I won a copy on Goodreads Firstreads.

This book had a really interesting blurb.Nick Monday was supposed to be a private eye more like Columbo or Magnum P.I. than Sam Spade or Philip Marlowe.On top of that he had the ability to poach luck from people.I did not find Nick to be like Columbo Or Magnum (both of those are favorites of mine).Columbo always knew the solution from the first and just had to work on proving it.Magnum always seemed to have a plan (not that they turned out like he thought)and worked on uncovering clues.Nick, on the other hand, seems to have no clue about what is really going on or what to do about it.He just bounces from calamity to calamity.Which strangely enough, reminds me more of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.Of course they were tough guys who kept bashing away until they discovered the truth while Nick is definitely not a tough guy.

Nick is more con man than private eye.His way of being a private eye involves more looking things up on the computer than real legwork.He relies on his ability to steal other people's good luck to make his real living.He has no friends and only a few acquaintances.He only stays in one place for a few years before moving on to a new place and a new identity.At times, this made Nick not the most likeable of characters.

In his world, the only way you have luck (good or bad) is to be born with it.Most people are not born with it so are just neutral.There is no way to attract good luck or avoid bad luck.At least that is what he says most of the time.But confusingly when he steals people's good luck, they seem to not become neutral but to actually have bad luck even though he says that doesn't happen. Personally I find this a little to black or white to accept.I think everybody has a mix of good and bad luck that ebbs and flows throughout their life.But Nick repeatedly goes over this belief and the specifics of luck poaching many times.Both this repetition and basic concept of luck distracted from the story.

Luckily Nick is allowed to try to redeem himself.Even though he is stuck between almost impossible choices, he tries to walk a narrow line.While it may not solve all of his problems, it may hopefully not make anything worse.Stuck in multiple cases, Nick is in for a harrowing few days.He will need all the luck he can get to make it out of all of his troubles.