High Stakes: 8 Sure-Bet Stories Of Gambling And Crime

by Robert J. Randisi (Editor)

All bets are off in this collection of thrilling stories, filled with high stakes, dangerous games, greed, and corruption, from Las Vegas to small-town bingo parlors, that features contributions from such bestselling authors as Lawrence Block, Leslie Glass, and Donald E. Westlake. Original.

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 2, 2003

About the author

Robert Joseph Randisi was a prolific American author, editor, and screenwriter, best known for his work in detective and Western fiction. He wrote over 650 books, including The Gunsmith series under the pen name J.R. Roberts, and edited more than 30 anthologies. A co-founder of Mystery Scene magazine, the American Crime Writers League, and Western Fictioneers, he also established The Private Eye Writers of America and created the Shamus Award. Randisi collaborated on novels with Eileen Davidson and Vince Van Patten, and created memorable characters such as Miles Jacoby, Joe Keough, and The Rat Pack. He received multiple lifetime achievement awards and the John Seigenthaler Humanitarian Award.

Reviews

[Rob Smith, Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories is worth reading. A few are loosely based in gambling. a couple are a bit grittier, like the extremely short entry by Westlake.

Each are written well enough with quickly and well developed characters. The plots are good. Just about all of the endings left me wanting a better conclusion or confused. Still the lot is worth going through.

About the Florida story by Jonathan King:
This is a very interesting combination of two well known groups in Florida history - The binder boys of the 1920s and the young folks through the past century that would capture snakes for money. King has done an excellent job of the transition he writes. His settings of the snake capturing are not on a MacDonald or White level.
I really like how King covers so much territory in so few pages. The ending could be much better, but the concept written is well worth reading.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 6 out of ten points.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

CONTENTS


▪️"Introduction" - Robert J. Randisi


▪️"Bet on Red" - Jeff Abbott
▪️"Let's Get Lost" - Lawrence Block
▪️"For Sale" - Leslie Glass
▪️"Snake Eyes" - Jonathon King
▪️"Henry and the Idiots" - Robert J. Randisi
▪️"Lucky Eight" - Judith Van Gieson
▪️"Sex and Bingo" - Elaine Viets
▪️"Breathe Deep" - Donald E. Westlake


Eight stories with a connection to gambling, six of them original to this book. The Block story is from 2000, the Westlake from 1985. In a surprisingly high percentage of these, the criminals/cheats come out ahead. I'm sure there's a moral there, but I hate to think what it is.

My favorites are "Bet on Red" and "Snake Eyes," which also happen to be the two stories with the most violence. I don't want to think about that either.