Long-delayed book review

It's been a year and a half since I read and reviewed Deadman's Poker by James Swain. I was mightily irritated at the author for the deception of not including an entire story; there is no advance warning to the reader that the book is only half a novel.

I finally got around to reading Deadman's Bluff, which contains the second half--finished it Monday. Upon rereading the post I wrote about the first one, I find that I have little to add. My guess about how the scamming of the poker tournament was being pulled off was spot-on. But, to my consternation, it is completely implausible in terms of poker (i.e., what the cheaters were doing would be spotted as anomalous very quickly, even if observers couldn't be sure exactly what the odd actions meant).

But it was also unrealistic in terms of practicality. They used a medical technology refitted for poker, and I can assure you, it would never work. Without giving it away (because it's possible that somebody will want to read this trash), the level of precision that the cheaters' equipment would have to be capable of is just unrealistic. Moreover, the medical side effects of the scam, added apparently to heighten the sense of danger and suspense, were just plain wrong. The author either does not understand the substances around which his plot revolves, or willfully misrepresents them.

So despite being a mildly interesting (but excessively long) story, the book fails on every other level. It is headed for the trash, not even being worth taking up space on my crowded bookshelves any longer. Good riddance.