The Take

In the world of small-time bookie Eddie Ryan, only the cop cars are black and white. Everything else swirls in a kind of gray soup. Overcome by greed, lust, and the survival instinct, Eddie takes part in a high-stakes heist, stepping into a morally treacherous world where no one can be trusted, and where life expectancy is short. Set in the dim half-light of the Houston and New Orleans demimondes, THE TAKE is a fast-paced, nerve-jangling ride. The book also includes a preview of SETUP ON FRONT STREET, the first entry in Mike Dennis' Key West Nocturnes Series, a group of novels designed to lift the lid off Key West, revealing it as a true noir city. The series takes the reader behind the margaritas and the sunshine deep into the dark shadows and alleys where the tourists never go.
About the Author: After thirty years as a professional musician (piano), Mike Dennis left Key West and moved to Las Vegas in 2006 to become a professional poker player. He turned to writing when his first novel, THE TAKE, was picked up by a publisher in 2009. His next book, SETUP ON FRONT STREET, was the first of a series of Key West Nocturnes, standalone noir novels. These books will lift the veil on Key West and reveal it as a true noir city, on a par with Los Angeles, New Orleans, or Miami. THE GHOSTS OF HAVANA is the second book in that set. The third, MAN-SLAUGHTER, is now available, and the fourth, THE GUNS OF MIAMI, will be coming in 2013. Mike has also introduced the Jack Barnett/Las Vegas series, about a reluctant ex-private investigator living in Sin City, USA. The first entry in that series, a novelette called TEMPTATION TOWN, is now available. The second installment, HARD CASH, also a novelette, is currently available, as is the third entry, a full novel called THE DOWNTOWN DEAL. Mike also has a collection of short stories, Bloodstains On The Wall. In addition, his stories have been published in A Twist Of Noir, Mysterical e, Powder Burn Flash, Slow Trains, and The Wizards Of Words 2009 Anthology. In addition, Mike has an experimental rockabilly novel called CADILLAC'S COMIN', a hard tale of a one-hit wonder who recorded for Sun Records in the chaotic early days of rock & roll. In late 2010, Mike moved back to Key West, where he enjoys year-round island living with his wife Yleana, whom he married on a warm December night in 2012 on the rooftop of an apartment building in Havana, Cuba.