Cassie Black is on parole for her part in the death of her lover Max. They were pulling their last heist in a "high roller" room robbery in Las Vegas when Max was confronted in the room, and mysteriously jumped through the interior glass to his death on the tables below. Under the Nevada felony-murder rule, Cassie was prosecuted and convicted because her complicity as a look out.

She hopes to be near the child who was born to her in prison and then given up for adoption. Her world shatters when she discovers the family has been transferred to Paris. Meanwhile, her work as a saleswoman for a Porsche dealership is suffering since the more rehabilitated she becomes, the fewer cars she seems to be selling.

Cassie decides to make one last heist, kidnap her daughter and flee to Tahiti. She gets in touch with Max's stepbrother Leo, and he brokers a theft that is 'tailor made' for her. The problem: the high roller is in the same hotel in Vegas where Max met his death.

At this point the book becomes a primer for theft. Cassie is successful and returns to Leo with a greater problem. The take is $2 ˝ million, clearly more than gambling winnings. Cassie and Leo are wavering about how or whether to return it, when Jack Karch, a private investigator for the casino joins the chase. Karch is the same P. I. who had been in the room when Max was caught.

Karch cleverly identifies Cassie as the thief. He is brutal and merciless in his pursuit, in contrast to Cassie, who is driven by motives that, to her, seem right and just. Both protagonists are carrying the emotional baggage from dysfunctional backgrounds. It is interesting to watch the author use these factors to further refine his gray theme by creating many different shades.

Connelly's characters are compelling, the dialogue poignantly underlines his thesis, and the structure of the plot is complicated but credible. Although these are crimes that offend the public morality, one is left with the awareness that extenuating factors do matter… maybe too much.

--Thea Davis