Fifteen year old Denn Doyle, fresh from surviving a near brush with death where he was hit by a city 
bus while on his skateboard, lets himself get talked into playing poker. His first time, he wins big. His next time, he loses bigger. Stung by losing, and convinced that he should be able to play better than them, he studies the game. His studies pay off and he’s on to winning. He start’s losing, too, most everything else he’d valued.
No Limit
‘s original title was Stone Cold, that’s what you have to be to win, says Cookie, the older card player that Denn Doyle becomes acquainted with. Stone Cold is just what Denn becomes. Just like his excellent book Rash
, which Pete Hautman published in 2006, this earlier book, originally published in 1998 under the title Stone Cold, the original book title takes on new meanings as you read through the book. And though Denn plays poker, at its heart, the book is about consuming obsessions. Denn’s own obsession is reflected in contrast to the obsessions of his father’s and the priest of the church.
At its heart, No Limit is an engrossing, fast moving story of a young man who learns and obsessed with winning. The story moves quickly and is clean and tight. (I’m left wishing that Hautman could give some lessons in self-editing to J.K. Rowling, who could have greatly improved her books just by trimming them down). The trail his plot follows is always fresh. The ending climax is both surprising and haunting and thought provoking.
No Limit, as with other books by Hautman, is an excellent book for young adult readers, especially boys, who would read if only they encountered something better, more suited to their interests, and not weighed down by tons of minutae or that don’t involve fantasy and magical powers. While I’m at it, I’ll recommend Rash, as well, a sort of dystopic view of our future. Over the years separating these two books, Hautman’s writing and storytelling has only improved.
Hautman has also written a sequel to this book, All-in
. The first chapter is available on his website.
Related posts:
- The Bloodwater Mysteries: Snatched by Pete Hautman and Mary Logue
- Coffee Break
- Another Leprechaun book for St. Patrick’s Day
- Melrose and Croc: A Christmas to Remember
- Books I’m Reading
This entry was posted
on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 7:27 pm and is filed under Book Reviews, General, YA.
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