The Elders family have a reputation for being cheats, thieves, and convicts, but nineteen-year old Jamie Elders plans to break free of the town and its people and start over by using her talents as a poker savant. Fate doesn't want to let her go, however, and she's drawn into a web of debt, lies, and murder.

When her younger brother, Toby is implicated in a murder Jamie knows he is innocent of, she sets out to find a way to save him. She'll have some tough choices to make. Will she be able to prove her brother's innocence without ultimately sacrificing her own freedom and dreams?

For the most part, I found this book to be straightforward and although many of the character's relationships are complicated, it was clear as to their intent towards one another. Many of the small-town inhabitants are indeed unlikable. Beaten down, as it were, by their circumstances. Yet Jamie is a young woman with a strong sense of right and wrong. She clearly wants to come down on the side of right, but is hard-pressed to find a way to do so.

My only criticism is that, while poker games and tournaments are a consistent theme throughout the story, I know almost nothing about poker and found myself confused and a bit frustrated. I am not sure how the author could have rectified this, but what comes to mind is a list of poker terminology at the back of the book. That might be helpful.

So who do I think this book would appeal to? Adult mystery fans regardless of gender, readers who can't resist learning about the underbelly of small-town politics, and yes, poker aficionados!