TEMPTATION TOWN: The Jack Barnett / Las Vegas Series, #1
By Mike Dennis
4/5
()
About this ebook
"Dennis' staccato prose keeps the pages turning." -- Jonathan Woods, author of BAD JUJU & Other Tales Of Mayhem And Madness
Jack Barnett has had it with the private eye business. They took his license away in LA, and fearing criminal prosecution, he split town in the middle of the night for Las Vegas, where anyone can become anonymous.
He swears off the business, but his money runs low and when a man offers him $5000 to find his missing daughter, he agrees. He soon wishes he hadn't when the haunting memory of a woman from his past gets in the way.
TEMPTATION TOWN is a hardboiled novelette, the first of the Jack Barnett series from Mike Dennis. Set in the steaming underbelly of Las Vegas, these tales of a reluctant ex-private investigator drag the reader down the darkest streets of Sin City, USA.
The book also comes with an exclusive preview of the second Jack Barnett installment, a novelette called HARD CASH. The third entry in the series, a full novel called THE DOWNTOWN DEAL, is currently available.
Read more from Mike Dennis
FULLY LOADED Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBloodstains On The Wall / Three Stories From The Dark Side Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTHE TAKE Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE EYES Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to TEMPTATION TOWN
Titles in the series (3)
TEMPTATION TOWN: The Jack Barnett / Las Vegas Series, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5HARD CASH: The Jack Barnett / Las Vegas Series, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTHE DOWNTOWN DEAL: The Jack Barnett / Las Vegas Series, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
Angel's Gate: A Shortcut Man Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Fear of Dark Places Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Malone Mystery Novels Box Set: Come What May, Fair Is Foul and Foul Is Fair, Cold Comfort: Malone Mystery Novels Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead Ringer: The Eddie Malloy series, #6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Heartless: The Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries, #4 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ruthless: The Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries, #6 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Wrong Side Of A Gun Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGuillotine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath in Uptown Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Despair Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5'46, Chicago: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5California Thriller Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Tagged for Murder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAim High: The Eddie Malloy series, #7 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cradle of the Deep: A Crime Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road Not Taken Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Procession Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Buffalo Job Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Faint Cold Fear Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild Horses: The Eddie Malloy series, #8 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ice Chest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Things Left Behind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlood Relative Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ivan's Wolf: Detective Kazakov Mysteries, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath on the Rocks Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Charlie Dell Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Breathless: The Mia Kazmaroff Mysteries, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Villiers Touch Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath Doesn't Care Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTribeca Blues Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mystery For You
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dean Koontz: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hidden Staircase: Nancy Drew #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Life We Bury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summit Lake Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eight Perfect Murders: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5None of This Is True: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Sleep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5False Witness: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Murdery Mystery Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sydney Rye Mysteries Box Set Books 10-12: Sydney Rye Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Good Daughter: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kept Woman: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunting Party: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Club: A Reese's Book Club Pick Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ghost of Marlow House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pharmacist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pieces of Her: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Woman in the Library: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Night in the Lonesome October Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for TEMPTATION TOWN
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
TEMPTATION TOWN - Mike Dennis
TEMPTATION
TOWN
––––––––
by
MIKE DENNIS
THE JACK BARNETT / LAS VEGAS SERIES
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is unintended and entirely coincidental. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Mike Dennis.
Published by Mike Dennis
Copyright 2011 by Mike Dennis
Cover designed by Jeroen ten Berge
Edited by Harry Dewulf
Yesterday could never really be discarded.
It was always a part of now. There was just no way to get rid of it.
No way to push it aside, or throw it in an ash can,
or dig a hole and bury it.
For all buried memories were nothing more than
slow-motion boomerangs,
taking their own sweet time to come back.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
––––––––
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
About the Author
Links to other Mike Dennis books
Preview of Hard Cash
1
NOBODY is actually from Las Vegas. It's one of those towns that eats its own. Needs a constant supply of fresh blood, like a vampire.
Fresh blood to keep coming with outlandish ideas that won't work anywhere else. Fresh blood to keep bringing money in to dump on the tables, or pour down the slots, or drop it on somebody else's questionable deals.
Las Vegas. A grifter's heaven for sure, because there's always a new mark somewhere. They flow through McCarran Airport and the Greyhound terminal every day by the thousands, looking to throw money at someone or something, or even just the promise of something. You can find them up in the ritzy suites at the Venetian, in the desperate two-bit motels on the edge of downtown, and everywhere in between.
Even people born and raised here aren't from here. Not really. First of all, there aren't that many of them to begin with. Then, their parents quite likely came from somewhere else. In most cases, the kids leave as soon as they're old enough, looking to connect with more sensible locations. Most of those who defy the odds and stay eventually wish they hadn't, because what the city needs can't be produced locally.
Halt the flow of fresh blood into Las Vegas and you might as well halt the flow of water. The whole place would dry right up.
≈≈≈
Take me, for instance. I moved up here from LA about eight months ago, back in May of '01. An old buddy of mine was a pit boss at the Desert Inn and told me he could get me on there in some kind of job.
Moving seemed like the right thing to do because things were starting to close in on me in the City of Angels. I'd lost my private investigator's license for pushing a guy around and doing some other stuff while trying to collect a debt for a client. Problem was, the guy had big juice, so before I knew it, my license was gone. He was threatening criminal action against me, too, so late one night, I packed up and headed out while I still could.
Not long after I got to Las Vegas, they announced they were going to blow the Desert Inn up. Then, September 11th blew a hole in the country. So I stayed on, scuffling around in the poker rooms for awhile until I could find something.
Well, it wasn't long until something found me.
It started late one winter night downtown at Binion's, two or three months after they imploded the DI. I was sitting at a low-limit seven-card stud table. A hand tapped my shoulder twice. It belonged to the swing shift supervisor.
Jack,
he said in a low tone. Someone here to see you.
He gestured toward the cardroom entrance.
Glancing that way, I