Jackpot

By Richard Radtke

In a small city in northwest Wisconsin in 1955, loan collector Curt Kissow's fortunes are in decline after his wife of six years divorces him on unfounded grounds that he is trying to poison her. Unlucky at love, Kissow soon finds himself fabulously lucky at games of chance when he wins the Irish National Lottery.

His good fortune confers instant celebrity upon Kissow, a private man ill-equipped to handle notoriety. He is beset by alms seekers of all kinds - friends, neighbors, city officials, strangers with proposals involving dubious charities and get-rich-quick schemes.

When his boss at Friendly Loan Company gives him the chance to track down a debtor who has fled town, Curt takes the assignment eagerly. He tracks skip Gorman Hooper to the New Mexico desert, where Curt finds a true Land of Enchantment.

But Curt is not the only one to be stalking Gorman Hooper. He discovers - too late - that he has been trailed by a pair of thugs in the employ of gamblers to whom Hooper owes a vast sum. Curt and Gorman barely escape an attack by these gangsters.

The startling climax of this outrageous, yet thoroughly human story will keep you on the edge of your chair.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595332560
• ISBN13: 9780595332564
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.87 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Jackpot Hits The Mark

This book captures small-town life with a witty realism that makes you re-live some of your own memories. The opening chapters set the stage and paint the main characters in a manner that invites continued reading. Some sections made me laugh so loud I awoke my family during a late-night read.

I loved this book.

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. It has a quirky humor coupled with insight into human foibles that made me laugh. There are characters that I cared about so that I couldn't stop reading until I found out what happened to them. It's mostly the story of a bill collector who wins the Irish Sweepstakes, but it doesn't at all follow the line I'd expected. I liked all the twists and turns of the plot along with the inclusion of some gangsters. I felt very satisfied with the way it all ends.