Random

Jillette (Presto!), the magician best known as the verbal half of Penn and Teller, unveils an entertaining Las Vegas picaresque. The protagonist, Bobby Ingersoll, is the child of a showgirl and a gambler. His father, Dave, has placed the entire clan in jeopardy by racking up over $2.5 million in debt to the dangerous Fraser Ruphart. With two weeks to go before the debt is due, Bobby happens upon the aftermath of a street fight and finds a bag containing more than $500,000. His good fortune continues when he bets almost that entire windfall at a casino and wins enough to pay off Fraser. Then, Bobby decides that rolling a pair of dice will decide his next choices. A series of entertaining episodes ensue: he tags along with an underwriter of high-stakes promotional betting after meeting the man on a plane, and opens a detective agency for people whose luck has run out. Jillette cleverly addresses the unlikely material, noting how screenwriters often “hang a lamp” on their implausible plot points (he cites Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2: “How can the same thing happen to the same guy again?”). Jillette’s acerbic wit and perfect pacing keep this afloat. Readers will hope Jillette has more fiction up his sleeves. Agent: Steve Fisher, APA Talent and Literary. (Oct.)