Kindle Edition Audiobook Amazon Tom Minder - Novels and Short Fiction Category:  Mystery/Suspense Publisher: Black Rose Writing ISBN-10:  1684331226 Type: Fiction Pages: 181 Copyright: Oct 11, 2018 ISBN-13: 9781684331222 Price: $5.99 (eBook) A tale of murder, mayhem, cheesesteaks, and archery. Someone is shooting up Dirty Sam's Casino. Can the Long Harbor police get their man, or woman, before a casino heist, a slots player who disappears in a puff of smoke, and a crossbow-toting florist can thwart the investigation? Oh, for the simpler days or illegal gambling.            Excerpt LaVonne Wilson pulled the log book from her satchel and smiled at the Hello Kitty sticker waving back. She entered her position: third level parking, inner lane, facing the elevator atrium. She checked Mickey and made her entry: Time: 10:45 p.m. Status: All Quiet. She put the log away and continued to walk past the endless row of cars. I wonder who’s winning in Dirty Sam’s tonight, and how many mortgage payments are being lost. Swinging her flashlight, she exposed the dark corners of her domain. Nobody lurking. Good. She stopped and moved the light to a Nissan about ten cars down: some poor guy, head pressed against the driver’s side window, sleeping it off, no doubt. I’ll have to rouse him and send him on his way. The casino isn’t running a flophouse. Tapping the end of the flashlight against the window, she shouted, “Hey buddy, wake up. Time to hit the road.” No response. She leaned in and rapped with her knuckles. That’s when she saw the blood splattered on the dashboard and the shattered windshield. She shone the light on the man. “Oh, my God!” She fell to one knee and vomited the chicken noodle soup she had just eaten. Catching her breath, she called her supervisor. She stood, using the door handle for support, and forced herself to look at the man. That poor guy looks familiar. What’s left of his face, anyway. Ten minutes later, a heavyset EMT spilled out of the ambulance, saw LaVonne, stuffed his overhanging shirt into his pants, seemed to check his breath, and walked toward the Nissan. “Hi LaVonne. How’s my favorite member of law enforcement?” “I’m not a cop, Ray. I’ve told you that. Just a guard doing her rounds.” She nodded toward the car. “Here’s the victim. Looks like he was shot at close range.” She pointed to the concrete floor. “Watch out for the puke.” Ray sidestepped the puddle of mushy noodles, leaned forward, and looked into the front seat. “Wow. What a mess!” He called to his partner. “Hey Billy. No need for an IV. This guy’s long gone.”

Good Reading
How many times do you suppose money changes hands in a casino?

While it might be that the “house always wins” sometimes the good guys and the bad guys do too. The house in this fun story is Dirty Sam’s Casino in Long Harbor, New Jersey. There is a lot to this easy to read story. There’s murder, mayhem and even a Senior Day gamble. I do have to warn you that if you are trying to diet or count your Weight Watcher points, this would be a tough book to read. Chief Porfino and Detective Ted Hanson will have your mouth watering for absolutely any type of onion rings, Dirty Fries, steak and cheese sub, grilled beef and provolone, meatball sub…well, you get the gist of what I’m trying to say.

Tom Minder is pretty good in developing his characters. There were of lot of them, but I had no trouble in keeping them all straight. This might be because they all had a personality, and each had a job or a purpose that the author made clear. I said this was an easy read and it is but you do need to stay focused. There are a lot of twists and turns along with a lot of hints and innuendos about the “bad guys”. If you stay with Tom Minder and pay attention, you might get it. If it takes you all the way to the end to figure out who got what, you’ll still have had a good time.

Tom Minder has some other Long Harbor books. They sound like he creates a lot of different storylines. I’m going to have to check them out.

Well-Written Characters, Great Heist Story
The quirky character descriptions alone intrigued me before I even knew what this book was about. A cross-bow toting florist? I needed to know more about this person.

Long Harbor is filled with some unsavory characters, and it's difficult to figure out who's trustworthy - but that's part of the charm of this book. There's no shortage of suspicious characters, and they'll keep the reader guessing where their loyalties lie, and who did what.

Character development is a strength for this author, and I could easily envision each character, along with their good traits, flaws, and weaknesses. I also snickered several times over things they did or said, and imagined an Ocean's Eleven-type soundtrack playing in the background.

Although the author wrote another book set in Long Harbor with several of the same characters, both are considered standalones. I struggled with the extensive character list - remembering who was who, but that could be because I didn't read the first book. I wouldn't say reading it is a necessity, but it may help with the confusion.

If you enjoy quirky, well-written characters, a briskly paced plot, and a good heist story, I highly recommend The House Always Wins.

Loved It
I absolutely loved this book. What an entertaining read. I found myself laughing out loud at the humorous parts. I look forward to more books by this author.