In this coming-of-age story set in the 1950s, eighteen-year-old Val leaves his tiny West Texas town to search for the father he thought had died a hero’s death many years earlier. This quest gives Val an excuse for getting out, as he is being forced into a loveless marriage and a meaningless existence in a town where his life has been made more difficult because his mother is a Mexican. Val’s search draws him into a mysterious world: violent and unpredictable, yet also glamorous and seductive. It is his Anglo father’s world of high-stakes professional gambling. With their ultimate confrontation taking place in Reno, Nevada, Val realizes that all that glitters in his father’s free-wheeling lifestyle is more grit than gold—and that true style comes only with the acceptance of personal responsibility. Yet Val’s father leaves him two priceless gifts: a new-found pride in his Mexican heritage and the courage to follow his dream. _______________