Published: March 19, 2012
Words: 61,278 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781621547952

Short description

Pascal Silver is an action junkie down on his luck. One of the best poker players alive, a losing streak has forced him to take work as a private detective. But when the gorgeous daughter of murdered casino owner “Houston Phil” LaPierre turns to him for help, he finds himself in over his head dealing with the cops, the mob and the enigmatic but beautiful Allegra LaPierre.

Extended description

Whether it’s in Las Vegas’ glitzy casinos or its seamy back alleys, Black Belt magazine columnist and poker pro Mark Jacobs captures the excitement with the vision of an insider in his new novel Pascal’s Wager...

Destined for a brilliant career in academia, Pascal Silver instead decides to be a risk taker. Packing up his unfinished philosophy dissertation he moves to Las Vegas to pursue his dual goals of winning the World Series of Poker and the only slightly less daunting task of finding the meaning to existence.

Low on cash, Pascal is forced to take a part-time job at a private detective agency. Now, with his boss out of town, into his life walks the gorgeous Allegra LaPierre. She asks Pascal to find out who murdered her father, casino owner “Houston Phil” LaPierre.

Using his uncanny poker skills, Pascal can tell everyone involved with Houston Phil has something to hide, including his ex-stripper widow, his knucklehead son, Bruce, and his old business pa.. (Read more) Whether it’s in Las Vegas’ glitzy casinos or its seamy back alleys, Black Belt magazine columnist and poker pro Mark Jacobs captures the excitement with the vision of an insider in his new novel Pascal’s Wager...

Destined for a brilliant career in academia, Pascal Silver instead decides to be a risk taker. Packing up his unfinished philosophy dissertation he moves to Las Vegas to pursue his dual goals of winning the World Series of Poker and the only slightly less daunting task of finding the meaning to existence.

Low on cash, Pascal is forced to take a part-time job at a private detective agency. Now, with his boss out of town, into his life walks the gorgeous Allegra LaPierre. She asks Pascal to find out who murdered her father, casino owner “Houston Phil” LaPierre.

Using his uncanny poker skills, Pascal can tell everyone involved with Houston Phil has something to hide, including his ex-stripper widow, his knucklehead son, Bruce, and his old business partner, Fat Johnny, who’s in debt to a local gangster. Complicating matters, Bruce LaPierre is suddenly found dead in his office and the number one suspect is Allegra. Though all the evidence points to his client’s guilt, Pascal falls back on the famous wager of faith put forth by his illustrious namesake. He chooses to have faith in Allegra, not just because he’s gone head over heels for her, but because it’s a good bet.

But when representatives of the Chicago mob show up and tell him to drop the case, Pascal has to take his greatest gamble yet. With Allegra’s life hanging in the balance, he’ll need to pull off the biggest bluff he’s ever attempted to get her back alive. Even if he does, he’s still left with the question “Who killed Phil?” a question only he is shrewd enough to answer.
(Less)

Tags

fiction, thriller, crime, adventure, mystery, action, detective, poker, gambling, hardboiled

Available ebook reading formats

Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.

Format	Full Book	Sample First 11%
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	Buy	View sample
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	Buy	Download sample
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	Buy	Download sample
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	Buy	No sample available
RTF (readable on most word processors)	Buy	No sample available
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)	Buy	Download sample
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Buy	Download sample
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Buy	No sample available
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	Buy	No sample available

Reviews

Log-in to write a Review   Log-in to add a Video Review

Review by: Dam Good Publishing on April 26, 2012 :
Can you create a better philosophically risk-taking gambler addicted detective than Pascal? I doubt it. He oozes Descartes, Kierkegaard, Socrates, and more if they were alive today and gambling men. I wish I could give away the entire plot to this story, but I can't. I will tell you that Pascal's easy job of investigating the case of Phil LaPierre's death turns out to be not so easy in the end.
You'll find out when you read this book, and if you are anything like me, you are going to love this ending. For readers who enjoy some sexy action adventures with some philosophical gambling, and a whole lot of mystery, this is the book for you.
A free copy was provided on April 3, 2012 for review.

You'll find out when you read this book, and if you are anything like me, you are going to love this ending. For readers who enjoy some tantalizing scenes (nothing super erotic), action, adventure, a tiny bit of romance and a whole lot of mystery, this is the book for you.
A free copy was provided on April 3, 2012 for review.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Reason for report:
— Select a reason — Book is or contains spam Book infringes copyright Same content is published elsewhere with different author (for ex., by private-label rights) Duplicate Incomplete work (such as sample or serial) Should be marked adults-only Category is inappropriate Poorly formatted Nudity or other inappropriate content on cover Nudity or other inappropriate visual content in book Inappropriate erotica content Cover image is improper Content is inappropriate Other violation of Terms of Service Other reason not shown above.

Additional details: