Buckle up. J P Pomare is back doing what he does best: delivering a relentlessly propulsive, sharply observed thriller. The Gambler marks the return of PI Vince Reid, first introduced in The Wrong Woman.
Reid travels to Paris, Illinois, to visit his old friend and mentor, Nick Lark, the man who helped shape Reid’s post-police career as a private investigator. When Nick hints he has a case, Reid barely hesitates before hitting the road.
Over a late dinner, Nick reveals he’s been approached by the family of a young university student, Katie, who was shot dead at a political rally. The alleged shooter is a middle-aged woman with no criminal history and no obvious connection to her victim. The case feels disturbingly familiar, echoing real-world headlines with uncomfortable precision.
Reid is intrigued but cautious. The case is high-profile, politically charged, and potentially dangerous, not to mention the fact that he’s finally built a life, and a relationship, he wants to protect. Adding emotional weight to his decision is the devastating news that Nick has been diagnosed with a progressive and terminal lung disease. Against his better judgment, Reid takes the case, and from there the novel barely pauses for breath.
Pomare’s has an uncanny ability to tap into the political and social anxieties of our time – how conspiracy thinking takes root, how fear and misinformation are weaponised, and how seemingly ordinary people can be radicalised with alarming ease.
There are multiple narrative threads in play, classic Pomare-style, but the payoff is worth it. I raced through The Gambler in a weekend. It’s fast, smart and deeply relevant, a thriller that entertains while asking troubling questions about where we are, and where we might be heading.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
J P POMARE is an award-winning author whose debut novel, Call Me Evie (2018), won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel.
In the Clearing (2019) was made into a Disney+ Original Series, The Clearing, while Tell Me Lies (2020) was a #1 Audible bestseller and was shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. The Last Guests (2021) was critically acclaimed and made into a Stan Original TV series, Watching You.
His fifth book, The Wrong Woman (2022), was a top-ten bestseller and was highly acclaimed, as was Home Before Night (2023). 17 Years Later (2024) was shortlisted for both the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, and is currently being adapted for the screen. The Gambler is his eighth novel.
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