The Card House

About the Book

From the peaceful hillsides of rural Italy to the glitzy night life of Las Vegas, The Card House tells the story of a deadly family feud that spans two generations and brings shocking personal cost.

In 1959, twelve-year-old Angelo Angelli identifies Gaitano Defierro, the powerful patriarch of their small Italian village, as the perpetrator of his best friend's brutal rape and murder. Despite his protest of innocence, Gaitano hangs for his crime. The Defierro family kills Angelo's mother and two sisters in retribution, forcing Angelo and his brother to flee to America-and an uncertain future.

Thirty years later, Angelo has built a modest life for himself and his son, Tony. But under his uncle's influence, Tony becomes a professional gambler, flunking out of college and deeply disappointing his father. He masters an elite blackjack system guaranteed to beat the Las Vegas casinos and plans to make his fortune in Sin City.

However, vengeance has carried on to the next generation of the Defierro family, and Tony is their unenviable target. Thrust into the seedy side of high stakes gambling, Tony doesn't know whom to trust. But one thing is certain: he must uncover what really happened that long-ago day in Italy if he is to survive.

About the Author

Antonio Francesca was a professional entertainer from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, opening for such acts as Milton Berle, Rodney Dangerfield, Phylis Diller, and Mickey Rooney. He has been married for thirty-five years and has two sons.