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The Rogues' Game
1947. An enigmatic man driving a fine Lincoln convertible and accompanied by a beautiful blonde, comes to a small West Texas town. Ostensibly, his purpose is to get into a poker game that had been going at the infamous Weilbach Hotel. But as the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that he has a darker motive, one that centers on a sinister local banker named Clifton Robillard. Aided by an old-time hood named Chicken Little, the protagonist maneuvers Robillard toward a shattering climax in which we discover that nothing is what it seems to be.
With its wildcatting spirit, The Rogues' Game is a high stakes novel and an exquisite quest for revenge.
With its wildcatting spirit, The Rogues' Game is a high stakes novel and an exquisite quest for revenge.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 7, 2014
Milton T. Burton's "The Rogues' Game" might be construed as a novel of suspense or perhaps even a western. It is the author's debut novel. According to an anecdote, Mr. Burton wanted to write a novel already at 25, but being a poor typist he had to wait until word-processors become available. The book was published when he was 58.
It is 1947. A man (we never learn his name), an ex-intelligence officer with the OSS, comes to a small town in Texas, with his girlfriend Della, ostensibly to play a high-stake poker game. There obviously exists a more serious reason for his visit to the town, but the reader is only given small hints. Coincidentally, Mr. X and Della arrive in town almost exactly at the same time as the discovery of a huge oil field nearby. They take advantage of the oil frenzy (Della comes from an oil family and knows tricks of the trade), and get quite rich. The poker and the more serious and secret thing have to wait until later.
Three threads are intertwined in the novel: gradual revealing of Mr. X's real plans, the oil boom story, and the poker games story. To me, the second thread is by far the best - it has been fun to learn about the dynamics of oil frenzy: buying oil leases, paying with drafts instead of checks, and the "swiftness with which [an oil boom] unfolds or the speed at which fortunes are made."
The other two threads are not that interesting, in my view. The suspense novel component comes from piecemeal divulging of the truth about Mr. X's real high-stake game. While the insights into professional poker playing do not seem particularly deep, we get a bloody cockfighting scene as a bonus. The writing is competent, yet the characters are not portrayed deeply, and both Mr. X and Della are just too good to be true. But it is a feel-good novel and an extremely fast read.
Two and three quarter stars.
It is 1947. A man (we never learn his name), an ex-intelligence officer with the OSS, comes to a small town in Texas, with his girlfriend Della, ostensibly to play a high-stake poker game. There obviously exists a more serious reason for his visit to the town, but the reader is only given small hints. Coincidentally, Mr. X and Della arrive in town almost exactly at the same time as the discovery of a huge oil field nearby. They take advantage of the oil frenzy (Della comes from an oil family and knows tricks of the trade), and get quite rich. The poker and the more serious and secret thing have to wait until later.
Three threads are intertwined in the novel: gradual revealing of Mr. X's real plans, the oil boom story, and the poker games story. To me, the second thread is by far the best - it has been fun to learn about the dynamics of oil frenzy: buying oil leases, paying with drafts instead of checks, and the "swiftness with which [an oil boom] unfolds or the speed at which fortunes are made."
The other two threads are not that interesting, in my view. The suspense novel component comes from piecemeal divulging of the truth about Mr. X's real high-stake game. While the insights into professional poker playing do not seem particularly deep, we get a bloody cockfighting scene as a bonus. The writing is competent, yet the characters are not portrayed deeply, and both Mr. X and Della are just too good to be true. But it is a feel-good novel and an extremely fast read.
Two and three quarter stars.
September 14, 2016
Another good read by Mr. Burton. His books are such great, fast reads its hard to put them down. This book is about a former OSS (Office of Strategic Services) agent in 1942. Again it's set in Texas, but in West this time. A Nazi collaborator who made millions doing nasty for them is who the main character is after. Along the way we meet a funny character named Chicken Little who has known our main character all of his life. The most interesting thing in this book you never know the main characters name, a first for me, he plays high stakes poker, drills for oil and gets wealthier and is a character you root for. Again Mr. Burton has written a very good book. I'm on to his other book.
August 5, 2017
A note perfect debut novel by another departed Lone Star native son, this is a hard-boiled caper thriller straight out of the Jim Thompson school of criminal grit. Set in West Texas at the start of the post-World War II boom, the book features a nameless narrator and his curvy blonde girlfriend, a woman with a sad past but a sharp mind for business and all the angles on both sides of the law. This is a richly layered story that starts out as a man and his girlfriend headed for a high-stakes poker game in a ’47 Lincoln convertible, then appears to be a plot to rob the game’s high-rollers, then morphs again into a deceptive game with a darker motivation rooted in the narrator’s past as an OSS operative. Although set in the past, Burton’s novel isn’t a sepia-toned period piece. He makes subtle use of historical details and the intricacies of the oil business, the fever of a new boom town and the nuances of poker strategy in service of a well-told tale that echoes the essence of that classic Paul Newman and Robert Redford movie, The Sting, but skips the schmaltz and caricature. And the mark in Burton’s story is far nastier than Doyle Lonnegan and far more deserving of a comeuppance, which becomes apparent when Burton peels back the final layer to reveal what his book is truly about. What I learned from Burton’s novel is how to make judicious use of historical details to set a story in the past without making the past a major point of the story. I also took to heart the way he added just the right amount of technical background about a complex subject to make it authentic without turning the narrative into a term paper. He uses the same deft touch to make his mythical West Texas town come to life without a hint of maudlin nostalgia.
October 20, 2017
A quality tale set in a period of excitement and thrills in west Texas.
September 12, 2015
If I had just read the back of the book a little better, I would have known it involves Nazis. There are two kinds of novels that incorporate Nazis: Books about WWII and bad ones. This one isn't a bad book until the Nazis arrive -- it's pretty enjoyable while the sting is being set up, with plenty of foreshadowing to keep the readers' attention on the big, slam-bang finish.
But that's when the Nazis come in and the book goes out the window. The sting involves an unnamed protagonist and a bunch of shadowy helpers taking down a local high-roller / crook named Clifton Robillard. Calling the Nazi connections in the plot a stretch at the end is to do bungee cords a disservice. It's implausible to the point of "holy crap did I just read that?"
With any caper story (The Sting, Oceans 11, The Maltese Falcon), the unwinding of the various plot elements leading up to the big finish are what provide the fun. How does the hero get out of this trap or that pitfall? How does this side plot or minor character fit in? Everything's got to mesh like clockwork. This one had all the drama of a cow dying in a slaughterhouse: everybody but the cow knows how it's going to come out.
One last point ... Della, the love interest. Making the stereotypical gorgeous, young, oversexed, falling-over-the-hero, female sidekick smart doesn't make her into a valid character; it makes her into a gorgeous, young, oversexed, falling-over-the-hero, stereotyped female sidekick who happens to be smart. She's still in the book strictly to validate (and repeatedly service) the male lead.
Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the book well enough when it was a fun little caper novel (3.5 stars) ... until the damned Nazis showed up.
But that's when the Nazis come in and the book goes out the window. The sting involves an unnamed protagonist and a bunch of shadowy helpers taking down a local high-roller / crook named Clifton Robillard. Calling the Nazi connections in the plot a stretch at the end is to do bungee cords a disservice. It's implausible to the point of "holy crap did I just read that?"
With any caper story (The Sting, Oceans 11, The Maltese Falcon), the unwinding of the various plot elements leading up to the big finish are what provide the fun. How does the hero get out of this trap or that pitfall? How does this side plot or minor character fit in? Everything's got to mesh like clockwork. This one had all the drama of a cow dying in a slaughterhouse: everybody but the cow knows how it's going to come out.
One last point ... Della, the love interest. Making the stereotypical gorgeous, young, oversexed, falling-over-the-hero, female sidekick smart doesn't make her into a valid character; it makes her into a gorgeous, young, oversexed, falling-over-the-hero, stereotyped female sidekick who happens to be smart. She's still in the book strictly to validate (and repeatedly service) the male lead.
Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the book well enough when it was a fun little caper novel (3.5 stars) ... until the damned Nazis showed up.
May 30, 2011
Like the small west Texas town that is never named, the man with no name is not what he appears to be on the surface. He drives a beautiful car and appears in town with a beautiful woman named Della. It isn't the first time he has been in town as he was here before in 1942. This time he is back to seek some revenge and no one remembers him or suspects that he is anything other than what he appears to be-a flamboyant gambler.
Revenge for what isn't clear nor is his plan. His plan does involve a weekly high stakes card game that has been going on for decades at the Weilbach Hotel. It also isn't really clear which of several players is his target. It also isn't clear on how Della's interest in a recent oil strike is going to help or for that matter hurt his plan. Like his cards, he keeps his plans close to the vest and adjusts for changes. He does have a plan, he is flexible and he just needs a little help from friends like Chicken Little and Icepick Willie.
What follows in this novel by Tyler, Texas resident Milton T. Burton is an intriguing and deeply twisted tale of a great con. The author opens a portal back into a different time and pulls the reader deeply into a Texas of the recent past. Told through first person point of view he spins a rich and complex weave that pulls the reader deep into his world where only slowly does the shape and scope of the plan come tantalizingly clear like the mirage on a West Texas highway during the heat of the summer before disappearing again. Heavily atmospheric both in place and in style of writing, this is the kind of novel that starts slowly, moves slowly and pulls the reader in so deep that when one looks up from the book there is that splendid moment of disorientation between the past that might have been and the present.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2011
Revenge for what isn't clear nor is his plan. His plan does involve a weekly high stakes card game that has been going on for decades at the Weilbach Hotel. It also isn't really clear which of several players is his target. It also isn't clear on how Della's interest in a recent oil strike is going to help or for that matter hurt his plan. Like his cards, he keeps his plans close to the vest and adjusts for changes. He does have a plan, he is flexible and he just needs a little help from friends like Chicken Little and Icepick Willie.
What follows in this novel by Tyler, Texas resident Milton T. Burton is an intriguing and deeply twisted tale of a great con. The author opens a portal back into a different time and pulls the reader deeply into a Texas of the recent past. Told through first person point of view he spins a rich and complex weave that pulls the reader deep into his world where only slowly does the shape and scope of the plan come tantalizingly clear like the mirage on a West Texas highway during the heat of the summer before disappearing again. Heavily atmospheric both in place and in style of writing, this is the kind of novel that starts slowly, moves slowly and pulls the reader in so deep that when one looks up from the book there is that splendid moment of disorientation between the past that might have been and the present.
Kevin R. Tipple © 2011
July 17, 2012
Story-telling, in the most basic sense of the term, is a dying art. Too often, authors of today either present a random jumble of events only loosely connected by anything recognizable as plot, or they fall into the hyper-detailed screenplay mode, which provides the reader with a comprehensive set of stage directions, but little more.
Milton Burton capture the art of the yarn perfectly in this quick, but intriguing read. It is a story in the best sense of the word, and Burton keeps the pace brisk throughout. He has the knack of developing character quickly, without burdening the reader with unnecessary detail. The imagination is left to fill in the outlines provided, without sacrificing the essential mood and spirit of the piece. We are given what is important, when we need to know it, and yet the depth of the piece does not suffer.
Part southwestern period piece, part spy novel and part romance, Burton's protagonists are compelling, slightly naughty, and clearly on the side of good and virtue ... though those value might be somewhat malleable. There are characters everyone can clearly recognize -- the corrupt cop, the crafty grifter, the evil banker -- but while recognizable, they are not cliche.
Summarizing the story itself would not do justice to the experience,so I will leave that to your own discovery. Burton provides a page-turning yarn that exemplifies the best in true story-telling. Bravo!
Milton Burton capture the art of the yarn perfectly in this quick, but intriguing read. It is a story in the best sense of the word, and Burton keeps the pace brisk throughout. He has the knack of developing character quickly, without burdening the reader with unnecessary detail. The imagination is left to fill in the outlines provided, without sacrificing the essential mood and spirit of the piece. We are given what is important, when we need to know it, and yet the depth of the piece does not suffer.
Part southwestern period piece, part spy novel and part romance, Burton's protagonists are compelling, slightly naughty, and clearly on the side of good and virtue ... though those value might be somewhat malleable. There are characters everyone can clearly recognize -- the corrupt cop, the crafty grifter, the evil banker -- but while recognizable, they are not cliche.
Summarizing the story itself would not do justice to the experience,so I will leave that to your own discovery. Burton provides a page-turning yarn that exemplifies the best in true story-telling. Bravo!
August 8, 2015
The author's debut, The Rogues' Game, set in 1947, is a light entertaining version of The Sting - albeit Texas style. Using an ongoing high stakes poker game as the ruse, spiced up with a once in a lifetime oil strike as the backdrop, the reader is given an inside look at how a big scale scam is run as the "mark" - a real bad guy - is slowly but effectively lured into a trap capitalizing on his own deceit.
The story is narrated by our hero, whose name the reader never learns, who is fresh from serving in WWII in some unknown capacity and initially appears to be no more than a professional gambler. Pulling into town with his traveling companion, a beautiful woman 12 years his junior, he is in search of the above mentioned poker game and the reader soon learns that our man has more than just card-playing on his mind.
Our hero lines up his team of "good" guys and goads the "bad guy" weekend after weekend at the poker table, setting him up for the big finale. The coincidental, but fortuitous oil strike, provides him with stake money for his scam, and gives his girlfriend the opportunity to show us her business savvy. She's not only drop dead gorgeous, but smart too! And by the end of the tale everything is tied up in a neat little bow - our hero and his team satisfyingly rich and happy and the bad guy and his team receiving their just desserts.
The Rogues' Game is a quick and entertaining read and more than a little predictable. Not a bad book just not a great one.
The story is narrated by our hero, whose name the reader never learns, who is fresh from serving in WWII in some unknown capacity and initially appears to be no more than a professional gambler. Pulling into town with his traveling companion, a beautiful woman 12 years his junior, he is in search of the above mentioned poker game and the reader soon learns that our man has more than just card-playing on his mind.
Our hero lines up his team of "good" guys and goads the "bad guy" weekend after weekend at the poker table, setting him up for the big finale. The coincidental, but fortuitous oil strike, provides him with stake money for his scam, and gives his girlfriend the opportunity to show us her business savvy. She's not only drop dead gorgeous, but smart too! And by the end of the tale everything is tied up in a neat little bow - our hero and his team satisfyingly rich and happy and the bad guy and his team receiving their just desserts.
The Rogues' Game is a quick and entertaining read and more than a little predictable. Not a bad book just not a great one.
August 27, 2007
THE ROGUES' GAME (Mystery-Texas-1947) – Ex
Burton, Milton T. – 1st book
Thomas Dunn Books, 2005-Hardcover
A man arrives in a small Texas town in a Lincoln convertible with a beautiful blonde, opens a account at one of the two local banks, and establishes a cash relationship with a local cop for his help getting into the famous long-standing poker game and for favors in the future. His target is Clifton Robillard, the other local banker and owner of many of the town's more disreputable properties. But target for what and why?
*** What a wonderful book! This is a mystery about an elaborate grift set in Post WWII Texas at the start of the oil boom. All the characters are so well done and not stereotypical; Della, the beautiful blonde is also very business smart; Manlow Rhodes, the Presbyterian banker, "Chicken" Little, an old ex-con and breeder of gamecocks; Det. Ollie Marne, the cop on the take "would like to be a better man than his job and the circumstances in this town will allow him to be.", and many others including the protagonist who tells the story in retrospect. The plotting, sense of time and place, dialogue and tension are first-rate. There is a second standalone and a series on the way by Burton and you can bet I'm going to read them. Highly recommend.
Burton, Milton T. – 1st book
Thomas Dunn Books, 2005-Hardcover
A man arrives in a small Texas town in a Lincoln convertible with a beautiful blonde, opens a account at one of the two local banks, and establishes a cash relationship with a local cop for his help getting into the famous long-standing poker game and for favors in the future. His target is Clifton Robillard, the other local banker and owner of many of the town's more disreputable properties. But target for what and why?
*** What a wonderful book! This is a mystery about an elaborate grift set in Post WWII Texas at the start of the oil boom. All the characters are so well done and not stereotypical; Della, the beautiful blonde is also very business smart; Manlow Rhodes, the Presbyterian banker, "Chicken" Little, an old ex-con and breeder of gamecocks; Det. Ollie Marne, the cop on the take "would like to be a better man than his job and the circumstances in this town will allow him to be.", and many others including the protagonist who tells the story in retrospect. The plotting, sense of time and place, dialogue and tension are first-rate. There is a second standalone and a series on the way by Burton and you can bet I'm going to read them. Highly recommend.
December 23, 2013
PROTAGONIST: no name provided!
SETTING: 1947 West Texas
RATING: 4.5
WHY: A new guy (NG) travels to a town in West Texas with his girlfriend, Della. He is setting up some kind of scam, and it appears his target is a banker named Clifton Robillard. NG joins the weekly poker match at a local hotel and plays mind games on Robillard. Meanwhile, a farmer has struck a huge vein of oil which sets the whole place into a frenzy. Della takes over the abstract office, and soon they are making money hand over fist. NG's purpose isn't revealed until late in the book which serves to build a great deal of curiosity. At the same time, we meet some of NG's associates who are quite interesting characters. Burton is an excellent writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
SETTING: 1947 West Texas
RATING: 4.5
WHY: A new guy (NG) travels to a town in West Texas with his girlfriend, Della. He is setting up some kind of scam, and it appears his target is a banker named Clifton Robillard. NG joins the weekly poker match at a local hotel and plays mind games on Robillard. Meanwhile, a farmer has struck a huge vein of oil which sets the whole place into a frenzy. Della takes over the abstract office, and soon they are making money hand over fist. NG's purpose isn't revealed until late in the book which serves to build a great deal of curiosity. At the same time, we meet some of NG's associates who are quite interesting characters. Burton is an excellent writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
April 30, 2020
It's 1947. An enigmatic man driving a fine new Lincoln convertible and accompanied by a beautiful blonde comes to a small West Texas city. Ostensibly, his purpose is to get into a poker game that has been going on every weekend for over half a century at the ancient Weilbach Hotel, the area's premier hostelry. But as the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that he has a deeper and darker motive, one that centers on a wealthy but sinister local banker named Clifton Robillard. Aided by an old-time hood named Chicken Little, a famous Okie cockfighter and moonshiner, the protagonist maneuvers Robillard toward a shattering climax in which we discover that nothing is what it seems to be. One of my 9 best first mysteries read in 2005.
March 7, 2013
This is my second book by MB, and I am impressed. A West Texas gambling and vengeance story set after WW2, in an oil boomtown. It's funny that I hear the same sort of stories from my brother in Midland now that they are having a boom (again). I think MB nailed the tone and culture, same as the previous on I read. Big fan!
March 22, 2011
West Texas in the early 1950s, perfectly captured.
July 13, 2011
Formidable.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews