In what will hopefully be the first of three, I’ve got a new review up in, predictably, the review section. It’s about an excellent, excellent novel called God Doesn’t Shoot Craps:
The book is the story of Dante Alighieri “Danny” Pellegrino, a direct mail scam artist, who earns his bread from peddling holy water, chunks of the Blarney Stone, and “can’t miss” gambling systems, staying barely ahead of Richard Goldman, a criminal investigator for the US Postal Service who would like nothing better than to catch Pellegrino in an out-and-out fraud. Pellegrino’s life changes when he decides to test a system forwarded to him by one Virgil Kirk (are you seeing a pattern here). The system, based on the theories of Spanish physicist Juan Parrando (and therefore called “Parrando’s Paradox”) posits that, when properly combined, two losing games can yield a winning strategy.
This is, of course, the Holy Grail to any “serious” gambler, who knows that, in the end, the odds favor the house. I’m not going to pretend to understand the theory behind the paradox, or the Brownian ratchets that play a mysterious (for me) but nonetheless integral role. Pellegrino initially plans to send out a direct mail blast and make a tidy profit from selling yet another doomed “can’t lose” system. But while testing the system (not to see if it works, but merely to better appreciate its failings), Pellegrino discovers that it actually works. From there, the story really takes off, as something as mundane as a craps betting system (there are at least hundreds of them out there) becomes the Maguffin that speeds the plot along.
Armstrong knows how to create and maintain suspense, which keeps the reader not only in appreciation of the outstanding characters that populate the book, but eagerly anticipating the next twist, and the final resolution.
I can’t say much more about how impressed I was. You can check out the book’s website for more information.
I’m off to tape an interview for “Face to Face with Jon Ralston,” which should appear on Las Vegas One tonight.
FYI, I’ve been called out of the office for a few days, so don’t expect any posts for the next week or so.