Void Moon

Cassie Black, a resourceful ex-con, plans to burgle the Las Vegas casino's high roller suite where, five years before, a previous attempt resulted in her arrest and the death of her lover. It's an intriguing premise, and L.J. Ganser delivers a mesmerizing and nuanced performance. In creating Jack Karch, the bon vivant Vegas private eye who moonlights as a hit man, Ganser settles on a genial, almost charming delivery, underplaying the character's sinister psychopathology and adding to the suspense. As hunted and hunter race across the twists and turns of the novel's shadowy landscape, author and reader combine to make all the right moves. A Grand Central hardcover.