I received a free copy of Final Table, by Pati Nagle, through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
The title "Final Table" made me think this book was going to be a British drawing room drama, but that's wrong. The premise of it, a poker game made up of five murdered players, grabbed me immediately.
A wizard owns a casino for magical people in Atlantic City. In order to drum up more business, he reanimates five men who had been gamblers in life and who were murdered for it, including Wild Bill "James" Hickok and his famous hand of aces and eights. The five men came from different times in history, but whose names would draw a crowd. They would play Texas Hold-'em poker. The winner would receive $1 million and his life back. The four losers would revert back to being dead.
Pati Nagle did a great job of painting a set of interesting characters. I take back one star out of five because the book needed one more chapter. The author documented how the losing four players came to lose and what happened to them. We're left with the winner, but there is no follow-up to see where he went and what he did with his winner's prizes. He's not even congratulated by the owner of the casino who orchestrated the game.
I enjoyed this book, but I have to call it unfinished. ( )

This is a long overdue review for a book that I received through the Early Reviewers program, and very much enjoyed. "Final Table" is a fresh twist on a ghost story. Five skilled poker players are resurrected from the dead to play a high-stakes game in Atlantic City. Great backstories and nicely-written characterization. As other reviewers have mentioned, it helps if you understand Texas Hold 'em poker, but even if you aren't familiar with it you can still follow the story well enough. The ending was satisfying, and seemed to come a little quickly, but that may have been because I was pretty absorbed in the tale. I'll be seeking out other works by this author. ( )

I received a free copy of this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
The concept, characterization, and action kept me interested throughout the story, even though I do not know anything about poker. I really liked how the reader gets to experience each player coming back to life and how their responses to the new world around them were dictated by both their original time periods and their personalities and basic character. The ghostly and otherworldly casino was intriguing and fun. I did wish that we knew more about the owner’s motivations and that there was more resolution for the winner of the poker game.

This was a fun and unique twist on a ghost story. ( )

Το "Final Table" μιλάει για ένα τουρνουά πόκερ, διαφορετικό από τα άλλα. Οι συμμετέχοντες, όλοι τους δολοφονημένοι στο κοντινό ή απότερο μέλλον, ξαφνικά συνειδητοποιούν ότι δεν είναι πια νεκροί. Όλοι είναι έμπειροι παίκτες Poker και στο μυαλό τους επιπλέει μια ιδέα, να πάνε στο Atlantic City. Εκεί θα τους δωθεί μια ευκαιρία ζωής.

Διάβασα το "Final Table" σαν e-book, στο πήγαινε-έλα από την δουλειά με το τρένο, και μπορώ να πω ότι ορισμένες φορές ήλπιζα η διαδρομή να ήταν μεγαλύτερη. Το θέμα δεν με πολυ-ενδιέφερε, πόκερ και μαγεία, αλλά τελικά το βιβλίο μου προκάλεσε το ενδιαφέρον. Είχε επίσης ενδιαφέρον η παρουσία του εμπορικού και καπιταλιστικού στοιχείου μέσα στον κόσμο της μαγείας. Ένα αρνητικό ήταν για μένα η αργή εκκίνηση, αφού στα πρώτα κεφάλαια είχα κουραστεί από την ακολουθία κεφαλαίων που εισήγαγαν τον κάθε χαρακτήρα. Ίσως θα μπορούσε να έχει συμπυκνωθεί αυτό το τμήμα κάπως.

Nice begining, with a ghostly athmosphere and interesting background stories of the five main characters. However, the story slows and gets a bit boring all the way until the last pages, when it ascends a little...

In brief, I found the second half of the book rather disappointing. Too much information about the five players and the final game, and then the final game isn't so interesting itself, specially if you don't like poker. And then everything finishes like in a hurry and in a fully expected way.

What I like most: the idea, the main characters and the strange people in the casino
What I don't like: too many explanations, the long and emotionless final game and the quick resolution ( )