Lovers and Gamblers

Typically wild Jackie Collins book that showed up as a free offering in email. Mystifying was the fact that all the afternoon blurbs used the present tense referring to Collins as if she were still alive.

LOVERS AND GAMBLERS
Jackie Collins
Grand Central Publishing Mass Market
ISBN: 978-0-446-35660-2 - Paperback
$6.99
592 pages
Reviewer: Annie Slessman

Summer is coming and nothing makes a better beach read than a Jackie Collins book. LOVERS AND GAMBLERS, originally published in the seventies, is back.

Al King, rock superstar is married and has a young son. However, this doesn't stop him from sampling the many women along his career path. Along the way he sees one woman he is unable to impress, Miss Coast to Coast, Dallas Lunde. Dallas, former prostitute, has set her sights on improving her place in this world. She sees King as just one more rock star who wants to have her.

While the first two parts of this book deal mainly with Al King's sexual prowess and Dallas as she attempts to deal with her former life and the people who can ruin her new career, it also brings into play the other characters who round out this work.

The last part of the book has more depth than the earlier sections. It deals with the survival of several survivors of an airplane crash. In the wilds of the South American jungle the metal of their wills are tested with surprising results.

Don't let this summer go by without taking a day to go the beach and enjoy not only the sun, but also LOVERS AND GAMBLERS.

This tells two stories at first. One about Al King--a huge rock'n'roll superstar who uses girls and drugs and feels like he's Gods gift. then there's beautiful Dallas--a gorgeous headstrong woman with a dark past. She'll do ANYTHING to get ahead. Eventually the two meet and instantly fall in passionate love. But can King overcome is ego and Dallas escape from her dark past.

One of Jackie Collins' early books (1980) and not one of her best. King and Dallas are incredibly unlikable at first and it takes quite a while before they meet and, by then, I was hating both of them. Also Dallas (for some reason) becomes a raving drug addict halfway through. Even worse the book takes a disaterous turn with Book Three when it ends up with them fighting for survival in an the store jungle! I realize this is fiction but come ON! Still Collins is a wonderful writer and you can't stop reading. It may be trash but it's well-written and readable trash. Not her best but worth a read.

You know exactly what you get yourself into when picking up a Jackie Collins novel: a sugarcoated tale of glamour and lust with a roman à clef attitude. This time around, LOVERS AND GAMBLERS takes you into the glamourous life of Dallas and Al, two gorgeous misfits who suffer greatly in the name of love. Their destined-to-be-together union is a roller coaster ride of secrets and lies only Jackie Collins can concoct, and that means a lot of sins, a lot of sex, and whole lot of page turning. She may not be Proust, or even Nora Roberts for that matter, but, boy, can she handle her pen. It is as wicked as any of her villains. Her over-the-top imagination works to the very end. Don't hesitate to pick up LOVERS AND GAMBLERS. It is a one-sitting romp that deserves all the stops.-----Martin Boucher

Usually I love mystery/thriller/horror novels however a friend leant me a couple of Jackie Collins and I must say they are a perfect distraction and change. Her books are sexy and have so many sub stories running through them it enthralls you to find out whos doing who of hollywood. I always have this feeling that I should know which character represents who in real life because I'm sure some of the characters are based on real people ! They really draw you in and make you think about the characters I often say to myself "No No don't do that you numbskull argh !" Lovers and Gamblers has a surprising ending and the main character really gives everyone something to think about when he handles a bad situation. I also like how Jackie Collins really differentiates between sex and love.

This book is one of Jackie Collins' best. I just re-read it (over a decade since the last time). Even after the HUNDREDS of books I've devoured since then this book still kept me entertained and on the edge of my seat until the end. You'll love the story and the characters even if they are just a tad dated (70's) in terms of clothes and catch phrases! That only adds to its "classic" status right!

For those unfamiliar with the greatness that is Jackie Collins, get your hands on a copy of "Lovers and Gamblers," 'cos it's the perfect escape ~and~ introduction to vintage Jackie. Tons of tawdry, complicated plotlines, raw sexuality, and characters spring to life from the pages, and you'll be rah-rah'ing for Dallas and Al the whole way through, giggling your ya-ya's off at Miz Collins' dialogue, her vivisection of the shallow and hopelessy stupid, and the way she cracks the male mind so expertly. "Lovers and Gamblers" especially works well as classic beach fare - along with some Bobby Womack or Bill Withers, your sunscreen, and frothy rum concoctions.

I discovered Jackie Collins with this one. What a great book! Fast-paced, witty, and sexy! You'll love the misadventures of Dallas and Al as they both find themselves in the grueling world of Hollywood. Not to be miss!