"If gambling intrigue, bear attacks, and political kleptocracy are at all your pet subjects, this may be the book you’ve been waiting for." — Jean Marc Ah-Sen, author of In the Beggarly Style of Imitation

In 1983, Elle is a blackjack dealer at an Alberta casino. At the same time, Amado is a baggage handler in Manila. When Amado witnesses the assassination of a prominent political figure in Manila, he flees to Canada and ends up in the same casino as Elle, disgruntled Hollander, Erik, and card counter and stalker, regrettable Calvin.

Over the next thirty years, the characters remain intimately connected as their stories and histories intersect. Told from alternating points of view, this puzzle-in-progress brings each character's pieces together that make up a whole picture that examines how everything from political espionage to intimate partner violence affects not only its direct participants but also its bystanders and witnesses.

"If gambling intrigue, bear attacks, and political kleptocracy are at all your pet subjects, this may be the book you’ve been waiting for." — Jean Marc Ah-Sen, author of In the Beggarly Style of Imitation

In 1983, Elle is a blackjack dealer at an Alberta casino. At the same time, Amado is a baggage handler in Manila. When Amado witnesses the assassination of a prominent political figure in Manila, he flees to Canada and ends up in the same casino as Elle, disgruntled Hollander, Erik, and card counter and stalker, regrettable Calvin.

Over the next thirty years, the characters remain intimately connected as their stories and histories intersect. Told from alternating points of view, this puzzle-in-progress brings each character's pieces together that make up a whole picture that examines how everything from political espionage to intimate partner violence affects not only its direct participants but also its bystanders and witnesses.