Book Review: Pokergeist by Michael Phillip Cash

I have read a handful of Michael Phillip Cash's books and this is my favorite so far.

Summary

Oliver "Clutch" Henderson has a couple relatives who were legendary poker players and is not too bad himself, he managed to make it to the final game in The International Series of Poker. He finds himself facing a rookie, Adam "The Ant" Antonowski. 

The Ant manages to thwart Clutch right before Clutch bites the dust, making this his last chance to prove his grandfather Buster was wrong about him and win the tournament... or is it?

Telly and Gretchen are struggling to make ends meet and she encourages him to follow his dreams with his only real experience being from reading Henderson's books.

Telly's luck keeps getting worse and inadvertently ties fates with Clutch. Clutch is determined to bracelet that is awarded to the victor of the tournament through Telly who is reluctant from the start.

Review

Cash did a really good job of creating unlikable characters: The Ant, Buster, Jenny (Clutch's wife), and Rob Couts were terrible but they came across as slightly stereotypical. I liked most of the book but the interactions between Clutch and Telly killed the vibe for me.

Additionally, the ending became beyond cheesy approximately halfway through. After the main plot twist I started to lose some interest.

It is a decent read even if you do not know much about poker. It is clear from the game descriptions that Cash has a love for the game; I just wish an equal amount of effort would have gone into the ending.

In addition to the book I also received a poker chip on a key chain and a deck of cards with the book's title on them which I thought was a nice touch.



Find it here: Pokergeist by Michael Phillip Cash

I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review, all opinions are my own.