Rating: 
Summary: Bet on this one!
Review: Finding a new author that is worth reading is a treat. No matter how good the storyline or plot setup is, if the characters don't come alive for the reader, then the book won't be that good. In this case, everything works across the board, which creates a very enjoyable debut novel by Brian Rouff.As Dice Angel opens, Jimmy Delaney is on a rather bad roll of luck in life. Not only is his ex-wife Joy (who isn't) giving him a hard time, but burglars have broken into his supper club named Jimmy D's. The club is a legacy from his father who started it from nothing and lately it seems to be a target for every burglar in Las Vegas. This time they got the cash from the video poker machines, which adds up to quite a sum. But that loss seems rather small when he discovers that the IRS wants $50,000 for back taxes and penalties within days and his checks are bouncing all over town. It appears that his ex brother in law who was his accountant and supposed to be handling all sorts of things, instead embezzled every last cent and took off, leaving behind his marriage and his very ill daughter. Jimmy turns to the usual sources as his world slowly collapses seeking funds to pay off the IRS and keep the club open. The quest for help goes nowhere and as he hits rock bottom, he has nowhere else to turn except to the mysterious lady known as Dice Angel. Supposedly through the means of mystical powers she can bring lady luck back into Jimmy's life so that he can save himself and those he cares so much about. Beyond the storyline that suffers greatly in my telling, is the fact that this novel is full of interesting characters that actually come alive for the reader. Within a few pages the author pulls the reader into the Vegas he knows so well and the pull is simply irresistible. It is also fascinating to watch Jimmy D crash and resurrect himself and evolve as a character over the course of this 222-page novel. This fast read is over way too soon and hopefully there will be another following Jimmy D., his club, and his somewhat eccentric customers and staff.
Rating: 
Summary: Characters are quick and witty
Review: Dice Angel, by Brian Rouff is everything it promises to be. An easy to follow plot makes this an easy read, to the point of becoming predicable. A guy, Jimmy Delaney, living in Las Vegas, is down on his luck. He owns a bar that gets burglarized within the first couple of pages. He's bouncing checks, he leaves all of his accounting to his brother-in-law who disappears with all the bar's money. He owes back taxes and if he doesn't come up with $50,000 in a ridiculously short time he will loose his business. What's a guy living in Las Vegas going to do in such a situation? Hmmm. Let's see here. Gamble, perhaps? Out of desperation Delaney hires the "Dice Angel" on the suggestion of a homeless man who comes into his bar for handouts. This ''Dice Angel'' promises to ''bring you luck at craps''. Rouff's book is a good read. The dialog between the characters is quick and witty. I found, however, that there was a lack of surprises or twists, or rather that the twists that were inserted were a bit forced. Nonetheless, I'm sure that the locals in Vegas will get a kick out of a local author portraying their city in such a bittersweet, off-the-cuff way.
Rating:
Summary: An intriguing read from start to finish!!
Review: Dice Angel is a book that really captures life in Las Vegas. The characters are all people we know as residents, and the story is one that we can all identify with. The vivid descriptions will give even an outsider a realistic interpretation of what living in Vegas is really like. Mr. Rouff has done an excellent job in weaving a thrilling fictional plot into the realism of everyday life in sin-city, using gambling, drinking, and many other vices often found here to a great advantage. Whether or not you live in Las Vegas, I highly recommend adding Dice Angel to your library. It captures the American Dream, as well as the Las Vegas Dream perfectly.
Rating:
Summary: Snappy, Smart-Aleck Las Vegas Fun
Review: Tough-talking, hard-boiled nightclub owner, Jimmy Delaney, is doing pretty well, carrying on his father's Las Vegas night-spot, but then the roof falls in. His bank account is empty, the IRS is hot on his trail, and he is about to lose everything. Well, what is a man supposed to do? Grasping at straws he calls up the Dice Angel, a quirky old lady who claims to have--well--supernatural powers in the crap-shooting department. So what do you think happens? Will he save Jimmy D's? Does the Dice Angel really have powers? Will he learn something and maybe even become a better person? Well, you'll just have to read the book and see. Brian Rouff has done a masterful job with this first novel. The book is written in hard-hitting, smart-aleck, first-person monologue and hard-hitting, smart-aleck dialogue that rolls along with a crisp and snappy rhythm. It's fun to read and would probably be fun to hear as well. If you like Carl Hiaasen or Eric Garcia you will love Dice Angel. Is it great literature? Probably not. Is it entertaining, fast-moving, easy to read and great fun? Absolutely. I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber
Rating:
Summary: What a Fun Read !
Review: Sometimes you're just standing in front of the fan trying to get cool, then IT hits the fan and you get it all. We've all been there at one time or another and that's where our hero finds himself. It takes place in Las Vegas and so do I. That's why I started reading it but then I couldn't put it down, and read it one week-end between most of the things I was supposed to be doing. It has more twists and turns than the plate of spaghetti I had for dinner, and funny - I love to be able to laugh, and this book gave me that. Unlike most books or movies that take place in Vegas, Dice Angel shows it's a town of "just people" going about their everyday lives, trying to get by. The characters are all people we know or have known, and the dice angel herself? Well if you've been around a few years you've met her, loved her in spite of yourself, but never knew quite how you should take her (or her friends). What a fun book
Rating:
Summary: Good but vulgar first effort
Review: I never would have bought this book on my own. The author sent me a copy after reading my review of Ben Mezrich's Bringing Down the House. I wish someone would send me a book related to MIT. I don't like gambling, and I haven't been to Vegas since I was 16 in Circus Circus with my parents. Having said all that, I liked this book and just might buy Brian Rouff's second novel. 3 stars for being a quick, interesting read. But it's not high literature. The author got me interested in the characters quickly. Poor bad-luck Jimmy Delaney, nasty ex-wife Joy, Wally the cop-friend -- I wanted to find out what happened to them. Jenny Delaney is a sweet little girl, and late in the book we hear about Tiny Tim (er, I mean Rachel), a symbol of pathos even though she isn't characterized at all -- not so much as a "God bless us every one." Some characters are hard to like, though. I've always found people who use profanity to be like people who choose halitosis over brushing their teeth: distasteful and distracting to discourse. However, the profanity doesn't seem gratuitous. It fits with the tone of the story. You might call characters like this "real." I call them vulgar. Jimmy, Wally, and several other characters have this flaw. Another thing that makes Jimmy vulgar is his attitude toward women. A couple of his best quotes: "A little on the mousy side, but take off those big glasses and she's definitely doable." (p. 47) (Jimmy sizes up every woman he meets -- and the author shows us his dirty little mind every time.) "When you drive a 'Vette, you get the kind of women who are attracted to guys who drive 'Vettes." (p. 89) (To Jimmy's credit, he gave up driving Corvettes.) The plot is summarized by plenty of other reviewers, but no one has touched on themes. Wondering if Jimmy would change and grow as he worked out his problems is what kept me reading to the end. On page 2 Jimmy says, "Honest people are in short supply here in Vegas, or anywhere else for that matter." Strangely enough, I see thematic similiarites between this story and M. Night Shyamalan's film, Signs. Both, to some degree, are stories about faith. The faith of Rev. Graham Hess is restored by a Higher Power, and Jimmy's faith is restored by ... his muse the Dice Angel and himself. Still, the ending of Dice Angel is satisfying. Simplistic, but satisfying. And the final sentence in the book is excellent! (In sharp contrast to the first: "The ringing phone ripped through my sleep like a buzz saw.") I also see that not one review so far has used the words "New Age." Christians beware -- this book assumes a thoroughly pagan worldview. Faith in luck (whereas Hess in Signs starts with a grudge against God that blocks his faith, Delaney here starts with a grudge against Lady Luck), faith in whatever gods might exist (whether Mormon, Catholic, Zodiac), and "trust" in "the universe." Don't look for redemption in this story. Not in the Christian sense. Jimmy might be described as being redeemed, but it's a self-made redemption.
Rating:
Summary: Its not all about craps!
Review: Judging by the title I expected a tale centering around the game of craps. Little did I know the game wouldnt even come of mention until page 102! The book reads fluidly as the story comes together with endlessly entertaining dialogue and interaction. Bourne from either the creative mind of the author or people he knows all too well, the characters were painted with every crayon in the box. Right down from the ex-stock broker gone nuts to the cop he used to play football with in high school, everybody projected vivdly in my mind as they developed. Centering around the life of one man Jimmy Delaney, you get a first person view of his world. A common guy caught up in a bind stemming from a brother-in-law who put the family bar in jepardy by leaving him without any real hope of saving himself from ruin at the hands of the IRS. To us, Jimmy is a regular guy with the same problems we all have, but to a young girl who calls him Jimmy Daddy he is a hero. Add in an endless line of friends who look up to him to be the strong one and an ex-wife with her hand out, his burdon of responsiblity seems to have no end. Who's to save the poor chap? Enter the Dice Angel, a kooky throwback from 1975 with a box of pixie dust under one arm and clothes so bright she'd have to be good at craps to afford all the batteries. A refreshing change of pace from the common genre stories that plague every movie released, I wouldnt mine seeing a storyline like this about a regular Joe on the big screen. Though not reality TV, it's still fiction but you can walk away with one thing. No matter how down and out you get, they can never take your hope away.
Rating:
Summary: Best Vegas Book
Review: This was an easy read. Light and crisp with some nice surprises.
Loved it can not wait for the second Rouff book.
Rating:
Summary: Breezy book to read
Review: Dice Angel is loaded ! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Though catastrophe after catastrophe kept piling up on
Jimmy D, there was an entertaining sense of fun all
along the way, characters you care about, plus a lot
of *Golden Nuggets* you want to read twice.
Rating:
Summary: Can't do better than Vegas
Review: Brian Rouff delivered an excellent novel. One of the best books about Vegas that I have ever read. Rouff does a great job of humanizing the characters, and describing Vegas as it really is. Dice Angel is definitely a page turner, with plenty of laughs and a little bit of mysticism. I highly recommend it.
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