BLURB:

Sixteen year old Ruby Palmer is hot, feisty and out of control. She’s also about to walk into the most dangerous and frightening job imaginable; trainee office junior.

Her inability to type and her very bad attitude keep her moving around the firm like a hot potato and eventually she finds herself under the strict rule of Mr Alessi – senior partner and successful criminal lawyer. Ruby soon discovers that Mr Alessi isn’t quite what he seems when she accidently meets two of his very private clients. They come in through the backdoor, out of office hours believing the building to be empty, but Ruby is still there and now she’s seen too much.

All the worst kind of people think Mr Alessi just employed himself an easy target. They intend to bully Ruby into retrieving an incriminating appeal file hidden somewhere in Mr Alessi’s building. What they don’t realise is that Ruby isn’t one to bow down to intimidation or pressure.

She’s quick, she’s clever and she’s about to give them ALL a deadly run for their money.

Book one in the POKER FACE series

Poker Face is a young adult fiction novel so packed with thrills, romance, suspense and mystery that it has proved a big hit with teens and adults alike.

MY THOUGHTS:

I originally reviewed this book in March 2012.

Pokerface is a book quite suitable for young adults and adults alike. From the very beginning you get to feel sympathy for Ruby, the main character of the story. Ruby is 16 years old and she has been forced to grow up due to the circumstances in her house. Being the daughter to a drunkard is never easy, so imagine how difficult things can get when she starts working to a law firm that has business with members of the Mafia.

The story is interesting, full of suspense, mysteries, and twists that can make you think “what else is going to happen here?” It keeps the reader interested in reading from the very first page. You go along Ruby, trying to discover what is going on, and making predictions about the development of the plot. The characters are well defined, but they are a bit stereotypical (Mafia members of Italian origins?). However, the teenage character of Ruby is very well reflected, though sometimes you get the impression that she is older than her age, surely because of her breeding. The plot is quite good and it works perfectly well, even though the ending of the book came a bit “all of a sudden”. The story is well paced, but the ending is a bit hurried up, if that makes any sense. I would have explained a bit more the events happening at the end of the book.

In general terms, this book is a great read and I would strongly recommend it. It is funny to follow the adventures of cheeky Ruby Palmer as she tries to get a bit of respect from people and tries to solve some problems. A story of how a teenager can prove to be stronger than any adult, enduring hard tests and showing that she can survive on the enemy field.

For all that, I give this book… 4 tea cups!