Dice Angel - Softcover

Rouff; Brian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0971714819 ISBN 13: 9780971714816

Publisher: Hardway Press, 2002

Synopsis

Jimmy Delaney is on another bad roll. His ex-wife is cranky. Burglars clean out all the coins from the video poker machines at his saloon, Jimmy D's. His accountant is missing - with all the bar's money. He can't get a loan because the IRS has a lien on the joint and a rogue revenue agent with a personal grudge is seizing Jimmy D's on Friday unless he can come up with $50,000 in back taxes. Losing streaks in Las Vegas can be the worst in the world. And then a mysterious woman enters his life. A karma-spouting planet-charting colon-cleansing floozy - the Dice Angel. Can Delaney save Jimmy D's with a supernaturally hot hand at the dice tables at Luxor? Or does Lady Luck bite off, chew up, and spit out another Las Vegas loser...

About this title

About the Author

Brian Rouff has lived in Las Vegas since 1981, which makes him a long-timer by local standards. He is married with two grown daughters. This is his first novel.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The ringing phone ripped through my sleep like a buzz saw. I caught it on the fourth ring, nearly knocking the lamp off the end table in the process. Squinting through bleary eyes, I could barely make out the time. 3:11 a.m. "This can't be good," I muttered out loud, even though I was alone. Hoping for a wrong number, I barked, "What?"

"James Delaney, Jr?" an official-sounding voice asked. The little hairs stood up on the back of my neck.

"Who wants to know?"

"Officer Robert Ramos, Metro Police, sir."

For a brief horrible moment, I pictured my seven-year-old daughter Jenny, dead in the gutter. But that was impossible. Jenny was in Salt Lake with my ex-wife Joy. And Salt Lake, as far as I know, outlawed gutters years ago.

Trying to sound casual despite my heart beating double-time, I asked, "What can I do for you, Officer?"

"They hit your place again."

"Shit! I'm on my way."

In the time it would take to ask more questions, I could be there. Wide awake now, I threw on a pair of faded jeans and a UNLV sweatshirt as I fumbled for my keys, a million thoughts racing through my mind. How the hell could they have gotten past my new super-high-tech security system? Maybe it's true what the cops say, that locks and alarms only keep out honest people. And honest people are in short supply here in Vegas, or anywhere else for that mater.

I took the steps two at a time. As I flung open the front door, a blast of cold night air hit me in the face, sending an involuntary shudder through my body. Even after more than twenty years in the godforsaken desert, I'm still surprised by the extreme temperatures. Too fucking hot in the summer, too goddamned cold in the winter. Probably a lot like living on the moon, except for the gambling.

Jumping into my '97 Mazda 626, the last sensible remnant of my married days, I peeled out of the driveway and headed for my bar. The screeching noise would most likely jar a neighbor or two out of a restful night's sleep. Good, I thought with grim satisfaction. Why should I be the only one up on a night like this?

Edition details

• Publisher: Hardway Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0971714819
• ISBN 13: 9780971714816
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 242