The Rogues' Game by Milton T. Burton

From the Publisher

1947. An enigmatic man driving a fine Lincoln convertible and accompanied by a beautiful blonde, comes to a small West Texas town. Ostensibly, his purpose is to get into a poker game that had been going at the infamous Weilbach Hotel. But as the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that he has a darker motive, one that centers on a sinister local banker named Clifton Robillard. Aided by an old-time hood named Chicken Little, the protagonist maneuvers Robillard toward a shattering climax in which we discover that nothing is what it seems to be.
With its wildcatting spirit, The Rogues' Game is a high stakes novel and an exquisite quest for revenge.

The Washington Post - Patrick Anderson

First-time novelist Burton, a Texan, writes about gamblers who are more elegant but no less lethal than those we had in Fort Worth. He has set his highly readable novel in an unnamed West Texas town where a high-stakes weekend poker game has been in progress at the Weilbach Hotel for some 50 years.

Publishers Weekly

Characters and cons come thick and fast in Burton's intricate, impressive debut, set in post-WWII Texas. In an opening out of Jim Thompson, the unnamed narrator and his luscious blonde girlfriend, Della, are driving in a brand new '47 Lincoln convertible to a high-stakes poker game, but their true motives are as obscure as the narrator's background. He was with the OSS in the war, and claims to have been to Harvard. But his co-conspirators have names like Chicken Little and Ice-pick Willie, and the game they're playing looks like murder. Later, it seems like robbery, and later still something else. Burton keeps all these balls in the air in a plainspoken style that's both appealing and informative. His talent lies in taking stock situations and characters and putting new life into them. Della, for example, isn't the typical dumb, conniving blonde, but an intelligent woman with a sad past and a sharp eye for business. The wealth of background information on things as diverse as law, Texas oil and poker is never dull or irrelevant. Burton weaves these elements in with the fictional ones so seamlessly that the fiction acquires the feel of fact. Agent, Milton Goldfarb. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The slick but self-assured narrator-supposedly a Harvard grad and a lawyer-arrives in small-town Texas with his curvaceous blond girlfriend, Della, in 1947. His agenda involves beating someone in a private poker game, but he's delayed by the discovery of oil nearby. He and Della buy a title company, grab some leases, and still have time to face his real objective: a rich and formidable banker named Robillard. By now, the narrator has associated himself with Robillard's competition in town, so the action heats up. Tough protagonists mix with a corrupt sheriff, fancy oil barons, and pragmatic landowners to deliver surprising results. This dark first novel will appeal to fans of noir mysteries. Burton lives in Tyler, TX. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Product Details