Dice Angel By Brian Rouff

Review: “Losing streaks in Las Vegas can be the worst in the world.”

Jimmy Delaney, owner of Jimmy D’s saloon and supper club is on a big one. His cranky ex-wife is no “Joy.” His insurance is only going to cover a fraction of the loss when the bar top slots at Jimmy D’s are burglarized. His ex-brother-in-law, Mormon Bishop, accountant, Owen, has disappeared—with all the money in his bank accounts. His checks are bouncing. His credit cards are being declined. And when he goes to the bank for a loan he is out of luck; because, Owen took the money for the tax payments too. Now he has two weeks to come up with over $50,000 or lose Jimmy D’s.

When Pete, the homeless man he often feeds at the bar, handed him a crumpled, dirty, business card for the Dice Angel, Jimmy slipped it in his wallet to humor the old man. He
certainly had no intention of using it. But he’s hocked everything he can think of, he’s drunk and he’s desperate. Is the kinky, star charting, chanting, Amaris really a DICE ANGEL? Or is she just another Vegas con artist?

Brian Rouff’s clever, witty, writing style captures the real Las Vegas. The glamour and glitz, grit and sand, excitement and everyday boredom of its unique lifestyle. His characters are people I know, see, and pass on the streets as I dodge the “Nevada state bush,” those darn orange construction cones that decorate the streets.

Dice Angel’s twists and turns will whip, toss, and thrill you like the roller coaster ride at the New York, New York. It’s a stay up all night, edge of the seat read right up to the literary, tip you upside down, ending.

— Reviewed by: Charlene Austin