Catch You on the Flipside - by Lee Kvern (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"If gambling intrigue, bear attacks, and political kleptocracy are at all your pet subjects, this may be the book you've been waiting for." -- Jean Marc Ah-Sen, author of In the Beggarly Style of Imitation

In 1983, Elle is a blackjack dealer at an Alberta casino. At the same time, Amado is a baggage handler in Manila. When Amado witnesses the assassination of a prominent political figure in Manila, he flees to Canada and ends up in the same casino as Elle, disgruntled Hollander, Erik, and card counter and stalker, regrettable Calvin.

Over the next thirty years, the characters remain intimately connected as their stories and histories intersect. Told from alternating points of view, this puzzle-in-progress brings each character's pieces together that make up a whole picture that examines how everything from political espionage to intimate partner violence affects not only its direct participants but also its bystanders and witnesses.

Review Quotes

"By the close of this fast-paced novel rollick in espionage, shoes, paid weepers, misogyny, java and blackjack, a range of shocking flipsides has been exposed, some of them even lovely ones. Most vitally, criminals are slithered towards their inevitable ends, the novel concluding with a snake's own flipside, in a potent symbol of how nurturance can twist into murder." -- Alberta Views

"Funny, moving, and epic all at once, Catch You on the Flipside is a standout." -- Pickle Me This

"Through clever misdirection and suspenseful foreshadowing, Kvern shows that the flipside of a person is "not always what you think" ... Whether describing the plight of a country or a few seedy gamblers, Kvern renders these individuals with equal humanity and detail." -- Literary Review of Canada

"If gambling intrigue, bear attacks, and political kleptocracy are at all your pet subjects, this may be the book you've been waiting for." -- Jean Marc Ah-Sen, author of In the Beggarly Style of Imitation

"Holy Toledo, Lee Kvern is a great writer! What a vivid, gripping, appalling, horrifying, intense, physical real opening. And from there, Catch You on the Flipside never lets up. It's as impressive in its scope as in its depth. I felt this novel, like real life, on every single page. Brava!" -- Angie Abdou, author of This One Wild Life

"Current, urgent and utterly convincing, Catch You on the Flipside ties corrupt, Marcos-era Philippines to boom-bust Calgary of the early 1980s. Lee Kvern's authentic, vividly drawn characters prove that everyone, peon or potentate, has an unexpected Side B." -- Richard Cumyn, author of This Lark of Stolen Time

"Catch You On The Flipside is an international thriller that deftly draws together an assassination in Manila, the staff at a Calgary casino, and a stalked barista. The fresh deck of characters includes famous politicians, unlucky baggage handlers, nefarious gun toters, smoke show redheads, and idiosyncratic casino regulars. In crisp inimitable prose that shows she knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, Lee Kvern deals round after round of suspense and asks: "If a butterfly flapped its wings in Calgary, would it set off a storm in the Philippines?" -- Barb Howard, author of Happy Sands

"With this book, Lee Kvern gives us a thrilling ride, a delicious noir, both lush and intense. Each chapter is vividly wrought with a tension so palpable, the pages turn themselves. Spanning decades and continents, and with an epic scope and ensemble of characters, every reader is in for a vibrant experience!"-- Bradley Somer, award-winning author of Fishbowl and Extinction

"With this book, Lee Kvern gives us a thrilling ride, a delicious noir, both lush and intense. Each chapter is vividly wrought with a tension so palpable, the pages turn themselves. Spanning decades and continents, and with an epic scope and ensemble of characters, every reader is in for a vibrant experience!" -- Bradley Somer, award winning author of Fishbowl and Extinction

"If gambling intrigue, bear attacks, and political kleptocracy are at all your pet subjects, this may be the book you've been waiting for." -- Jean Marc Ah-Sen, author of In the Beggarly Style of Imitation

"Catch You On The Flipside is an international thriller that deftly draws together an assassination in Manila, the staff at a Calgary casino, and a stalked barista. The fresh deck of characters includes famous politicians, unlucky baggage handlers, nefarious gun toters, smoke show redheads, and idiosyncratic casino regulars. In crisp inimitable prose that shows she knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, Lee Kvern deals round after round of suspense and asks: 'If a butterfly flapped its wings in Calgary, would it set off a storm in the Philippines?'"-- Barb Howard, author of Happy Sands

"Current, urgent and utterly convincing, Catch You on the Flipside ties corrupt, Marcos-era Philippines to boom-bust Calgary of the early 1980s. Lee Kvern's authentic, vividly drawn characters prove that everyone, peon or potentate, has an unexpected Side B." -- Richard Cumyn, author of This Lark of Stolen Time

About the Author

Lee Kvern is an award-winning author of short stories and novels. Her stories in 7 Ways To Sunday have won the CBC Literary Award, Western Magazine Award, Hazel Hilles Memorial Short Fiction Prize, and the Howard 'O' Hagan Award. Afterall was selected for Canada Reads (Regional) and nominated for the Alberta Book Awards. The Matter of Sylvie was nominated for the Alberta Book Awards and the Ottawa Relit Award and Alberta Magazine Awards. Her work has been produced for CBC Radio, and published in Funicular, Grain, Event, Descant, Air Canada enRoute, Tishman Review, Globe&Mail, and subTerrain.