TRAPPED IN PAIRADICE

In Bronson’s thriller, an analyst at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta uncovers a link between suicide and gambling addiction, but pro-gaming interests attempt to silence her.

Cara Davenport’s life has been affected time and again by the tragedy of compulsive gambling. Her childhood crush, Patrick, who was addicted to online gambling, killed himself just a few weeks ago after racking up insurmountable debt; her father, Clyde, who also was addicted to online gambling, committed suicide about five years ago, leaving his family in financial arrears. Cara’s college boyfriend, Ben, ended his own life, as well, and she suspects he may have also suffered from a similar addiction. If this sounds like an implausible string of coincidences, it’s because this book is far more invested in proselytizing against the evils of gambling than telling a believable story; indeed, the work sometimes reads like an educational pamphlet. Cara works as an analyst at the CDC; while combing through the CDC archives for a symposium project, she stumbles upon suppressed evidence of a correlation between gambling addiction and suicide. She teams up with Ron Hynes, the former CDC analyst who wrote the papers that uncovered the link, and the pair attempt to publicize the evidence of what they’re certain is a deadly disease. However, online-gambling entrepreneur Geraldine Major is willing to do anything to bury those studies—maybe even commit murder. Over the course of the book, Bronson compellingly illustrates the genuine risks of excessive gambling and how it intersects with depression. However, the novel is unsuccessful as a work of fiction, as the plot strains credulity, the characters are formulaic, and the prose feels bland and clichéd. Consider Cara’s plea to her gambling-addict brother, Brady, after a car accident: “Brady, please, you need to fight to live!...I promise I’ll do everything in my power to fight for you, but you need to fight for you, too.” Overall, this is a didactic work designed to educate the reader, but it’s unlikely to entertain them or engage their emotions.

An earnest but ultimately unengaging novel despite a strong anti-gambling message.