River Card

"Who was she trying to fool? Herself? A little late for that. She had to win; her survival depended on it."

Do you have what it takes to lose it all? Find out in Joan Destino's stunning debut novel, "River Card."

Georgia Kassov Cates is a business woman, a wife, a mother...and a gambling addict. Desperate to recoup a devastating string of losses, she risks it all for one last game-a game that's abruptly halted when the Las Vegas casino succumbs to a freak blackout.

Georgia meets some fellow patrons of the Las Vegas casino, including the wealthy Melanie Nallis, a woman haunted by her horrific childhood; Zivah Koski, an enigmatic elderly holocaust survivor; Phillip Vance, a billionaire casino developer; and Milt Braverman, a professional poker player.

As they get to know each other, a connection is slowly revealed: postwar Germany, a time and place that is reflected in" River Card"'s novel-within-a-novel, "Alexandra."

Alternating between the opulence and depravity of 1940s Germany, and the glamor and baseness of 1990s Las Vegas, "River Card" reflects Georgia's mounting fears-both past and present-as she plays one last hand...