Before reading The Gambler, I'd already spent time with Vince Reid in The Wrong Woman, so diving straight into this sequel felt less like meeting a new detective and more like catching up with someone whose company I genuinely enjoyed. One of the strengths of J.P. Pomare's writing is that Vince never feels like a stock private investigator. He's intelligent without being infallible, persistent without becoming reckless, and carries just enough emotional baggage to make him feel authentic rather than clichéd.
This time, what begins as an apparently straightforward investigation into a shooting at a political rally quickly unravels into something far more layered. Pomare weaves together political extremism, online conspiracy theories, gambling, artificial intelligence, hidden identities, and long-buried secrets into a mystery that continually shifts beneath your feet. The novel asks interesting questions about how easily ordinary people can be manipulated and how difficult it 's become to separate truth from carefully manufactured narratives.
Truthfully, the opening did require a little patience. The story moves between multiple timelines and perspectives, introducing several characters before the various threads begin to connect. For the first few chapters I occasionally found myself pausing to work out exactly where I was in the timeline, but once everything settled into place the novel became increasingly difficult to put down (I read it in less than 24 hours). Every new revelation seemed to cast earlier events in a completely different light.
Rather than remaining confined to a single storyline, Vince finds himself exploring a range of communities and motivations. The inclusion of the Amish community, the political campaign, and the strange run of gambling success all seem disconnected at first, but Pomare clearly has a knack for bringing disparate elements together in very clever ways.
What elevates this above a standard procedural is that it isn't simply interested in solving a crime. It's interested in why people become vulnerable to certainty, and to those willing to exploit that certainty. The title proves to be fitting in more ways than one; nearly every major character is gambling on something, whether it's money, power, love, reputation, or survival.
Reading this immediately after The Wrong Woman also highlighted how much I enjoy Vince Reid as an ongoing protagonist. He's developing into a detective whose personal life complements the mystery rather than overshadowing it, and I'm already looking forward to seeing where Pomare takes him next.
Whilst I didn't head-over-heels love The Wrong Woman, this instalment is an engaging, intelligent thriller with plenty of twists, contemporary themes that feel relevant, with a satisfying payoff that rewards sticking with its layered structure.
★★★★☆ (4/5)
Book Details
The Gambler — J.P. Pomare
Paperback ISBN
978-0733653087 (Hachette Australia trade paperback edition)
Hardcover ISBN
No hardcover edition published
eBook ISBN
978-0733653346 (Hachette Australia eBook edition)
Genre
Crime Fiction; Psychological Thriller; Mystery; Political Thriller
Subgenre
Private Investigator Mystery; Political Crime Thriller; Psychological Suspense; Techno-Thriller; Contemporary Crime Fiction
Tropes / Literary Threads
Private investigator with a troubled past; political assassination; conspiracy theories; gambling addiction; artificial intelligence; online radicalisation; hidden identities; dual timeline; multiple perspectives; red herrings; small-town investigation; buried secrets; moral ambiguity; manipulation; truth versus perception; technology versus tradition; Amish community; corruption; revenge; invisible puppet masters.
Publisher
Hachette Australia
(Hodder & Stoughton in the UK)
Series
Vince Reid Mysteries
(Book Two)
Series Order
The Wrong Woman
The Gambler
Formats Available
Trade Paperback; eBook; Audiobook
Audiobook Narrator
Anthea Greco & Tony Alvarez
Release Date
24 February 2026
Page Count
336 pages (paperback edition)
Where to Buy The Gambler by J.P. Pomare
Affiliate Disclosure
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Danielle Robinson is a literary critic and writer whose work explores literature through the lens of atmosphere, memory, culture, and emotional experience. Holding a double degree in philosophy and theology, she combines academic insight with a deeply refined aesthetic sensibility shaped by more than three decades working across the creative industries as an internationally published, multi-award-winning makeup artist, fashion stylist, and interior stager.
She reads widely and rigorously, reading and reviewing more than 200 books each year as both an ARC reader and commissioned critic. Through Silk & Sentences, Danielle approaches literature as something immersive and lived with — not simply stories to consume, but works that shape the way we think, feel, and move through the world.
She writes from her semi-rural Queensland home, where she lives with Alex, her husband of 33 years, their dogs Oscar and Paige, and an ever-growing library of books.
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