RING GAME by Pete Hautman - BOOK - ADVANCE READING COPY

Joe Crow has hit rock bottom. First, he misplaces his girlfriend overseas and can't even find her phone number. Then, he loses his nest egg in Las Vegas. And to top it all off, he burns out his Jaguar and ends up in a screaming yellow Pontiac GTO, feeling not at all like the man he wants to be. This is all dismaying enough to make Joe think about giving up the gambling life. Joe had gotten on the bad side of his father's best friend, Axel Speeter. This happened when he unwittingly introduced Axel's almost-daughter, Carmen Roman, to Hyatt Hilton, a one-time coke dealer who claims to be walking the straight and narrow these days. Axel, who's always been suspicious of Hyatt, makes it clear that Joe had better make sure that Hy the Guy is on the level before anyone walks down the aisle. Crow's closer look at Hyatt shoves him into the middle of a dispute between Hilton and the self-styled we'll-never-die cult Hilton helped to found. They call themselves the Amaranthines, and they seem willing to do anything to extend their life spans - including planting Joe Crow in a Dumpster.