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Reviews:
24/7
by Susan DiPlacido
 Marina,
the protagonist-narrator, is a gambler who loves Las Vegas and plays to win.
Blackjack is a favorite, where her system of counting cards puts her in the
money most of the time. She is tough, self-sufficient and not
interested in romance until she meets Miguel, a handsome and charming Craps
dealer to whom she is instantly attracted.
Since both are daringly unconventional, their relationship heats up quickly,
but proves
stormy. She is slow to trust, hesitant to exchange her freedom to be
with someone who just may care for her. Although little is said, her
life has clearly been hard and unhappy.
A macho Hispanic male, Miguel wants his woman to himself, but cannot quite
give up,
even when she is her most prickly, stubborn and stand-offish. Finally,
after almost losing the bet of her life, perhaps she can commit. The
reader is left hopeful.
Although the plot focuses on this relationship, 24/7 is no ordinary
romance. Tough, gritty, raw and vivid, it paints in harsh colors and
discordant images the world of Las Vegas with contrasts of luxury and
seediness, the hookers, high rollers and all the invisible people who work
behind the scenes of the action. It reads more like a mainstream
literary novel than genre fiction. The happy ending is iffy and
although the sex is hot, the emotional aspects are played very subtly.
Although not a book I would normally buy, it was still a fascinating read.
The author is gifted in creating a fiercely realistic setting and a pair of
powerful characters I will not quickly forget.
Alegria at CoffeeTime Romance
SCRIBE! Media Magazine by D. J. Herda
When I first stumbled across the work of novice author
Susan DiPlacido, she was an up-and-coming wannabe who had just been
accepted as a client by The Swetky Agency. With her second book
released this year, 24/7 (Zumaya Publications, $17 Paperback),
she shows that she has arrived. Both novels are receiving top
reviews from fans and industry insiders alike, and DiPlacido deserves
them.
"It's been busy and stressful getting them both
prepared for release," she said of the release of the books by
different publishers barely a month apart, "but the payoff is well
worth it. Now that the hard work of writing is over, the real work of
promotion begins."
DiPlacido’s first book, Trattoria (Mundania Press, $22,
Paperback) a sexy, romantic chick lit title, is a lighthearted romp
through the hectic world of an Italian bistro. When a family of
siblings hires the new waiter at their restaurant to date their
youngest sister, a comedy of errors unfolds.
Her
second novel, 24/7, shows a similar hard-edged, brassy sort of
humor, albeit the story is far from lighthearted. "Vegas is a
place that brings out the extreme in people, so it's an ideal setting
for a novel," said the author. "It's a more glamorous, but also
by turns a grittier book."
In 24/7, Marina Martino is a female card counter--a woman who
loves men and loves relationships and loves even more walking away
from them the victor--who falls for a casino blackjack dealer.
But, as the love and the action heat up, it's clear that one of them
is a masterful player. What's not so clear is which one.
There's a guy a couple seats down who's all alone.
I do my stupid routine to catch his eye. Light a smoke, flip the
cigarette across my fingers, backflip it the other way then take a
hit. Repeat. Flip, backflip, smoke. It's the same as
my chip shuffling and flipping tricks. If anyone realized how
much practice it took to learn it, they'd know just how dorky it is.
Since they don't, it actually looks really cool. And it gets
even cooler when they try to do it and either burn the shit out of
their fingers and/or send a cascade of glowing embers all over the
place...
He sends me a drink. I accept it with a smile,
and the guy gets up and closes the gap of empty seats between us.
Before I can say thanks, Vince says to the guy, "Just so you know,
she's gonna cost you a lot more than one drink, buddy."
Oh, Madone. Here we go. I roll my eyes at
Vince, but he just grins at the guy, who's looking puzzled.
Besides checking in at nearly 450 pages of
lightning-fast action and witty/charming/street-smart dialogue, the
book offers a fascinating insider's look at Sin City, a Las Vegas few
people ever get to know or see on their own. While Marina turns
out to be a bright, savvy young woman with a talent for Blackjack and
a greater one for counting cards, trying to avoid getting tossed out
of one casino after another as the pit bosses catch on, she exhibits a
fatal flaw: a love-hate relationship with men. Or, at least,
with the right kinds of men. From the book's cover:
"Sparks fly when they meet during a serendipitous game
of blackjack. But as they become entangled in a dizzying romance
through Sin City, details about Miguel's dark past surface and Marina
begins to doubt his intentions as the stakes rise and danger unfolds.
In the city of illusion, the normally calculating Marina has to make a
decision to trust her brains or her heart--to bet on her skill or push
her luck."
 In
time, of course, Marina reaches a decision. But in the end, it's
quite possible that she'll never know if it was the right one.
But then again, perhaps that's not the worst thing in the world--not
knowing if you've made the right decision or wrong. After all,
in the end, as Marina says, "It's always the hope that kills
you."
Susan DiPlacido's 24/7 is a fast-paced romp
through a fantasyland masquerading as real life. For some
people, it is real life, and for me, DiPlacido brought it to
light just perfectly. Five stars, please, and I'll hold on 17.
24/7, by Susan DiPlacido, is available from Zumaya
Publications; 441 pages; $17.00.
[Ed. Note: D. J. Herda is author of the new
humor/mystery novel, Solid Stiehl: The Death and Life of Hymie
Stiehl (ArcheBooks, $24.95 Hardback), which is receiving strong
reviews and solid sales. Herda is president of AmSAW.]
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