House Always Wins: Vegas Ghost Story by Brian Rouff

Publisher:  Huntington Press (Oct 3, 2017)
Category: Paranormal Romance, Ghosts, Crime Thriller, Las Vegas Mystery

Synopsis

Anna Christiansen’s small-town life is about to go haywire. A young reporter stuck in a dead-end job, Anna falls head over heels for an interview subject, the bass player in an up-and-coming alt band. In short order, she pulls up stakes, moves to Las Vegas, gets married and pregnant, and buys a big fixer-upper haunted by the ghost of a Sin City racketeer.

That’s when Anna gets notice from a corrupt casino owner that he’s buying up all the properties on her street to make way for a parking lot. But Anna has poured her heart and soul into the house and digs in hard to fight the system — not the easiest of tasks in a city where bribery, mayhem, and murder are standard operating procedures.

Can Anna’s tough-guy ghost provide the help she needs to prevail in this dangerous cat-and-mouse game? Will Anna’s life be left in ruins? Or worse?

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Praise

“It’s pure Vegas, told from an insider’s perspective.”- Anthony Curtis, Huntington Press

“A whirlwind romance leads an unlikely pair of newlyweds to Las Vegas, home of every dream and nightmare they can imagine―from predatory developers to a friendly ghost. Rouff spins a guilelessly winsome fable whose charming heroine needs to have everything from her ghost’s personal history to the ritual significance of her newborn’s bris explained to her―which means that the reader gets treated to all these explanations too.”-Kirkus Reviews

“Paragraphs are replete with uproariously sarcastic similes, metaphors, and tongue-in-cheek comments. Narrative hooks, drama, unexpected openings, and cliffhanging chapter endings keep the story flowing. Complicated situations, including confrontations with neighbors and pressure from the casino, build to a significant and unanticipated climax. A fun read from beginning to end, The House Always Wins is an attractive romance with a unique ghostly touch.”-Clarion Foreword Reviews, 5 stars

“Author Brian Rouff has dreamed up a fun little tale, which he describes in a release as “part coming-of-age saga, part mystery and part ghost story.” When it comes to Nevada stories, Rouff knows his stuff. He has lived in Las Vegas for more than 35 years and has also written the Las Vegas-based novels Dice Angel and Money Shot.”- C. Moon Reed, Las Vegas Weekly

“Brian Rouff’s writing of The House Always Wins: A Vegas Ghost Story is impressive. It’s a charming, fast-paced story beautifully narrated by the main character, Anna. It contains wit, mystery, and a bit of nostalgia. Meyer reminisces about his racketeering life and how developed Las Vegas has become. Anna is a strong-minded person who possesses a sense of humour, even when her problems are serious. I thought the road trip was interesting, also the descriptions of the communities that had seen changes, for better or for worse. The author has shown the other side of Las Vegas in this must-read novel.”- Michelle Stanley, Readers’ Favorite

Review

I’m not sure I would have picked this book up to read off a random shelf, but I was very pleasantly surprised. From the love story between Anna and Aaron to Aaron’s crazy best friend Boozer, to the ghostly Meyer. All of these aspects wove together a tale that was unexpected.

I have only been to Vegas a few times but the author makes the town come alive with descriptions of the Strip, the various hotels, the buffets, the people, and the outlying towns. Even if you have never been to Vegas, you might feel like you know the town just a little bit after reading this book.

Anna is someone I could imagine being friends with in life. She is smart but snarky. She is loyal and protective of those around her, all attributes you would want in a friend. Plus she is not someone you want to trifle with as a greedy casino owner finds out after trying to oust her from her home.

Anna does give up a safe life to move halfway across the country with Aaron. But this may be the only way that she would ever make the leap and take a chance with someone she just met. While I’m not sure how many of us would give up everything for someone they just met, it works for her and for them.

The parts where the ghost, Meyer, reveals himself were quite interesting. While Meyer was telling his story to Anna, it did seem to go on forever with no interruptions from Anna which is quite surprising considering her journalistic background. His tale was interesting but it would have been nice to have a few breaks during his monologue. I’m curious about the dog, Lucky, that Anna and Aaron adopt and some comments that Meyer makes about his life. I’ll leave it at that, no spoilers!

Overall I really enjoyed the story and recommend this book.  We give it 4 paws up

About the Author

Award winning author, Brian Rouff was born in Detroit, raised in Southern California, and has lived in Las Vegas since 1981, which makes him a long-timer by local standards. When he’s not writing articles, screenplays and Las Vegas-based novels such as “Dice Angel,” “Money Shot,” and “The House Always Wins,” he runs Imagine Communications, a marketing and public relations firm. He is also a regular contributor to Living-Las-Vegas.com.

On a personal note, Brian is married with two grown daughters and five grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys movies, playing guitar and the occasional trip to the casino buffet line.

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Giveaway

This giveaway is for one print copy or ebook copy of the book. Print is available to the U.S. only but ebook is available worldwide.

This giveaway ends on November 30, 2018 at midnight pacific time.

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