So Damn Lucky (Lucky O'toole Vegas Adventure) - Tapa dura

While performing his final trick at the performance marking the end of a forty-year run of one of Las Vegas’ most renowned burlesque shows, magician Dimitri Fortunoff appears to have a fatal accident.

Then, when his body disappears, the questions mount for Lucky O’toole, head of Customer Relations for the Babylon resort, the crown jewel of the mega-resorts dotting the Las Vegas Strip. And the timing couldn’t be worse. Her live-in lover, Teddie, has morphed into a rock star and been swallowed whole by life on the road. Her mother, Mona, pregnant, petulant, and perpetually under foot is giving new meaning to the term ?high maintenance.’ Paxton Dane, a handsome Texan long on charisma and short on history, is forcing himself into the void of Teddie’s absence, and a suave French chef is proving to be equal parts charm and venom, seasoned with a dash of irresistible.

But Lucky can’t shake the question: Did Dimitri Fortunoff really die or is this an elaborate hoax? UFO conventioneers and high-ranking magicians fill her hotel and she turns to some of them for answers: Zoom-Zoom Zewicki, a retired astronaut with an agenda all his own, Crazy Carl Colson, a psychic clinging to the edge of sanity, Marik Kovalenko, a smoldering internationally renowned magician, The Great Tursinov, a famed mentalist, Bart Griffin, late-night talk show host, and Junior Arbogast, professional cynic and hoax exposer.

The trail leads her through the miles of storm culverts under the city of Las Vegas, to the hordes of believers who gather at Rachel for a glimpse of a UFO, to hints of secret programs at Area 51, then culminates on the catwalk above the crowd attending the annual, Harry Houdini Séance on Halloween, where Lucky must risk her life to catch a killer.

Deborah Coonts’ mother tells her she was born in Texas a very long time ago. Deborah isn’t so sure?her mother can’t be trusted. These things we are fairly certain of though: Deborah was raised in Texas on barbeque, Mexican food and beer. She is the author of WANNA GET LUCKY? a humorous romantic mystery set amid the glitz, glamor and gaudy of Las Vegas. WANNA GET LUCKY? was a NY Times Notable Crime Novel and double RITA™ Finalist and received several starred reviews as have the five sequels. Currently Deborah is stretching her writer muscles working on a women’s fiction/contemporary romance series set in Napa?the first novel, CRUSHED, is out now. To follow will be a dark thriller, a romantic suspense series featuring a female helicopter pilot, as well as the next Lucky adventure?all very different projects. So, if you see Deborah with a glass of Champagne in hand, you’ll understand. She can usually be found at the bar, but also at www.deborahcoonts.com