Sucker Bet

April's Tip of the Ice Pick Award goes to James Swain for Sucker Bet (Ballantine, $21.95, 320 pages, ISBN 0345461754), installment number three in the popular series featuring professional gambling consultant Tony Valentine, a 60-ish ex-cop who makes his living catching the hustlers who swindle casinos. Hired by a South Florida Indian casino, Valentine investigates the staggering odds against a player winning an unprecedented 84 hands of blackjack in a row. When the dealer turns up dead, the stakes rise dramatically. Someone wants Valentine off the case and will stop at nothing to achieve that end. In one particularly harrowing moment, Valentine must face off a hungry alligator left in the back seat of his car by person or persons unknown. A la Carl Hiassen, Swain populates Sucker Bet with colorful (some might say gaudy) South Florida characters: Nigel Moon, an aging British rocker who is being set up for a major fleecing; Kat Berman, Valentine's on-again off-again professional wrestler girlfriend; and Mr. Beauregard, a ukulele-playing chimpanzee with uncanny instincts into the personalities of his fellow primates (many of whom, nominally human, seem further down the evolutionary chain than Mr. Beauregard is). The dialogue is excellent, the plotting is fast-paced and believable. An added bonus: Swain exposes several of the clever ways in which cheaters get an edge over the house. (Kids, don't try this at home.)

Tough times in Tokyo

REVIEWS BY BRUCE TIERNEY

Author Peter Tasker paints a bleak and plausible picture of a near-future Japan in his new book Dragon Dance. The year is 2006. In the shadow of Mt. Fuji, there is uncharacteristic dissension among the usually taciturn Japanese. Homeless people aimlessly wander the streets of Tokyo, and crime runs rampant. China is beginning to replace Japan as the premier mover and shaker of Asia, and the carefully woven treaties between the U.S. and Japan are beginning to unravel. French reporter Martine Meyer, stationed at the Tokyo office of an international newspaper, receives the assignment to interview a wildly popular new politician, Tsuyoshi Nozawa, a charismatic Dylan-esque folksinger who has ascended to Japan's senate, the Diet. In the midst of the proceedings, Martine receives an unusual e-mail warning her away from a particular part of town; a second suggests that she avoid orange juice for a while. When a deadly explosion takes place, and there is widespread panic over poisoned OJ, Martine realizes she is unwittingly at the center of an international conspiracy designed to make major alterations in the world order.

Dragon Dance succeeds on many levels. Tasker's novel cleverly offers romance, more than a bit of sexual tension, a fascinating mystery and a compelling tale of the Byzantine relationships that characterize international coexistence.


When the payment comes due

Imagine for a moment that you are in college, or temping, just barely making ends meet. You go out to your mailbox, and there is a government check for $1,000. It is issued from "United States Agent" with a Washington, D.C., return address. You try to get in touch by phone and by mail to no avail. So you deposit the check, figuring, "What the heck? I need the money now, and I'll give it back when they notice the error." Then the next month another check arrives, then another and another. You change addresses, and have no way to notify "United States Agent," yet the checks continue to arrive like clockwork. You marry, have a child, secure a high-paying job, and still the checks come in. Now, seven years on, a smiling stranger sits down beside you and says cryptically: "I am from United States Agent. You are now active." In short order, the "activity" required of you will involve international intrigue, espionage and assassination.

From this exceptional premise, veteran author Donald E. Westlake crafts his latest thriller, Money for Nothing. It is a testament to Westlake's experience that he is able to reel in the reader, making the preposterous seem plausible at every turn. An affable protagonist, a cast of "Boris and Natasha" villains and a company of strong supporting characters provide for an entertaining read.


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