The gambler by J.P. Pomare

This second novel in the Vince Reid PI thriller series, following The wrong woman (2022), sees veteran private detective Reid taking on what is supposed to be an easy case proposed by his former police mentor, only to find it way more complicated and dangerous than he bargained for. But he is hooked, he is driven to solve the mystery and tie off the loose ends of a present day shooting and also a cold case that is possibly linked to it. The case sees him venturing into a charged political campaign, artificial intelligence scams, conspiracy theories, and, bizarrely, the non-electronic world of the Amish community.

The nice thing about this detective story is the central character, the down-to-earth and vulnerable detective Reid. He is fallible, he doesn’t have a good grasp of the digital world, he relies on friends to help him out in that respect; and he is human, he gets scared and he even cries, as also does his boyfriend Peyton. But Reid persists, even after his employers have accepted his findings and signed him off the case, he knows there is still something unresolved. He keeps going until he has all the answers.

The chapters are mostly in Reid’s voice in present time, but there are also some in the voice of Katie, the victim of an apparent random shooting by a berserk woman, and then a few set in the past, in the voice of Joe researching the Amish community. The swapping of voices and timelines is not hard to follow, and the pace moves quickly as the pieces start to come together in true thriller style. The plot is intriguing and will keep you guessing until the last pages.

Young adult readers may be drawn to this thriller with its modern themes of artificial intelligence, internet scams and gambling. Other readers may identify with the more old-world style of the ageing detective. Pomare has created a thriller that will appeal to a variety of audiences.

Themes: Thriller, Detectives, Extortion, Internet scam, Artificial Intelligence, Gambling, Murder.

Helen Eddy