LAWRENCE BLOCK - YOU CAN CALL ME LUCKY (KIT TOLLIVER 3) (2013)

Synopsis/blurb…….

 "You Can Call Me Lucky" first appeared in Indian Country Noir, edited by Liz "Bootsie" Martinez and Sarah Cortez, and published by Akashic Books as part of their Noir series. 

Bootsie is a good friend of mine, and I had a hard time saying no when she beseeched me for a story. I felt unqualified, having minimal acquaintance with American Indians and their habitat.

Then I thought of Indian casinos. And I remembered my nameless girlfriend, who'd thus far brightened Hell's Kitchen and Riverdale with her presence. No reason why she had to stay in the five boroughs of New York. Suppose she turned up at an Indian casino in Michigan's Upper Peninsula?

Her adventure up in the U.P. was consistent with her past performance, but somehow the story came out a good deal darker and kinkier. (“That’s a really nasty story,” Bootsie said, “and I mean that in a good way.”) She dons the name of Lucky for the occasion, but we still don't know her real name. (We'll find out in the next story, "Clean Slate," even as we'll find out why she does what she does.

The fellow she hooks up with here, who cannot believe his good fortune, is both a gambler and a collector of casino chips, and I owe that element to my cousin Peter Nathan, an avid collector of and dealer in such chips. Peter, I'm pleased to report, has never run into a real-life equivalent of Our Girl.

Not yet, anyway.

When "You Can Call Me Lucky" first appeared, it bore a different title, "Getting Lucky." I've changed it lest it resonate unhappily with Getting Off, the title of the full-length book containing all of its heroine's adventures. You can pick up that volume, or you can take the next step with Kit in "Clean Slate."

Thanks to Mr Block for already helping to pad my reading stats. for 2016!

The third episode in the Kit Tolliver adventures and we’re away from New York and in Indian territory. Kit cosies up to high-rolling dice player Hank who’s currently scalping the casino. It won’t be the last time that happens tonight.   

A few drinks and a bit of chat and its upstairs to his suite. Out comes the toys and Kit does what she does best. For Frank it’s a crap-out. Kit definitely showing us a dark side here.

When I’m reading Block, there’s never a smile, or a wince or a wry shake of the head too far away.

Catch him at his website here or on Facebook here.

4 from 5

Downloaded in January from Amazon when a FREEBIE. One of twelve parts of a bigger whole, assembled in Getting Off. (What a cover! I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing it.) 

If You Can’t Stand the Heat came first. Here.

Rude Awakening followed. Here.