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Last Call by Tim Powers
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Last Call (original 1992; edition 1996)

by Tim Powers

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1,798469,412 (4.07)96
Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:

Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player twenty years ago and hasn't returned to Las Vegas, or held a hand of cards, in ten years. But troubling nightmares about a strange poker game he once attended on a houseboat on Lake Mead are drawing him back to the magical city. For the mythic game he believed he won did not end that night in 1969â??and the price of his winnings was his soul. Now, a pot far more strange and perilous than he ever could imagine depends on the turning of a card.

Enchantingly dark and compellingly real, this World Fantasy Awardâ??winning novel is a masterpiece of magic realism set in the gritty, dazzling underworld known as Las Vegas… (more)

Member:dreamingtereza
Title:Last Call
Authors:Tim Powers
Info:Harper Paperbacks (1996), Paperback
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:fiction, fantasy, alternate history, twentieth century, american literature

Work Information

Last Call by Tim Powers (1992)

  1. 30
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    MyriadBooks: For aspiring to win in a bargain with gods.
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» See also 96 mentions

English (44)  Spanish (1)  French (1)  All languages (46)
Showing 1-5 of 44 (next | show all)
Last Call (1992) by Tim Powers is a complex urban fantasy that puts Los Vegas deep in the uncanny valley. Think David Lynch’s Twin Peaks (1990) with tarot cards, neon lights, and Bugsy Siegel’s ghost. As a child, Scott Crane lost an eye when his father threw a sharpened poker chip at him. In a car chase with hoodlums, his mother saved his life by throwing him into a yacht that belonged to a local wizard. Naturally, he becomes a gambler who eventually plays poker for his soul.
The book abounds with poker lore, pop culture memes, creepy quotes from T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, and symbolic allusions to the Arthurian Grail story. At one point, Powers explains the rules of a fictional version of poker called Assumption. The wary reader will note them well.
Last Call is stylish and readable, with plenty of suspense. Lynch should have made a miniseries from it. ( )
  Tom-e | Sep 13, 2023 |
A wacky mashup of mythology, occult, gambling, with a touch of "Fear and Loathing." ( )
  DDtheV | May 26, 2023 |
No complaints, just kept falling away from it. Took a while to finish. Worth finishing though. ( )
  sarcher | Dec 18, 2022 |
This was one of those rare page-turners... after a certain point I just could not put it down, which is why I started in on the second half of the book around midnight tonight and am just now finishing at 6am. This is a book firing on all cylinders - pitch-perfect characterization, a deep and involving mythology, suspense, thrills, and incredible high stakes. Highly recommended, even to people who don't understand poker (like myself). ( )
  unsquare | Feb 16, 2021 |
I blew right the hell through this one. Not quite as good as I remember it being (hence no five star review), but it's still really, really great. ( )
  skolastic | Feb 2, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 44 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Tim Powersprimary authorall editionscalculated
Lovell, RickCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Potter, J. K.Cover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Georges Leon held his little boy's hand too tightly and stared up from under his hatbrim at the unnaturally dark noon sky.
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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:

Scott Crane abandoned his career as a professional poker player twenty years ago and hasn't returned to Las Vegas, or held a hand of cards, in ten years. But troubling nightmares about a strange poker game he once attended on a houseboat on Lake Mead are drawing him back to the magical city. For the mythic game he believed he won did not end that night in 1969â??and the price of his winnings was his soul. Now, a pot far more strange and perilous than he ever could imagine depends on the turning of a card.

Enchantingly dark and compellingly real, this World Fantasy Awardâ??winning novel is a masterpiece of magic realism set in the gritty, dazzling underworld known as Las Vegas

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The fate of the world / rests in the hands of a Jack / and a long-hand con. (Myriadbooks)

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