bay Town. Feeling lucky, he stops off at a casino in Reno, where he meets an aspiring actress, Liberty Callahan. Together, they head west on a journey filled with danger and surprises—because Archer isn’t the only one with a secretive past. Arriving in a town rife with corruption, Archer is tasked with finding out who is doing everything they can to disrupt the appointment of a top official.

The steady tick of an aged Regulator wall clock and the squeak of an overhead fan turning slowly are soft but insistent, counting down the night, while the high desert thrums like a half-remembered Victrola song. The sounds are below the consciousness of Winchell Dear, an old-time gambler, a Texas poker player on the southern circuit, as he waits for something...something vague that his life of chance tells him is evil and moving his way.

Gleich drei Tote sind am Cheltenham Gold Cup Day zu beklagen. Ein Zuschauer, ein Pferd und ein Jockey. Das Publikum ist entsetzt, und Sid Halley hat wieder einen Job. Denn Jockey Huw Walker erreicht die Ziellinie seines Lebens mit mehreren Kugeln in der Brust...

There is nothing more fascinating than a darkly handsome rake, especially one as controlled and elusive as Dillon Caxton, protege of Demon Cynster. Despite his dangerous air, Dillon is a man of sterling reputation, but it wasn't always so

Tokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-war Japan. Intent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist: kidnap the CEO of Japan's largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the company's corrupt financiers.

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.

Miranda Hope was raised at her daddy's knee, learning poker from the ground up. When most girls were playing with dolls and hoping for boyfriends, she was learning how to detect a short deck, how to set one and how to slip or bottom deal. Her daddy did not want her to cheat, he wanted her to know how it's done, because the gift he gave her would make her rich, but, if she failed, destroy her. With the sudden, violent death of her father, she is thrust out into the world, perhaps too soon, or maybe, just at the right time. Calling on reserves and instincts she did not even know she possesses...

In the underground city of Caverna the world's most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare - wines that can remove memories, cheeses that can make you hallucinate and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer, even as they slit your throat. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned, and only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show joy, despair or fear - at a price.