"Last Call" (Tim Powers 1992) is another of the author's bravura reworking of real history and mythology and invention. "Last Call" marries Tarot cards up with Las Vegas's gambling and mobs, tossing in Bugsy Siegel as a Fisher King persona.

The plot has gambler Scott Crane seeking to reclaim his soul after losing it in an arcane card game on Lake Mead. He has to return to the heart of darkness in Las Vegas, and enter into a strange otherworld, to be redeemed.

Besides the rich world Tim Powers weaves together from history and fantasy there is also a big hand of characters who play their roles in "Last Call" like the cards in a card game. The number of ideas Powers includes is dazzling but they're all relevant to the whole, all part of the narrative.

A masterpiece - oddly moral despite the alienness.