Shooter's Point - Martha Chainey, Bk 2 Author:Gary Phillips Las Vegas is pumped to the max on the night the much hyped heavy-weight title fight hits The Strip. With charismatic newcomer Joaquin Muhammed taking on popular champ Tyler Jeffries -- and the added attraction of platinum-selling rapper King Diamond giving a warm-up concert-the millionaires, celebrities, hip-hoppers, pimps and players -- a... more »ll on a delirious pre-flight high.
In the middle of the match, a shot rings out and Jeffries goes down. Not exactly a fair fight, muses Martha Chainey, the buff and tough ex-show girl who makes her living transporting large sums of unreported cash for casino owners. In the uproar that follows, Chainey is yanked aside by Victoria DeGault, the owner of the Riverhead Casino. Seems somebody snatched the five million-dollar side bet Victoria was holding. If Chainey can recover the loot, there's a cool 250 grand in it for her.
But when a good friend is iced, the job becomes personal, and Chainey takes off into a frenzied night as cops and the National Guard seal off The Strip. With helicopter searchlights sweeping across the crowd, people with all kinds of agendas are making the World Trade Organization Battle in Seattle look like day care. Soon Chainey learns that Jeffries' murder is only part of a larger scheme at play. She also finds that though she may be the ultimate Vegas insider, she's up against a powerful killer who knows even more secrets than she does. « less