READERS GUIDE

A Las Vegas star is lured into a dangerous game of identity, dirty politics, and organized crime in this cleverly plotted and atmospheric novel by New York Times bestselling author Chris Bohjalian.
 
Crissy Dowling is a Princess Diana impersonator with a residency at a ragged Las Vegas casino called Buckingham Palace. With her feathered hair, her resemblance to the late princess is uncanny, and fans flock to her shows to hear her flawless British accent and soaring renditions of Petula Clark songs. Sure, the casino is down at the heels and Crissy’s love life is in shambles after an affair with a married senator, but Crissy spends her days drinking Bloody Marys in a poolside cabana, and overall, it’s not a bad life.
 
But this is Las Vegas, where luck can change in heartbeat.
 
When Crissy’s estranged sister, Betsy, arrives in Vegas with a bounder of a boyfriend, an adopted foster child, and risky cryptocurrency ambitions, shortly after Buckingham Palace’s CFO is found with a bullet in his head, murder, politics, gaming, invisible money, and family secrets collide, and Crissy’s desert kingdom crashes down.
 
When you join your book club’s discussion, we hope that sharing these questions with the group will enhance the reading experience of this electrifying Sin City thriller by the acclaimed author of The Flight Attendant.

Questions and Topics for Discussion

1. There’s a lot of talk about chance in the novel. To what extent has chance played a part in Crissy’s and Betsy’s lives, and to what extent have their choices driven them to this point?

2. Has a bad choice you’ve made led to something good? Or has a good choice—as the British would say—gone to pot?

3. Why do you think Crissy finds it easy to let down her guard in a public performance but so difficult to do the same in her personal life?

4. On page 12, Crissy scoffs at the trope of the “unreliable narrator,” saying all narrators in fiction are unreliable. Can that also be applied to us in real life and the stories we tell ourselves and others?

5. The novel explores the public’s obsession with the royals. Apart from Chrissy’s uncanny resemblance, what else do you think draws her to Princess Diana’s persona, both public and private? Can you relate at all to celebrity fixations?

6. In addition to their mother’s death, what other issues do you think are at the root of Crissy and Betsy’s estrangement? In what ways did their paths in life diverge? In what ways are they coming together?

7. On page 80, the senator quotes Princess Diana: “I lead from the heart. Not the head.” In what ways is that true of him and of Crissy?

8. As a social worker, Betsy adopting Marisa is paramount in turning the girl’s life around. How do you think Marisa has the same impact on Betsy’s life?

9. As young as Marisa is, she’s adept at reading her elders and sees that Crissy is living in a state of denial. What is it about Crissy that tips her off? And in what ways does her denial become a threat to Marisa and to Betsy?

10. In what ways is Las Vegas, a city of “smoke and mirrors” as Crissy says on page 182,  the perfect place in which to lay the foundation for Betsy’s bitcoin outfit, Futurium? Or for that matter, Crissy’s current life and career?

11. When talking about the odds against the house on page 188, Marisa says, “The longer you play, the more you lose.” Is that also true when applied to the real-life games that Betsy and Crissy are playing? If so, what are the unexpected advantages of those losses in the long run?

12. As Crissy gets more deeply—and dangerously—involved with saving Buckingham Palace and, in turn, her career, do you think she is more fearless and determined, or heedless?

13. In the beginning of the novel, Crissy admits that both she and her sister were naive. In what ways is that true? And considering the events that followed, which sister was more so?

14. In hindsight, Crissy says that if she had to take the same risks and the same chances, she would do it all over again. Considering the danger she put herself, Betsy, and Marisa in, do you understand the sentiment?

Suggested Reading

Other Recommended Novels
The Flight Attendant, Chris Bohjalian
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands, Chris Bohjalian
The Great Offshore Grounds, Vanessa Veselka
The Cold Six Thousand, James Ellroy
The Marsh King’s Daughter, Karen Dionne
A Dangerous Business, Jane Smiley
 
Nonfiction for Further Reading
Lucky Me, Rich Paul
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
Super Casino, Pete Earley
Spare, Prince Harry
Bits to Bitcoin, Mark Stuart Day
Rat Pack Confidential, Shawn Levy