The Lucky

Unfolding from the bygone era of 1950s Las Vegas through the turbulent decades that followed, this epic novel examines the universal search for identity and reward in a world where the good life always seems out of reach. Suppose that the Great Gatsby had raised a foster son, and further suppose that that son was raised in the casinos of Las Vegas and the open spaces of Montana: Here we would have the protagonist of H. Lee Barnes's wonderful novel of loyalty, heartbreak, and redemption. - Mary Clearman Blew, author of All But the Waltz The streets of early Las Vegas are a tough place for a boy to grow up. Pete Elkins is fatherless, living in a cramped apartment with his mother, a party girl with a penchant for falling in love with the wrong kind of man, and his older sister, grown up too young from trying to parent both her brother and their feckless mother. Pete is headed for serious trouble when he is befriended by Willy Bobbins, a casino owner with a murky past and even murkier business practices. But Willy is also deeply compassionate and wise, and he soon becomes a surrogate father for the lonely Pete. Gradually, Pete becomes involved with Willy's troubled family and comes t