Customer Reviews

Deadly Gamble

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book and just could not put it down. At times I laughed at the antics of mojo and her ghostly vistors. Othertimes I cried. In between the ghostly visits is a compelling mystery story that keeps you guessing till the end. Many twists and turns keep the story going and kept me wanting to turn the pages.

Although there is kind of a love story woven into this mystery I felt that it was more a case of intense 'like'. I think there are more books planned so I hope the love story part will be developed over the next books.

Mojo Sheepshanks lives a fairly low-key life, at least presently, until the morning she wakes up with her ex-husband in bed with her. He's a ghost there to get things settled with her so he can leave the train station and make it to Heaven. He's even brought a present, the ghost of the cat her half-brother killed when she was four. Ghosts are the least pressing of her concerns, however. More than one person would like to turn her into a ghost, including the aforementioned brother who killed her parents years ago. Moreover, her ex-boyfriend is back in her life, but at least Tucker is alive. He may be a liar, but he is alive. Mojo may not stay that way if things continue on their present course, but if she can solve the mystery, she might have a better life than ever before.

**** Ms. Miller has been away from the paranormal genre too long, and it's a grand thing that she has returned. Mojo is a quirky heroine whose insights into life are off-beat enough to ring true. The plot moves rapidly from one incident to the next. Danger has never been so much fun. ****

When Mary Joseph "Mojo" Mayhugh was five years old, she witnessed a brutal attack on her parents that left her orphaned. With Mojo's half brother, Geoff, convicted of the crimes, family neighbor Lillian kidnapped the child and raised her as her own. However, a couple of decades later, Lillian lives in Sunset Villa nursing home, where she seems to be wasting away, while Mojo resides above Bad-Ass Bert's Biker Saloon in Cave Creek, Arizona, not remembering anything before the abduction.

She is now twenty eight years old and her love life is either too hot or too cold and her employment record stinks. Now her late former husband Nick decides to haunt her and she is seeing ghosts; though some are still alive as her maternal Uncle Clive Larimer claims chance enabled him to find her after twenty three years and someone is stalking her. She is attracted to undercover cop Tucker Darroch, which irritates Nick. Finally, Lillian's stepdaughter Greer hires Mojo to learn if her husband is cheating. Mojo believes she has found her calling as she ponders what Nick and the other ghosts, her politician uncle, and convict Geoff want of her, what to do about her past as a Mayhugh and her future perhaps with Tucker, and finally what about that allegedly cheating spouse; all that while someone wants the truth to remain buried.

DEADLY GAMBLE is a fun zany contemporary tale that has elements from several sub-genres that mix delightfully well together into a wonderful cohesive novel. Mojo keeps the story line focused as she finds her past and present crashing on her head making her future not look too bright while the support cast enhances understanding of the pressures that converge on the beleaguered, bewildered and benign heroine. The story line is action-packed, filled with Lind Lael Miller's trademark amusing asides and barbs. Fans of paranormal romantic suspense will want to read Ms. Miller's marvelous madcap mayhem.

Harriet Klausner

No matter what genre Linda choses to use, she shines. She has given life to another set of beloved characters with warmth, humor, and sex appeal. This is by far one of my favorite LINDA books, and look forward to the next installment.

I love Linda Miller's western-based romances. I have read all of the ones I have found. I read them to escape from the bad stuff that makes up a lot of the world today - and to feel good! I grabbed this- because she wrote it and the cover appeared to be just that- another western romance.

But what the heck happened here??? It is like she read Janet Evonovich's 'How I Write' book, and tried to write like she does! Only it was a lot more gory- and not the side-splitting humor that Evonovich has. This was a bloodbath beginning to end- with a lot of loopholes left open for future books to solve. Every concievable plot and sub-plot is toss in for 'added appeal'. And the amount of romance is pretty close to pathethic, as is the setting- it could take place anywhere.

The plot? A woman sees- as a child- her parents murdered- is covered in blood- hides in order to escape... does not remember the details- is kidnapped by a well meaning woman. Has a bad marriage with a cheating husband. Is a medical transcriber who barely makes ends meet- but wait- she 'becomes' a privite detective with one of her how-to books... and is very bad and stumbling about it- but her sometime boyfriend undercover cop- hurting from a bad marriage has to save her at the last minute from being carved up from psyco women and half-brother. Oh, she has regular chats with the ghost of her dead husband, her dead cat, and in the end a murdered 7 year old girl. Oh, and dogs that eat lunchmeat with the wrappers or who get poisoned by accident because of course everyone is trying to kill the main character. Oh, and she has 2 sisters who are not 'really' related- one black and one a white former hooker....hmmmm

I am beyond annoyed that someone like Miller, who KNOWS how to write, and write WELL, would decide to shift into this sort of crap writing style (and I love Evonovich don't get me wrong, but she is probably the only one who can get away with it and make it truly funny). I will really be careful before I toss a book in my basket just because Miller wrote it!!

Mojo Sheepshanks has had a hard life. Parents murdered when she was five , older stepbrother confessed to the murder, kidnapped and raised by a woman who later also took in a teenage runaway but became mother to both of them,and got a stepsister when her "mom" married . Mojo married a man who cheated on her and gave her the mother-in-law from hell
She is now divorced, close to both "sisters", and her mom is becoming senile living in a nursing home.She lives in a dumpy apartment above a biker bar in Cave Creek , Arizona.(Being from Phoenix, I loved knowing all the places and roads she wrote of in the book) She's dating a hunky cop who is still involved with his ex wife, so she knows is emotionally unavailable.And it seems someone is trying to kill her.
And Oh yeah, her dead ex is haunting her.
I almost didn't buy this book because her name just grated on my nerves(shallow, I know) but I am so glad I did. I love LLM's Mckettrick books, so I gave this one a chance. I could'nt put this book down, and audibly groaned at the end, when I realized I would have to wait til March for the next installment of the series. I usually go for books with more "heat"(ok ,SEX), but I give this 5 stars. Great job, LLM

I enjoyed reading this book although it will not make my list of greatest reads. I plan to pass on my copy to a friend. I am waiting to get a copy of the next in this series so maybe I liked it better than my three stars after all. What I was really disappointed in was the thin description of the setting including especially Cave Creek, Arizona. I would have appreciated more authentic details that way. Also when the heroine returns to her hometown it would have been worthwhile for the author to set this scene: an old desert town now part of the suburbs of Phoenix---vast changes just like the heroine.

The plot does depend on the ghost of the main character's late exhusband and the ghost of her dead cat from childhood. I am wondering if this will get too far-fetched for me to enjoy the rest of the books in the series.

I did like the main character's struggles with the memories of her childhood and her relationships with her foster sisters. That showed some complicated and genuine emotions.

The cover art was really off. Never does the main character wear chaps and the bar depicted should have been where she lives which has two stories, a parking lot and located in Cave Creek, Arizona which is not in the middle of nowhere!

Thoroughly enjoyed it - couldn't put it down. Can't wait to get the next one.

This is my first book by this author and so I had no expectations coming in. I was overjoyed by this character and this book. Mojo Sheepshanks was everthing a female character needs to be. Tough, independent and a little vunerable. Deadly Gamble had a great mystery, wonderful secondary characters including the ghost cat, Chester and the basset hound, Russell. I will definitely order the next in this series and hope many more adventures of Mojo Sheepshanks will be forthcoming. This was a very entertaining and delightful and sometimes eerie read.

Loved this book. Mojo Sheepshanks is one on the most entertaining characters I've come across in recent years.

Mojo has so many things going against her, that it's a miracle she can function normally. As the secrets of her identity and her past come back to control her future, she is thrust into a mystery, as well as ghosts that appear without notice. She fears she's losing her mind, and the people that surround her can't argue with that.

Her family dynamic is a great element to this story. It shows that you don't have to have blood ties to really be siblings. The mother she's always known warns her to be careful, her ex is popping up to warn her, and bad things begin to happen.

With a new career ready to take off, the set up for book two is waiting. I can't wait until March to pick it up and dive into Mojo's next case. So many questions still linger from Deadly Gamble, that I've begun to read this book a second time in anticipation.

Linda Lael Miller has always had strong characters, but Mojo Sheepshanks is a breath of fresh air, and definetly a woman worth getting to know. The many layers of her character, and the charm of her sense of humor keep the reader entranced. She's the girl you want living next door!