Pokergeist

by Michael Phillip Cash

Overview

Sometimes life, as well as death, is about second chances. Luckless Telly Martin doesn't have a clue. An awful gambler trying to scrape by as a professional poker player, he becomes the protégé of world famous poker champion Clutch Henderson. The only catch...Clutch is a ghost. Telly and Clutch must navigate the seedy gambling underbelly of Las Vegas learning to trust each other in order to win the elusive International Series of Poker, repair their shattered personal relationships and find redemption in this life and the hereafter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512074963
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	07/15/2015
Series:	Haunting on Long Island , #4
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.81(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Michael Phillip Cash is an award-winning screenwriter and novelist. He's written many books and screenplays in the horror, suspense, thriller and fantasy genres. He resides on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.

Editorial Reviews

10/26/2015
Cash (Witches Protection Program) puts plenty of old-fashioned warmth into this playful story of good-hearted gamblers and second chances, but stereotypical characters and a plodding plot make it feel more like a sketch than a fully developed novel. Telly Martin, down on his luck, makes a wish to achieve his dream of becoming a poker champion. He becomes bound to the smart-talking ghost of Clutch Henderson, a world-renowned player who died at the previous year’s International Series of Poker but wants one more chance to earn the coveted winner’s bracelet. Both man and ghost have woman troubles; Telly is trying to make things work with his frustrated girlfriend, Gretchen, while Clutch helplessly watches the fight between his greedy wife and his beloved girlfriend over the money he has left. The concept would make a good screenplay, evocative of It’s a Wonderful Life, but without the charisma of actors, Cash’s words don’t deliver the emotional punch that would make the story worthwhile. (BookLife)

Publishers Weekly

2015-08-31
After poker champion Clutch Henderson drops dead after losing the International Series of Poker, his ghost haunts wannabe player Telly Martin, touching off an uproarious adventure in which both the living and the dead discover their true selves. Cash (Witches Protection Program, 2015, etc.) assembles a cast of eccentric characters, from sepulchral hoodie-shrouded Adam "the Ant" Antonowski to Clutch's drunken ex, Jennifer, who gets arrested for using crooked dice in the casino. Much of the humor derives from the confusion of Telly responding to ghostly Clutch while others, who don't see or hear Clutch, stand by to misinterpret. Though it's a well-worn premise, Cash proves to be highly capable of juxtaposing the absurd and the mundane, creating a thoroughly enjoyable comic ghost story along the lines of The Canterville Ghost (1891) or Topper (1926). Clutch, for instance, is a spirit with an eye for the ladies. As he wanders the Las Vegas Strip, he inserts himself within a group of drunken women, one of whom vomits on him. When he later sees the same thing happen to Telly—the proverbial nice guy who always finishes last—a connection is made, and the ghost decides to help this poor soul. The writing is sharp, with pointed imagery foreshadowing events to come. Dumbfounded when he finds out the ghost is Clutch, "Telly opened and closed his mouth like a hooked trout." An out-of-work casino IT specialist, Telly has always dreamed of making his living at poker. Despite their dire straits and his girlfriend Gretchen's pregnancy, she grants him the opportunity before insisting he take a job driving a cab (a secret tidbit of which Clutch is aware). But Telly is an awful player, and even with Clutch's cheating, he's too honest and guilt-ridden to pull it off. Meanwhile, the ghost himself has issues with his exes, father, daughter, and his own angel guide. Despite Telly's reluctance and Clutch's rather callous and selfish approach to spiritual guidance, Telly eventually makes it to the tournament, where he faces off against the mysterious Ant in front of an audience featuring every whacky character in the book. Bet on this funny, well-written tale of second chances.

Kirkus Reviews