_The Great Bridge Conspiracy_ is a compact, humorous novel centering, unexpectedly, around the card game of bridge. It is the story of a bridge fanatic, Terry Kane, who unwittingly stumbles into the midst of an international undercover Interpol sting and decides that in order to calm his anxiety he must write about it. Most of the book is Kane's first-person diary account of the circumstances surrounding his involvement with the actual Interpol employees, who are carefully winding their way through the preliminary matches of the Grand National Team Knockout tournament in order to reach the final and flush out their prey. In order to tell his story, Kane leads the reader through the tournament, bridge-hand by bridge-hand, and any reader who enjoys newspaper bridge columns will devour the knowledgeable and witty analysis of the twenty or so full bridge hands that Kane weaves into his narrative.

The book is hard to put down, and anyone who has played duplicate bridge will certainly chuckle if not laugh out loud at the accurate descriptions of the various personalities that seem to make their home in all local bridge clubs. _The Great Bridge Conspiracy_ has an especially satisfying twist at its climax, and even the deft detective-fiction reader will no-doubt be surprised. If you know a little bit about the game of bridge (or want to learn) and enjoy a fantastic story, this novel is a must-read.

I had the pleasure of seeing Terry perform (this is not your mother's poetry reading) some of these poems at the Rocky Mountain Book Festival and was blown away. If you have a chance to attend a reading by him DO NOT PASS IT UP! And the poems absolutely capture the feel of New York, you'll feel as if you're there.