Cordelia Kingsbridge - Cash Plays

The Seven of Spades is back with a vengeance—the vigilante serial killer has resumed their murderous crusade, eluding the police at every turn. But a bloodthirsty killer isn’t the only threat facing Sin City. A devious saboteur is wreaking havoc in Las Vegas’s criminal underworld, and the entire city seems to be barreling toward an all-out gang war.
As Detective Levi Abrams is pushed ever closer to his breaking point, his control over his dangerous rage slips further every day. His relationship with PI Dominic Russo should be a source of comfort, but Dominic is secretly locked in his own downward spiral, confronting a nightmare he can’t bear to reveal.
Las Vegas is floundering. Levi and Dominic’s bond is cracking along the seams. And the Seven of Spades is still playing to win. How many bad hands can Levi and Dominic survive before it’s game over?

Comment: This is the third installment in the Seven of Spades series by the author. I have liked the previous stories and there was no doubt I'd want to finish the series.

In this third book, detective Levi and the rest of the police force are still dealing with the aftermath of the last actions taken by the killer known as Seven of Spades. There is even an FBI profiler agent, joining the team, to advance the study of why this killer is doing these things and who could it be. It is also weird that the killer has clearly identified Levi as someone he has connected with which only leaves Levi even more annoyed. At the same time, his boyfriend Dominic is going on with his PI job and things have been quite steady so far, but this new case is putting him in a very complicated position... when some truths come out, can everyone maintain their reason and not do something impossible to undo?

In terms of writing and style, nothing to say about this installment, as it follows the trend we saw in the previous books. I must say one little things still seems a bit annoying here and there is how often the author finishes a scene and suddenly the next chapter starts after whatever had happened or been mentioned is already over. I can't say that whatever was done is that important to have been missed, but it kind of breaks down the pace of what was being said.

The plot begins pretty much after what happened in the previous book and everyone is still dealing with many things, some seem more interesting than others. Police wise, the main issues are now directed to the apparent ongoing situation related to gangs and how it seems as if someone is trying to pit them against each other, to force a possible gang war. I will say that this theme was not one I felt interested in and I could easily skip scenes where the gang actions and characters were being discussed.

A very good choice, in my opinion, about the author's work method is how we get chapters from both Levi and Dominic's POV, in third person. I do like this writing style because it makes me feel closer to the characters and what they are going through without it seeming they are conceited thinking weirdly about themselves. However, I must be a little mean in explaining why my personal preference in regards to something this books also exploited and that is a little exacerbated because of the writing style: Dominic is a recovering gambler and part of why he is so complex and layered is how we got to understand how much damage being an addict to gambling caused him.

I think it would be expected that the author might address this in more detail at some point because before we only got to see the positive side of things since Dominic is recovering, and he is genuinely a wonderful person. Considering this, of course we only had seen the "right" decisions and why Dominic had the strength to deal with his addiction. But all those amazing things aren't a one time deal, any recovered addict is a recovered addict forever and the author has chosen to let us follow Dominic in a setback to his addiction. I can understand why but I will say I disliked having to read about it. Every time Dominic did something he shouldn't I felt like punching him, which I suppose means I felt very strongly about it, so good work author, but at the same time I wish Dominic didn't have to fall back to his vice so we could see him recover again.

I mean, I bet that is where the author is going with this for the next novels but why does this have to be so graphic, we could have Dominic having problems without becoming a gambler again. The fact he justifies that because of work doesn't help and yes, it can be part of his growth as a character and as a human being to recognize he is still flawed, but to me, this was incredibly avoidable.

This aside, the drama is still over the top but I could deal if not for the clear emotional consequences of this in the next story.. especially if I think about how this book ended, with that incredible scene... I think it can be the proof the author is a very clever planner and I can't wait to see how this story wraps up because the killer has to be someone we would not assume could be a killer. 

Basically, thinking about the overall arc of what is going on and the characterization of the characters, this was a good book, but when I think about the major themes discussed (gangs and addiction), I didn't like everything.

Grade: 6/10