Vegas Knights

Vegas Knights was one of those books I took a chance on. The bright cover with it's aerial shots of Sin City's bright lights caught my attention from the new releases rack and I picked it up. I'd never read or heard of author Matt Forbeck before. The front cover blurb proclaimed 'It's Ocean's Eleven meets Harry Potter when two college students scam a Vegas casino - using magic'

The back cover description didn't give me a lot more, but I love Vegas and I'm a sucker for a decent caper novel, so I decided to see what this was all about.

I tend to disagree with the Ocean's Eleven meets Harry Potter comparison, although that is how Matt Forbeck pitched the concept. Ocean's Eleven was about a heist and this isn't what the two 'heroes' of Vegas Knights are about, they use magic to alter the cards on the table and thus affect the outcome of the game. I also find the Harry Potter thing to be way overused now. It's became common for anyone learning magic in fiction to be compared to J.K Rowling's boy wizard whether or not it's a valid comparison. If I were asked to provide a front cover blurb for Vegas Knights it would be: 'Bringing Down the House with magic'

The book's opening sequence reminded me very strongly of Ben Mezrich's Bringing Down the House (filmed as 21) and that's pretty much what it is until one of the protagonists, the irresponsible Bill, gets drunk and lets a pretty Indian shaman by the name of Powi in on what he can do. From that point on Bill and Jackson (the narrator) find themself drawn into a game where the stakes aren't money, they're life and the fate of the world.

It's a fast paced, easily written book. The prose is nothing to rave over, but it gets the point across and being a fan of Vegas and con jobs I liked the idea and the inclusion of colourful footnote characters from history such as Harry Houdini and Bugsy Siegel.

It won't tax your brain much, but you'll probably have a lot of fun reading Vegas Knights. At times it's rather like reading a movie and it was no surprise to find out that Matt Forbeck is a game designer and did pitch Vegas Knights as both a game and a movie before making it into a novel.

Jack of Hearts

The second collection of Jack of Fables adventures opens with Jack hiding out from the literals in the Wyoming mountains along with Pecos Bil, John Henry and Alice from Alice in Wonderland. To pass the time Jack tells his companions the reason why he doesn't feel the cold.

Back in the Homelands Jack was once the consort of Lumi, the Snow Queen (Fables readers would know Lumi as one of the Adversary's key commanders, she's currently trapped in the capital under Sleeping Beauty's spell) and she gave him control of the winter. As usual Jack made a mess out of it and had to flee the kingdom for his life. It was nice to go back to the Homelands and see the Fables team's unique take on some old fairy tales. Miffed that the other three didn't believe his story Jack takes off for Las Vegas alone.

Outside of Vegas Jack meets up with Gary the Pathetic Fallacy and uses that individuals unique abilities to make a fortune on the tables. After a big night Jack wakes up in bed with a beautiful blonde called Holly, who just happens to be the heiress to a gambling fortune. Unfortunately Jack's incredibly wealthy new father-in- law owes his fortune to a group of Belgian mafiosi who are determined to collect one way or another.

Meanwhile a vicious Fable who goes by the name of Lady Luck is torturing and killing anyone with unnatural luck, Jack and his new family are on her radar, as are two nerds who have come into possession of a magical horseshoe. Gary has fallen in love with a mannequin he calls Noelle.

The Belgian mafia manage to blow up Jack, his wife Holly and father- in- law as revenge, the only reason Jack survives, is because he's a popular Fable and the Mundane's belief in him keeps him alive, he also made a number of deals with various devils back in the day in the Homelands.

Jack inherits his dead wife's fortune and gets a visit from Lady Luck. She gives him an ultimatum and that's something you should never do to Jack. He manages to arrange it so that the Literals on the hunt for him wind up bagging Lady Luck. Jack's dead wife's lawyer fixes the will so that Jack winds up with nothing, and he and Gary end up on the run from Vegas.

Remember the nerds? A strange twist of fate involving the horseshoe brings Noelle to life and one of the nerds ends up with her.

It was pretty wild and crazy stuff. It's different to Fables, but in a good way. I have a strange liking for Gary. He is pathetic, it's true, but he's amazingly powerful. I have to confess I don't and never have understood why he puts up with Jack.