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Jack of Diamonds

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Jack of Diamonds

By: Bryce Courtenay
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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About this listen

If poker was an addiction then music was an overwhelming obsession; one could never replace the other in my life.

During the Great Depression there was little hope for a boy born into the slums of Cabbagetown, Toronto. But Jack Spayd is offered a ticket out in the form of a Hohner harmonica, won by his brutal drunken father in a late-night card game. Jack makes music as a way of escaping his surroundings, and his talent leads him to a jazz club and, eventually, to the jazz piano.

Jack is a virtuoso and hits the road, enchanting audiences in Canada, wartime Europe and Las Vegas, where he is caught up in the world of elite poker and falls under the spell of his boss, the enigmatic Bridgett Fuller. Vegas is a hard town ruled by the Mafia, but Jack prospers, until his luck turns bad and he falls foul of the Mob. Forced to run for his life from Vegas, he must also leave the woman he adores. His adventuring takes him to the far reaches of Africa, to a rare and valuable bird that may seal his fate - and to the love of a very different woman.

Set across three continents, Jack of Diamonds is a spellbinding story of chance, music, corruption and love.

©2012 Bryce Courtenay. Copyright Christine Courtenay 2013. (P)2012 Bolinda Publishing Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Africa
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I like to get value for money from my audio books and when I saw the length of this one I went for it - over 25 hours. Not my usual read - I'm a cloak and dagger reader. I was nicely surprised that this had a bit of everything. A rags to riches story with a bit of cloak and dagger thrown in and just the taste of a love story to bring a tear. Add to all that some travel from Canada to the UK in WW2, to Las Vegas and then through Africa where you lived the life at the time.

This was more value for money than I could have wished for and I've signed back in now to look for more of Bryce Courtenay.

You just need to keep listening!

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Great book didn’t want it to finish am going to look for more titles bravo

For musicians everywhere

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Would you listen to Jack of Diamonds again? Why?

Yes, it was a magical story, really well read

What about Humphrey Bower’s performance did you like?

He did really well with the accents and female voices, a great reader

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No really, it was just a good listen

Any additional comments?

Recommended

A Really good listen, Excellent and lovely ending

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was enthralled by the story from the start and thoroughly engaged by it all the way through. It was read perfectly too

another great from Bryce

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Not quite the power of one but still well above average. Interesting story and not too predictable.

Refreshingly good.

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