A review by mschlat
Bluff by Michael Kardos
3.0
Here are my reactions while reading Bluff:
One-quarter through the book: “This is a lot of back story --- when are we getting to the plot?”
One-third through: “Oh, there’s the plot! This is neat --- why didn’t the book start with this?”
Two-thirds through: “This is a sludge, but I started, so I guess I will finish.”
Forty pages to the end: “This sucks and is turning violent. I’ll scan pages until the end.”
After the epilogue: “That is an effing brilliant ending.”
For me, the problem is that Kardos is trying to tell at least three different stories: a con job with the requisite twist, a revenge story about family, and a finding-out-who-you-are-in-your-twenties tale. In addition, he wants to cover close up magic and card cheats. And that’s just too much. I counted at least two huge coincidences that the plot heavily depends on, and there are set ups (especially in the revenge plot) that never seem to pay off. Moreover, the different stories lead to widely divergent shifts in tone. The book isn’t quite noir, but it gets dark enough that the chapters where the protagonist learns the value of friendships stick out like a sore thumb.
However, the denouement is amazing. I was fully expecting to pan this book, but what Kardos does in the last fifteen pages redeemed a ton of my bad feelings about the book. I’m not sure I’d recommend it (even if you are into magic and poker), but I can’t deny the impact of its conclusion.
One-quarter through the book: “This is a lot of back story --- when are we getting to the plot?”
One-third through: “Oh, there’s the plot! This is neat --- why didn’t the book start with this?”
Two-thirds through: “This is a sludge, but I started, so I guess I will finish.”
Forty pages to the end: “This sucks and is turning violent. I’ll scan pages until the end.”
After the epilogue: “That is an effing brilliant ending.”
For me, the problem is that Kardos is trying to tell at least three different stories: a con job with the requisite twist, a revenge story about family, and a finding-out-who-you-are-in-your-twenties tale. In addition, he wants to cover close up magic and card cheats. And that’s just too much. I counted at least two huge coincidences that the plot heavily depends on, and there are set ups (especially in the revenge plot) that never seem to pay off. Moreover, the different stories lead to widely divergent shifts in tone. The book isn’t quite noir, but it gets dark enough that the chapters where the protagonist learns the value of friendships stick out like a sore thumb.
However, the denouement is amazing. I was fully expecting to pan this book, but what Kardos does in the last fifteen pages redeemed a ton of my bad feelings about the book. I’m not sure I’d recommend it (even if you are into magic and poker), but I can’t deny the impact of its conclusion.