Lucky Stiff
Debbie Coonts
Forge, Feb 15 2011, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765325440
On the Vegas Strip, the Babylon Resort and Casino is perhaps the glitziest of the glitzy. Customer Relations chief Lucky O’Toole understands where she works attracts people who “Wanna Get Lucky?” However, even Lucky is unprepared for the honeybee horde just in front of the hotel caused by a truck tipping over as a fight weekend begins. O’Toole cannot remember the last time the Strip shut.
The next morning O’Toole learns the county District Attorney hides in a closet after becoming the third wheel in a tryst. That same morning, private investigator Jeremy Whitlock argues in public with ruthless bookie Evelyn Wabash "Numbers" Neidermeyer. Later that day, Numbers' number is up in Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino’s shark tank; cops suspect Jeremy as the murderer. On a more normal note, Lucky’s mom the Madame plans a "virginity auction" and Lucky’s songwriting lover Teddie Kowalski is in Los Angeles on a recording deal. Musing O’Toole knows life in Vegas is never dull.
This is an amusing Vegas thriller in which the heroine feels she crapped out as one hell of a night has become one hell of a day. The jocular story line is character driven with Lucky the hub of the zaniness and the support cast like her mom, her lover, her P.I. hunk and the unlucky stiff the speaks to. Although there is a similarity in the glitzy lampoon tone and its Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes Bad Luck lyrics to the first tale and over the top of the tower of the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel & Tower; fans will enjoy this casino caper.
Harriet Klausner
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