The Investment Club

What is it that really pull people to Las Vegas? Doug Cooper’s The Investment Club introduces readers to very compelling characters, all converged fortuitously at the El Cortez Casino, the bond that develops between them and their shared adventure in a merciless world where people get broken overnight. Can they find healing for their broken spirits in an uncertain alliance? This is a hilarious story of five strangers, each with a painful past, united around a common interest—beat the gambling odds and get the most returns. This is one of the stories that brilliantly showcases the power of teamwork and how working together can help individuals to see themselves even better.

Told by a skilled blackjack dealer, this story has a compelling cast of characters, including the retired and widowed New Jersey policeman, a former priest, a dwarf entrepreneur with a very low self-esteem, a stripper, and a female sportscaster. The beauty of the narrative is heightened with the excellent sense of humor that permeates the story. Right from the very first page, the reader gets a clear idea of the setting and what the characters look like, a clear idea of how things work in a casino, but what is very entertaining is the humorous way the characters are presented, and this humor goes on unabated throughout the entire narrative. For instance, “Her hat was more fashion than function, this girl had never served, at least in the armed forces. Her body, though, was all function. Lean and mean. Definitely put on this earth to move.”

Doug Cooper has created characters that readers can easily relate to, well-grounded, and oh so human. The chapters are short, and they are well-crafted to leave the reader wanting to learn what happens next to the characters. The tension builds as the reader begins to get interested in the group; the reader wants to know for how long the group can stick together before something rips it apart. The writing is gorgeous, the setting captivating, and the characters memorable. The Investment Club is highly entertaining and I won’t be surprised if the author isn’t the seasoned blackjack dealer in the casino.