HIGH HAND The city of Las Vegas becomes a glitzy, gun-happy backdrop for ex-showgirl Martha Chainey, the provocative newprotagonist from the author of the acclaimed Ivan Monk series. Six feet tall with a don't-mess-with-me attitude, Chainey (nobody calls her Martha) is a courier transporting large sums of money under the table for casino owners. She's been around long enough to know the score and has no qualms about making her living in the shadows of Sin City's neon lights...until the day her luck runs out. Ambushed by masked shooters who make off with seven million in cash, Chainey's been given 72 hours to recover the casino owner's money—or else she can pick out her own coffin. Her desperate run leads her all the way to San Francisco and back home to West Las Vegas—Black Vegas—where she calls in markers from friends and foes alike. But it's on the strip's famous Glitter Gulch that chainey will enter the ultimate poker game. The stakes: winner take all. The wager: her life. Rights Information Publisher: Kensington, Hardcover (November 1, 2000) Kensington, Paperback (September 1, 2001) Territory: World English Rights Available: Translation; Film/TV Reviews: "Martha Chainey, athletic, gun-toting ex-showgirl and mob money courier, makes her hard-hitting debut in this tawdry heist thriller, in which everybody is a crook...a fast-moving plot." - Publishers Weekly "Phillips is on a roll...Chainey is tough, sexy, smart, and thoroughly charismatic--sort of a Pam Grier for the new millennium. Phillips effectively uses the cartoon appeal of the best blaxsploitation flicks but overlays it with three-dimensional characters living in an all-too-real world. There's also some fascinating historical material about black Las Vegas in the '50s and '60s. A fine debut in the hip, hard-boiled tradition." - Bill Ott, Booklist "The story is as fresh and believable as today's headlines. It delves into the sordid underside of our society and holds it up in all its ugly manifestations." - Sally Fellows, Black Raven Press "Author Gary Phillips holds all the aces in High Hand, this twisty heist thriller in which everyone is a crook and heroes are few." - Sun Sentinel "Chainey's too good to give up." - Kirkus Reviews Blurbs: "Gary Phillips writes with raw power...you're about to take a wild ride." - Jan Burke, Edgar Award-winning author Purchase at Amazon.com

HIGH HAND

The city of Las Vegas becomes a glitzy, gun-happy backdrop for ex-showgirl Martha Chainey, the provocative newprotagonist from the author of the acclaimed Ivan Monk series.

Six feet tall with a don't-mess-with-me attitude, Chainey (nobody calls her Martha) is a courier transporting large sums of money under the table for casino owners. She's been around long enough to know the score and has no qualms about making her living in the shadows of Sin City's neon lights...until the day her luck runs out.

Ambushed by masked shooters who make off with seven million in cash, Chainey's been given 72 hours to recover the casino owner's money—or else she can pick out her own coffin. Her desperate run leads her all the way to San Francisco and back home to West Las Vegas—Black Vegas—where she calls in markers from friends and foes alike. But it's on the strip's famous Glitter Gulch that chainey will enter the ultimate poker game. The stakes: winner take all. The wager: her life.

Rights Information

Publisher: Kensington, Hardcover (November 1, 2000)
Kensington, Paperback (September 1, 2001)

Territory: World English

Rights Available: Translation; Film/TV

Reviews:
"Martha Chainey, athletic, gun-toting ex-showgirl and mob money courier, makes her hard-hitting debut in this tawdry heist thriller, in which everybody is a crook...a fast-moving plot." - Publishers Weekly

"Phillips is on a roll...Chainey is tough, sexy, smart, and thoroughly charismatic--sort of a Pam Grier for the new millennium. Phillips effectively uses the cartoon appeal of the best blaxsploitation flicks but overlays it with three-dimensional characters living in an all-too-real world. There's also some fascinating historical material about black Las Vegas in the '50s and '60s. A fine debut in the hip, hard-boiled tradition." - Bill Ott, Booklist

"The story is as fresh and believable as today's headlines. It delves into the sordid underside of our society and holds it up in all its ugly manifestations." - Sally Fellows, Black Raven Press

"Author Gary Phillips holds all the aces in High Hand, this twisty heist thriller in which everyone is a crook and heroes are few." - Sun Sentinel

"Chainey's too good to give up." - Kirkus Reviews

Blurbs:
"Gary Phillips writes with raw power...you're about to take a wild ride." - Jan Burke, Edgar Award-winning author

Purchase at Amazon.com