Void Moon

Void Moon by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown and Company, Hardcover $24.95)

$ $ $ $ $ -- Must Buy (Fiction)

If you like Las Vegas and if you like a good thriller with strong characters and a marvelous plot, then Michael Connelly's new novel, Void Moon will suit you to perfection. Although the major thrust of the plot has nothing whatsoever to do with gambling (in a casino, that is), the main action takes place in Las Vegas and concerns a young lady, Cassie Black, with a rather interesting talent -- she robs high rollers! No, she's not a hooker, or a mugger, she's a burglar who arranges ingenious ways of breaking into high roller suites and finding the money.

Unfortunately, her latest victim is not who she supposed he was -- just a free and easy wealthy Texan out to win a bundle at the baccarat table. Instead, he's the courier for the Cuban Mafia in Florida who has brought with him 2.5 million to "close a deal." Now Cassie has the 2.5 million, the wealthy "Texan" is dead in his suite, and a psychopathic killer who works for the casinos, Jack Karch, is on her trail. (And you thought the psychopathic killers hired by casinos only went after card counters!) And the fun and terror begin!

Connelly is a writer of singular talents in a genre that is often flat and lifeless. His characters are finely drawn, his plot detailed but believable. Fans of Vegas will find the casino scenes to be humming with excitement, made even more so by the cat and mouse game that Cassie must play to earn her living.

The title, Void Moon, refers to a time when the moon is not in any astrological house which means bad luck for the characters who need to pull off delicate schemes in the dead of night without themselves dying.

Void Moon is great fun.

Void Moon is available from Amazon.com in hardcover, audio cassette (abridged), audio cassette (unabridged), and large print editions.