Great New Review from Florida Book Review

I have a couple good emails that I want to respond to, but I just got an outstanding review on ALL OR NOTHING by reviewer John Rodonis and the great people at FLORIDA BOOK REVIEW (http://www.floridabookreview.com/id1.html) that I'd like to share with you.


. . . Allen examines the flaming abyss compulsive gambling burns in its victims’ guts, self-esteem and bank accounts, the desperate, myopic immediacy it incites, the self-destructive need it feeds on, the families and relationships it destroys. For with gamblers, it really is all or nothing. Usually nothing. Take it from a reviewer who’s been there. Allen is right on the money here.

"If someone says, Buy some medicine for me with this $20, my life depends on it, and you go to the casino, you will blow all of your money, all of the money in your ATM up to the daily maximum, then dig around in your pockets for whatever spare change you have remaining, and blow the $20 your friend gave you, whether his life depends on it or not. You will leave with nothing. Every penny you have goes into the machines because you never know when lady luck is going to dance with you. Tonight, I blew all of my loose cash, blew my daily max on the ATM, then went out to the car and found three quarters and 26 pennies in the toll tray. That made a dollar. That was all I needed."

. . . Allen constructs his plot around wild, sometimes convenient, swings of fortune. P. befriends “C.L.,” a slot-crazed woman he employs to curb his own compulsivity. Soon after, just as casino security closes in on a disguised P who has been barred due to never elaborated on IRS problems, P makes one final desperation slot play and wins $160,000. When he brings his winnings home, his wife, sick of it all, dumps him, refusing the money. P and C.L. move on to Las Vegas where P. discovers—at least for a time—a heretofore unknown discipline and success.

After P. strikes it rich, women are more than willing to “barter” with him in his suite for money to scratch that indelible itch. “C.L.,” “E.V.,” “S.” and “Missy” (the “twelve-step” initialization of names reminds us that these people are addicts), are female characters so degenerately entrenched in “the game” they’ll do anything for another chance to “hit it hard” at the one-arm-bandits, chasing the “ping ping” payoff of hitting “the big one.” P.’s willingness to fund their addiction is their “luck.” As for what happens to his, you’ll have to read the book.

All or Nothing is a recommended read, one that weaves a world where people live and die waiting for “their numbers” to appear in ordered redemption. And if this place proves unrecognizable, then the reader has certainly had little experience gambling.

And my most earnest advice would be to keep it that way.

John Rodonis.

You can check out the complete review at the Florida Book Review's Website. It's worth a visit: http://www.floridabookreview.com/id1.html