The Prop

The Prop is a book I picked up off a clearance rack at Borders. I read two young adult novels by the author, Pete Hautman. Godless was a book I enjoyed, but I was more ambivalent toward Invisible. The Prop is about Peeky, a middle-aged woman who works as a prop player at a Tucson Indian casino. A prop player is someone employed by the casino to prop up the action at a poker table when players leave and the game is shorthanded. Peeky enjoys her work and is successful at it. Things begin to change when she shares in a jackpot meant for someone else in a fixed game. Even though she suspects it was fixed, she feels she is due for some luck and that it is the job of the security staff to catch the cheaters. Following the fixed game, Peeky is playing at the casino when four men wearing clown costumes burst into the card room with guns. The robbery quickly goes bad, as four people end up dead, although the robbers make off with over one million dollars. Peeky is disheartened to realize that one of the robbers is her boyfriend, Buddy, but she chooses not to reveal this fact to the authorities or her bosses at the casino. In addition, Peeky's son-in-law Eduardo comes to her with the news that her daughter, Jaymie, is addicted to crack. Jaymie has been stealing money from Peeky to support her habit, and has now disappeared. Peeky and Eduardo become involved with lowlifes as they go in search of Jaymie. Meanwhile, the reclusive founder of the casino comes to Peeky looking for help with the direction of the casino and with the robbery. He admires her way of reading people, the same quality that makes her successful at poker. Although he realizes she has not always been up front with him, he sees her as the only person who can help unravel the mysteries of what goes on at the casino. She agrees to become his eyes and ears, as she also tries to unravel the mysteries of exactly who her boyfriend is and what to do about her daughter. I went into this book looking for something like Carl Hiaasen's writing, and while I noticed similarities, it wasn't quite as absurd. Maybe it is because it is hard to measure up to Hiaasen's depictions of Florida. Anyway, the story itself was engaging, with an interesting mix of unusual characters populating the casino. I was not very interested in the poker scenes, as I know nothing about Texas hold'em, but others might be more appreciative. As a mystery, it was enjoyable as a whole.

This is my first Pete Hautman book in some time and it was well worth the wait. I enjoy books that involve gambling and are well written and this one surely qualifies. It is right up there with James Swain's numerous books involving Tony Valentine. In using Patty Kane as the narrator, Hautman does a difficult thing. I could find no place in the book where I felt "Peekey" as she is called, was anything less than authentic. I spend half the year in Tucson, so I was familiar with the venues she described which were not fiction. However, the Casino Santa Cruz has yet to be built (which is probably a good thing) and while Hautman may live in Minnesota, he has certainly spent a fair amount of time in The Old Pueblo. If you like a book that is fast paced, has a lot of interesting characters and spins a yarn that keeps you turning the pages, this is for you. I loved it.

I was a bit disappointed about the poker scenes in Pete Hautman's previous poker theme titles but The Prop more than makes up for that as this book is "the nuts" of poker fiction. Pete captures the deep layers of the poker world and spins a great tale involving cowboys, indians and the gamblers of the world. Those not as versed in poker will find this an easy enough primer of the intricate psychology involved and will find it a delightful compliment to the deeper mysteries of the plot.

I've been a fan of Pete Hautman since his quirky DRAWING DEAD. Hautman himself is a big poker fan and the poker theme runs through much of his work--including STONE COLD, his cautionary young adult novel. The tone here is much more noir than his previous work, so if you enjoy that end of the genre, you'll be at home here. For myself, I know next to nothing about poker but that didn't stop me from enjoying this novel. Hautman nails the casino environment, the poker jargon, the breezy dialogue, tribal politics, and makes excellent use of the Arizona setting. But it's the vivid characters that make the book shine. Peeky Kane is an atypical female protagonist, sort of a low-key, blowzy-but-wiser Stephanie Plum, on the cusp of middle age and carrying far more baggage. She and the other characters will haunt you long after you put this one down. The first person/present tense voice and just-right word choices raise the literary bar for crime fiction. Genre writing just doesn't get any better than this. At writing conferences, Hautman is quick to point out that Elmore Leonard was a major influence. For my money, I'd rather read the next Pete Hautman than the next Elmore Leonard. THE PROP earns him a spot at the top of the pantheon.

In Arizona, fortyish widow Peeky Kane works as one of three props at the Casino Santa Cruz owned by a Native American tribe. As a prop, Peeky fills in at poker tables where there are not enough players. She is paid for an eight hour shift, but wins or losses at the tables are personal income. Because she is a good money manager especially at the tables, Peeky has saved some but also finds much of her profit goes towards her troubled twenty-one year old daughter Jaymie. However, Peeky's life takes a nasty turn when crooked dealers at the casino begin stealing money and she unwittingly becomes involved in the scheme. Things spin even further out of control when clowns rob the casino of millions and leave four dead; Peeky thinks her boyfriend Buddy may be one of the jokers who robbed and killed. While she finds herself drafted by Hector Vega, "founder" of the Santa Cruz tribe, to help him save the casino and subsequently the tribe, Peeky also wonders how to save crack addicted Jaymie. THE PROP is an exciting amateur sleuth whodunit starring a fabulous heroine whose life goes from calm to chaos in seemingly a nanosecond. The story line is action-packed but the real fun besides a delightful investigation resides in the casino where bluffing had meant winning or losing a hand, but has new meaning with one's life at stake. Pete Hautman coolly antes up a strong thriller that pull an inside straight fun look at poker mania. Harriet Klausner