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No House Limit (1958)

by Steve Fisher(Favorite Author)

3.47 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

0843959630 (ISBN13: 9780843959635)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Hard Case Crime

series

Hard Case Crime

review 1: "No House Limit" is a very unusual and unique novel by one of the most undersung masters of noir, Steve Fisher. It is structured somewhat like a screenplay--perhaps not surprising, since Fisher spent decades in Hollywood--and concerns the attempts of the unnamed syndicate in Vegas to break the bank of a casino owned by a lone wolf by hiring the world's best gambler. That's about it for high concept, but what keeps the reader reading (at least this reader) is Fisher's interwoven threads of the various casino employees working day and night to fend off the attack by the syndicate. In the process many of these characters evolve mightily, and there are a few genuine surprises along the way. If you want a formula noirish crime caper set in pre-Rat Pack Las Vegas, this is no... moret it. If, however, you want to see a different way of looking a heist story, then you should read this book.
review 2: Steve Fisher can write. There's no doubt about it. The pacing of the book is excellent, but it's marred by it's cartoonish female characters, each on more two-dimensional (and stupid) than the next—Cottontop scrapes her way to something resembling a character arc by the end, but it doesn't make up for the other two. I was hoping for a clever ending to match the set up, but was let down by what felt like a cheat. Maybe if I knew more about craps I could argue its authenticity. But, as it's no longer 1958, I doubt there are many who can. less

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