Lucky

October 25, 2021
A criminal with a winning lottery ticket scrambles to elude arrest in this thrilling adventure. In 1982, con man John Armstrong deceitfully convinces a nun that a foundling left on the church steps is his daughter, Luciana “Lucky” Armstrong, and takes custody. Twenty-six years later, John is incarcerated and Lucky, who never doubted John was her real father, flees Boise, Idaho, just as the Ponzi scheme she cooked up with her boyfriend, Cary, is cracking. She wakes up after a night in Vegas to discover Cary and their money gone, then finds out a lottery ticket she bought on a whim back in Idaho is worth $390 million. Using her skills at deception, she crisscrosses the country, trying to stay one step ahead of law enforcement and finding a way to cash the ticket without turning herself in. A poor decision ensnares her with a dangerous former associate of her father before she decides to seek out the woman said by John to be her mother in New York City. Stapley raises the stakes through Lucky’s increasingly desperate moves while adding depth via flashbacks to Lucky’s childhood, which was full of scams and disappointments, and through Lucky’s gradual reckoning with the truth. This page-turner packs in more than its share of heart.

December 1, 2021
Who can you trust when everything you've ever known is a lie? That's the fundamental question in Stapley's (The Last Resort, 2019) fourth book, a Bonnie-and-Clyde meets Gone Girl tale of family and the search for stability. Told in multiple time frames, Lucky follows the titular character, a grifter working with her father and boyfriend until she's suddenly abandoned. Now she must learn to trust the right people to cash in a winning lottery ticket worth a fortune--but might also put her in danger. Lucky never feels right about the cons and empathizes with her victims. But is this a story of crime or the lengths one will go to when struggling in an unjust society and with the effects of multigenerational trauma? Readers will not expect the book's many twists and turns, which are somewhat compromised by some questionable plot points and rushed information. Still, Stapley leaves readers with a hopeful note, proving it's never too late to learn to let your guard down and start anew.

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