He’s a ‘card mechanic’ - someone who cheats at cards. But that's not all he cheats at...

It's a decent book, but very much like other books like this that I have read. Man meets other man's wife and instantly must have her. Then cooks up some plan to get rid of the other man. And so on, and so on. This story is a little different, with its big focus on card playing and card cheating, but it follows the standard plotline of these type of books. And it has the usual ending. The dude should have stuck to what he himself thought:

"Don't gamble. Stick to your trade and don't take chances." 'Nuff said. ( )

William Maynard, a former magician turned card shark, was run out of Chicago following a botched poker scheme. Following a nasty dust up, Bill befriends a dentist and finds himself with an invitation to a low stakes card game. It’s there that he meets Joyce, the sultry wife of tax lawyer Murray Rogers. Before long, Bill finds himself tangled up in the sheets with Joyce and the two hatch a plan to frame Murray for murder, eliminating him from the picture. Will their plan succeed or will Bill’s luck run out once again?

While the story progressed swiftly and the twists and turns refused to let up, it’s the banter between the characters as well as Bill’s narration that kept me from putting the book down. Granted, my knowledge isn’t the strongest when it comes to card games – I barely know how to play anything outside of Go Fish – I rarely felt intimidated when Block gave the play-by-play in describing Bill’s cheating methods It’s not like he held my hand or over explained things, Block kept the scenes moving smoothly and was careful not to get bogged down in the technical aspects of it all.

Now that I’ve got a few of these Hardcase Crime novels under my belt, I can easily say that this was the most sex-driven yet. While I’m sure there may be others on the horizon that will give Lucky At Cards a run for its money, this takes the cake for the time being. Hey, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a complaint, the sex scenes aren’t overly gratuitous by any means nor are they really all that lengthy, they’re just abundant I suppose.

While Bill’s not really that likeable – he’s a card shark who specializes in cheating others – you just can’t help but root for him to succeed. It’s bewildering to say the least. It’s not like Block does him any favors. Even if he shows the smallest glimmer of light escaping from Bill’s criminally hardened facade, he quickly covers him in another layer of scum. This is the great thing about the pulps of this era, the characters are deeply flawed so their decisions aren’t always the right ones, which makes the story wholly unpredictable.

Lucky at Cards is another exceptional release from the folks at Hardcase Crime who continue to strive to keep this genre alive and well. ( )

Like the rest of the Block novels I've read recently (4 in all) the writing may not be the prettiest, but it's always effective and fast-paced. This is another good grifting story like "The Girl With the Long Green Heart" or "Grifter's Game." A former magician-turned-card shark gets in over his head when he stops in upstate New York and falls in love with the young wife of an old tax lawyer. It's basically "The Postman Always Rings Twice" meets "Rounders." It probably would have helped to understand gin a little better, but not essential.

That is all. ( )

What's not to love about this book. Vintage Block. A card sharp winds up in a small town to get his teeth fixed, gets in a card game where he uses his card skills to win some money, is recognized as a card shark by the host's beautiful wife who wants out of her marriage, they conspire, but the card shark falls for a local school teacher and the con begins to collapse around him. Sounds hokey, but in Black's deft hand, it works, and you keep reading. The book was first written under a different name in the sixties and my goodness it's astonishing how much smoking everyone did. Not a great book, obviously, but a good fun read. My hat's off to Hard Case Crime books for bringing many of these books back into print. ( )

Originally released in 1964 as “The Sex Shuffle” under the by-line Sheldon Lord, it is a real coup for the Hard Case Crime imprint getting this to print as Block is notoriously reticent about his early pseudonymous books. This one deserves rediscovery – it is another cracking, hard-boiled, pot-boiler from Block. Bill Maynard, an ex-magician, now professional card mechanic has been run out of Chicago, with smashed teeth and broken thumbs, after having being caught scamming the wrong people. Washing up in an out-of-the-way burg he ends up in the company of a group wealthy gents who play a weekly poker game. Bill falls in lust with the sexy (ex-prostitute?) wife of one of the card players and the pair are soon plotting an elaborate scam to make off with her husband’s fortune. Their clever plan is going well until another woman enters the scene and Bill and Joyce’s scheme begins to rapidly and dangerously unravel. Block’s writing is first class – the pace is brisk throughout and the plot is appropriately complex and convoluted, with a twist coming on top of the twist ending. The dialogue is sparse, clever and tough talking throughout. The descriptions of poker play and the strategies of a cardsharp are interwoven throughout the book and are quite compelling in and of themselves. “Lucy At Cards” is an excellent pulp crime novel, with Block once again showing his skill at drawing readers in by building a riveting and overpowering sense of suspense. ( )