Freezeout: A Jake Morgan Mystery

Geoff Cragg is a tenured instructor in the Faculty of Faculty of
Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary in Alberta.

Freezeout is Gadziola’s second novel featuring Jake Morgan, an
ex-Boston policemen turned poker dealer at the Oasis Hotel in Las Vegas.


For the reader, the action begins in 1959 when Carmine Bonello, a local
crime boss, is murdered in the desert outside Vegas. For Jake, the story
begins when Mr. Contini, the hotel owner, calls him from the game he’s
dealing and coerces him into escorting Contini’s niece during her
visit to Las Vegas (she’s due to arrive in 40 minutes). It quickly
becomes apparent that Jake and Angelica are being followed by a pair of
thugs who fondly imagine that they have access to a huge sum of money
stolen by Bonello. After rescuing Angelica, Jake is forced to try to
find the money, or at least the truth about the money, in order to
guarantee their survival. He succeeds, but not before a great deal of
action, by turns violent and comic, unfolds.

The novel has some impressive strengths: a genial and likeable
protagonist, a clever plot, an unrelenting pace, and a setting that is
more than just background. While there’s plenty of action, the book is
not tightly plotted, and the sense of mystery is not intense, although
the resolution is ingenious. Similarly, though Jake has some depth, most
of the other characters are thinly drawn or stereotyped. Mr. Contini,
for example, is the classic old-style boss: “He was about 320 packed
into a five-foot-six frame, lavishly displayed in what looked to be
Armani.”

Caveats aside, Gadziola has created an engaging character in Jake, and
shows a real comic gift; Freezeout is a light read, but a capable one.