“The Great Gamble” is a new suspense thriller novel by David Bluder, the husband of University of Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder.
“The Great Gamble” by David L. Bluder (Ice Cube Press): In this suspenseful thriller, FBI agents delve into a classified operation that draws them into the hidden, corrupt and deadly underbelly of sports gambling, a world that involves drug cartels and international intrigue. As Melissa Isaacson, an award-winning sportswriter for ESPN and the Chicago Tribune says, the story is “made all the more frightening by … the fact that his fictional account may not be so far from the truth.” Bluder, who’s married to University of Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder, lives in Iowa City. This is his first novel.
“Iowa Gardens of the Past: Lost and Historic Gardens of Iowa 1850-1980” by Beth Cody (Iowa Garden Press): Even non-gardeners will be captivated by this 320-page coffee-table-style hardcover book, which features more than 250 color and grayscale images of Iowa gardens from the mid-1800s to 1980. Cody, who lives in rural Amish country near Iowa City, covers formal rose gardens, Victorian-style flower beds, Japanese-inspired gardens and midcentury modern landscaping, among others. Find more information at iowagardens.com.
