If it isn’t obvious by the cover and the back cover synopsis, Four of a Kind: Four Tales of Mystery and Suspense is an anthology containing four novellas that revolve around playing card games. Poker to be exact and the game plays a major role in each novella. In each case, poker isn’t the only game being played where the stakes include life and death.
After a brief introduction by author and editor
Douglas Quinn, the book opens with “Papa’s Girl” by J. R. Lindermuth. It is
December 1957 and young soldier Danny Penkovic has made it as far as Ballyn,
Pennsylvania on his quest to get home. A snow storm has shut down all forms of
travel, including his bus, so he plans to spend the night at the terminal
waiting for the first bus in the morning. That is until Tony Anskis makes him
an offer to spend the night at his place and meet his daughter, Anna.
“Jigsaw” by Carol Culver Rzadkiewicz follows with
her tale of Lester T. Hayes, private detective.
Lester Hayes owns Ace Detective Services and times are not good financially
speaking. So, when Samantha Chandler, a wealthy woman who is also
self-proclaimed psychic, throws a lot of money at him to play in a tournament
he agrees. He agrees even though he knows there is something off about her and the
situation.
Douglas Quinn’s character Webb Sawyer makes an appearance
next in “I Lost my Happy Days” where a business, a boat, and more are at stake.
Dave “The Wave” Meekins and Webb served together long ago. These days they both
live on North Carolina’s outer banks where Dave runs a successful charter
business and Webb does what he does. He has skills and when his skills are
needed he makes his money. So, when Dave gambled his boat “Happy Days” and lost
he turned to Webb for help.
“Millie McCall’s Full Moon Poker Night” by Sara
Williams closes the book. The setting is the San Juan Islands where Jim Halprin
is asked to fulfill a commitment made by a friend. Ben Bridges is injured and
needs Jim to attend a poker game in his place. Just a few hours later Jim is in
place and meets the unique Millie McCall. An heiress that rides a Harley, walks
in the surf under a full moon, and does a few other strange things in this
tale.
A game of deceit, poker, binds these tales together in
Four
of a Kind: Four Tales of Mystery and Suspense. A book where deceit is a
major player in its own right. As prominent as any character, deceit is the
dealer in each case where hidden agendas abound, money flows, and treachery
runs like a raging river. These four very different and good novellas contain numerous
twists and turns to keep readers guessing long after the last card.
Four of a Kind: Four Tales of Mystery and Suspense
Four of a Kind: Four Tales of Mystery and Suspense
Editor
Douglas Quinn
White
Heron Press (CreateSpace)
October
2012
ISBN#
978-1479397457
Paperback
396
Pages
$15.95
Material supplied by Editor Douglas Quinn for my
objective review.
For further reading on this book you may wish to
scroll over to Kings River Life where there is a review from last December as
well as brief explanations from the authors involved as to how each one of
their stories came to life. Interesting reading at: http://kingsriverlife.com/12/22/four-of-a-kind-four-tales-of-mystery-and-suspense/
Kevin R. Tipple ©2013
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2 comments:
Deceit happens in more places than poker! I was never that good at poker. When I was a kid we used to play rummy.
Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
We played a few board games when I was a kid. Dad and I played chess a lot and I played in some chess tournaments.
These days Sandi and play UNO from time to time. I never have played poker.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
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