When he saw it, it was like a shotgun discharging in Jake’s face. His unbeatable hand had been beaten.
When Jake Graystone becomes addicted to poker, he decides to abandon his family and indulge his new-found craving without restraint. Running away to a northern city on Christmas Eve, he discovers the Arcadia Casino and starts to play. With the help of a rare gift for reading his opponents, he quickly gains fame and fortune.
One year later, again on Christmas Eve, Jake is challenged to a heads-up match by a player called the Undertaker. When his adversary tilts him, Jake finds himself on the run again. With the help of a German Shepherd and a homeless friend, Jake outfoxes the gunman who pursues him - until one fateful night when they come face to face.
I didn’t want to put this down. A heartwarming story that would be great as a film. I hope this book reaches addicts and helps turn their lives around - Angela Lee
If you like Christmas, you’ll absolutely treasure this book - Jimbo Sun
A thoroughly gripping, enjoyable read that tugs on all the right emotions - Jules Loveland
Winner of the 2020 Page Turner Award for Fiction, Mark Stibbe is a full-time novelist specialising in exciting supernatural stories. The Man Who Ran is the new, expanded version of King of Hearts.
What did I think?
Well this was an unexpectedly poignant tale. The Man Who Ran is like a mixture of your favourite Christmas movies and festive books all rolled into one. Think the ghosts of A Christmas Carol, the dire straits of It's a Wonderful Life and the charity of strangers in Home Alone, to name but a few.
Jake is a maths teacher who is at risk of redundancy when he finds he has the skills to play poker. Seeing an easy way to make money, he becomes addicted to gambling but there's a cost to winning at the tables and it's a price his wife and sons must pay. Jake doesn't seem to care though, all he can think about is the next game so he walks out on his family without a backwards glance.
Oh Jake, I was so disappointed in him as he headed off to the bright lights of Casino City that sounded remarkably like Newcastle with an angel statue standing guard on the outskirts. As we know, the house never loses and I thought Jake deserved everything he got when things inevitably turned to sh*t so I was surprised to feel empathy towards him the further down he fell. I think Mark Stibbe has sprinkled a bit of the magic of Christmas inside the book as I was wishing peace and goodwill to all men (apart from the Undertaker) towards the end.
Incredibly poignant and thought-provoking, The Man Who Ran is a modern-day festive fable that really makes you stop and think about your own life and the rest of humankind. It is entertaining but also compassionate and it has a hint of the supernatural to add an extra touch of magic over the festive period.
I'm putting The Man Who Ran on my book shelf alongside A Christmas Carol so I will be reminded to read it every December. A highly recommended read.
I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the Love Books Tours Bookstagram Tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.
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