Joan Destino

River Card Joan Destino

Who was she trying to fool? Herself? A little late for that. She had to win; her survival depended on it.

Do you have what it takes to lose it all? Find out in Joan Destino?s stunning debut novel, River Card.

Georgia Kassov Cates is a business woman, a wife, a mother?and a gambling addict. Desperate to recoup a devastating string of losses, she risks it all for one last game?a game that?s abruptly halted when the Las Vegas casino succumbs to a freak blackout.

Georgia meets some fellow patrons of the Las Vegas casino, including the wealthy Melanie Nallis, a woman haunted by her horrific childhood; Zivah Koski, an enigmatic elderly holocaust survivor; Phillip Vance, a billionaire casino developer; and Milt Braverman, a professional poker player.

As they get to know each other, a connection is slowly revealed: postwar Germany, a time and place that is reflected in River Card?s novel-within-a-novel, Alexandra.

Alternating between the opulence and depravity of 1940s Germany, and the glamor and baseness of 1990s Las Vegas, River Card reflects Georgia?s mounting fears?both past and present?as she plays one last hand?