A gambling man is someone who likes to gamble and spends money on poker, lottery, or horse races. Depending on the character, they can be a small player or a serious gambler who becomes addicted and starts causing problems for themselves and their friends and family.
David Baldacci returns to the post-World War II era in his latest Private Investigator Archer novel, A Gambling Man. Set in Bay Town, California, in 1949, this menacing mystery brings a cast of brothels, gambling dens, drug operations and government corruption to life.
Rory Sullivan
Rory Sullivan, a renowned artisan woodworker, isn't particularly interested in falling in love. But he's got to admit that when his irritating coworker Zara Mirren starts whistling cheesy pop songs off key and drinking half-empty cups of coffee, it's pretty hard not to fall for her.
Fortunately, she's got a good eye for detail and a flair for creativity. They share a converted warehouse in Bar Harbor, Maine, and they spend their spare time designing funky glasses frames that are both functional and artistic.
But when a storm brewing in their lives threatens to destroy them, they have to find a way to work together. And they have to do it fast.
While they may have a mutual love of witty banter, Juliana and Rory aren't exactly best buds. But when she's abducted by a rival clan, they must team up if they are going to save her.
It's a challenge for Rory to keep his head and stay out of trouble, but he's willing to do whatever it takes. But when a blizzard hits, and the feisty English redhead's rescue is almost derailed by a meddling clan, Rory knows that it's going to take more than a few clever moves to get them through this one.
Rory Sullivan is a director of Chronos Sustainability, an international climate change and responsible investment consulting firm that works with major public and private sector clients. He is also Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute at London School of Economics and Chief Technical Advisor to the Transition Pathway Initiative.
He has almost thirty years' experience in the public and private sectors on these issues, including over fifteen years in investment management. Rory's current projects include supporting the World Bank on its responsible investment in emerging markets programme, acting as technical lead for IIGCC on Paris Aligned Portfolios and advising the PRI, UNEP FI and The Generation Foundation on the Fiduciary Duty in the 21st Century project.
Liberty Callahan
In David Baldacci’s latest Aloysius Archer mystery, the WWII veteran leaves Oklahoma for California with a letter of recommendation from his mentor, private detective Willie Dash. Fortune delivers him a wad of cash, an eye-popping blood-red 1939 Delahaye convertible, and a feisty traveling companion in the form of Liberty Callahan, a aspiring actress who plans to try her luck in Hollywood.
As he travels down the Pacific Coast, Archer and Callahan become friends. But when Eleanor Lamb, a screenwriter and friend of Callahan’s, hires him to find out who is trying to kill her, Archer knows he has a case on his hands.
During the course of their journey, Archer and Callahan encounter an assortment of characters who have trouble with fame, money, addiction, and fear. From Reno, a town where gangsters swarm, to Bay Town, an unholy paradise catering to the worst addictions and fears of the hordes who flocked there seeking fame and fortune, Archer and Callahan are thrust into a whirlwind of crime that is as much as a thriller as it is an investigation.
When Ruby Fraser, the lover of Kemper, a mayor and a candidate for governor, is killed at Midnight Moods, all fingers point to Kemper. But when two other suspicious deaths are discovered at the club, and a third person is abducted, Archer has his work cut out for him in this old-fashioned mystery.
Baldacci evokes the 1940s with gusto and creates memorable characters and a rich, pre-feminist world of smoke, cars, and gas. He also spotlights the ways in which society’s expectations of men and women were set, both by those who were in power and by those who were not.
A Gambling Man is a solid, entertaining mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end. The pace isn’t as fast or as exciting as other thrillers by Baldacci, but the plot has more than enough complexity to hold your interest.
This is a better page turner than the first book in the series and, as with One Good Deed, Baldacci is hitting his stride with this series. He has a more fully-formed, complex, and fully-rounded PI here and his relationship with Liberty is more developed.
Willie Dash
Aloysius Archer is out of jail and ready to get his career back on track in bestselling author David Baldacci's new PI sequel, A Gambling Man. His only possessions are the clothes on his back and an Army Honorable Discharge for service in World War II, and he hops a Greyhound Bus heading west to Bay Town, California to work as an apprentice PI for FBI veteran Willie Dash.
In this action-packed thriller, Archer takes a trip from the small-town hell of Poca City to Bay Town to meet Dash and take on his first case: a blackmail scheme involving a wealthy mayoral candidate with extremely influential in-laws. But the case soon turns into a complex investigation that includes brothels, gambling dens, drug operations, and the secrets of a corrupt town marketing itself as the promised land.
As a former FBI agent, Dash has plenty of experience handling blackmail cases. But he's always been a bit of a gambler himself, which makes him an ideal mentor for Archer, especially when Dash explains to him that a good PI is never afraid to go into dangerous territory.
While he's in Reno, Archer meets Liberty Callahan, a cabaret singer with her eyes on Hollywood, and her luck begins to change his life. He helps her pay off a debt-laden gambler and gets her a 1939 Delahaye 165. But when a ruthless gang of thugs shows up, Archer finds that Liberty's past is just as dark as her future.
Despite this, her friendship with Archer is undeniable and they spend more than their fair share of time at Midnight Moods, a burlesque card club in Bay Town. They also help the police track down a henchman who's been kidnapping young women and selling them to the mob.
The relationship between Archer and Dash is complicated, but they manage to sift through clues together and come up with a number of hypotheses. They're able to infiltrate a variety of criminal organizations and long-hidden secrets, and it's not hard to see why they are so popular in Bay Town.
Frank Nickie
A gambling man is someone who gambles and sometimes loses money. They can be ruthless and can be extremely manipulative. They are a type of criminal that is not afraid to use violence when they feel that they have been treated unfairly. They can be intimidating to other people who are in the same situation as them.
The Gambling Man, based on the novel by Catherine Cookson, is a film about a young man who falls into a gambling ring. He meets Frank Nickie (Bernard Hill), who has certain rules about winners at the table. Rory doesn't agree with these rules, but is forced to follow them in order to make a living.
He is a smart, tough and gritty character who has a quick wit. He has an in your face attitude, but is also a sad character. He is best compared to Lehane's Patrick Kenzie or Connoly's Bird Parker for his tough, gritty, dark and intense personality.
Frank Nickie, also known as "Nicky" or Julius Arnstein, was a renowned criminal who once lived in Baltimore. He bet on horse races under many aliases, and used them to conceal his international criminal record.
In the 1920s, he married Jewish comedienne Fanny Brice. They had two children, Frances and William. The name "Nicky" came from the nickel-plated bicycle that he had as a boy.
The couple moved to New York, where Fanny had a successful career in show business. She starred in the Shubert Brothers' 1912 revue Whirl of Society, and was also in a show called The Little Girl Snooks.
She was a talented singer and dancer, and a successful entertainer in her own right. She was a member of the Follies and made many songs, including her signature number, "Baby Snooks."
But she was also a devoted wife and mother. She was very close to her son, and she would often get him into Little League baseball games, and attend his presentations at school.
Her husband, despite his criminal past, was a very kind man. He was always a pillar of support to his family, and he never got angry with them. He was also an excellent father to his son.