Review: Shame
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2013
What a shame this book wasn't published in the paper form so everyone could enjoy it.  The Valentine series was one of my favorites.  I recognized it had slowed a tad and I figured that Mr. Swain had run out of ideas in the gaming and casino world.  I did not like his Carpenter series nearly as much.  When I saw JACKPOT, I went to it with some trepidation that it was a tired retread.  Not at all.  It is a great book.  If anything, a step up from the others in the series.  It stands quite well alone, so there is no need to read the earlier ones.In JACKPOT, Tony Valentine is called to Las Vegas to catch cheaters - a place he vowed he'd never go due to the state's governor.  His nemesis, however, has been caught and is threatening to blow open a scheme that will topple Nevada's gambling economy.  There is scheming going on both big and small, from toppling the industry to grabbing a stake on a cheating bet here and there.Tony takes his ne-er-do-well son. Gerry, along and their relationship adds some nice color to the story.  At home, his Gal Friday is cracking another case in Florida.A mystery is always enhanced when the reader can learn something.  The Valentine books teach about casinos, cheats and human nature.  Best yet, the author's note at the end tells us that this is based loosely on a real crime.This book is highly recommended for lover's of Swain's Valentine series, lovers of gambling and casinos and, most of all, lovers of just plain good mysteries.