NevadaLowball

Nevada Lowball follows Wesley Erickson, an Army veteran trying to build a quiet life with his wife Maggie, only to be pulled into a war with an organized crime family on the outskirts of Las Vegas, Nevada. It's a high-octane psychological crime thriller told across three books: Never Fold, Double Down, and House Takes All.

In Never Fold (Book 1), a botched heist drags Wes and Maggie into the crosshairs of a ruthless crime family, forcing Wes to fight to protect everything he loves. In Double Down (Book 2), the focus shifts onto Maggie as she's pulled deeper into the organized crime world — Wes tries to keep her safe, but she starts learning the game on her own terms. By House Takes All (Book 3), Maggie has crossed a line Wes never expected: she's become a professional assassin, and the series builds toward its final, explosive reckoning.

Nevada Lowball is a work of fiction, the plot, characters, and events are invented. That said, it draws heavily on author Antonio Nicassio's real experience as a U.S. Army combat veteran and a working Las Vegas detective, which is where the authenticity in the military and crime details comes from.

Nevada Lowball began as a screenplay written by his friend J.G. Blodgett that drew interest from a Lionsgate producer before Antonio Nicassio reworked it into the first book of a planned crime series. His 23 years in the Army and his years since as a Las Vegas detective directly shape the world, tone, and characters of the story.

Nevada Lowball is best described as a psychological crime thriller with heavy action elements. It's closer to a gritty, character-driven crime drama than a straightforward action shoot-'em-up.

Yes. Like Breaking Bad, Nevada Lowball is rooted in a southwestern desert setting where an expansive criminal organization reaches far beyond the rural town where the story begins, pulling ordinary people into a world they can't easily escape. It carries the same gritty, unflinching edge as Sons of Anarchy, and the morally questionable characters readers meet along the way echo the tension at the heart of Mayor of Kingstown, where the line between protector and criminal keeps blurring.

Read them in release order: Book One is Never Fold, Book Two is Double Down, and Book Three is House Takes All. Each book picks up directly from where the previous one left off.

Nevada Lowball is a trilogy — three books total: Never Fold, Double Down, and House Takes All. Never Fold is available now, while Double Down and House Takes All are both coming soon.

Yes. The story follows Wes and Maggie continuously across all three books, with each one building directly on the events of the last, so reading Never Fold first is strongly recommended.

Yes. Wesley and Maggie Erickson are the central characters across all three books, and their relationship and choices drive the story from Never Fold through House Takes All. The antagonist character known only as the Professor, also recurs and maintains significance as the trilogy progresses.

Nevada Lowball is planned as a trilogy, concluding with House Takes All, with no fourth book currently planned beyond it. If that changes, it'll be announced through the reader list.

Wesley Erickson, an Army veteran, has settled into a quiet life as a poker dealer in a small Nevada casino with his pregnant wife, Maggie. When a heist involving two childhood friends spirals into a robbery-turned-murder against an organized crime family, Wes and Maggie are falsely accused and hunted by a sadistic husband-and-wife hit team. With his back against the wall and time running out, Wes must play his last hand where the lives of his family are the stakes … and nobody folds.

Wesley Erickson is a combat veteran turned poker dealer trying to leave his violent past behind and build a peaceful life in small-town Nevada. Maggie is his wife — she starts the series caught in the crossfire of Wes's circumstances, then is pulled deeper into the Professor's crime empire as the trilogy progresses, eventually becoming one of his most capable assets.

In Double Down, Wes just wants his old life back, while Maggie wants the Professor's empire in ashes. After proving themselves in Mexico, the two are handed cushy jobs inside the Professor's operation — Wes dealing cards at a private Pahrump golf club, Maggie running a thrift store that launders more than donations. When a crew of London mobsters rolls into town chasing a wartime relic once gifted to Winston Churchill, Maggie plays both sides against each other, and Wes barely pulls her back from the edge. She isn't a traditional vigilante in this book, but she is actively working to destroy the Professor from the inside.

House Takes All picks up three years after Maggie traded her freedom for Wes's exile, having become the Professor's best asset — a killer built by discipline and training. When a state attorney runs for governor on a promise to dismantle the Professor's empire, Maggie takes the contract, while Wes, desperate to get back to her, takes a security job protecting the same candidate without realizing who's on the other side. House Takes All is the third and concluding book of the Nevada Lowball trilogy.

Each book in the Nevada Lowball trilogy raises the stakes heading into the next, with Wes and Maggie's choices in one book directly setting up the conflict of the next. Never Fold sets the hit team and the Professor's crime family in motion, and Double Down leaves Wes and Maggie in a far more dangerous position than where they started.

Antonio Nicassio is a 23-year U.S. Army veteran and a full-time Las Vegas detective who writes action crime thrillers forged from combat, obsession, and the Nevada desert. He is the author of the Nevada Lowball trilogy, and before writing novels, he spent 15 years producing independent films.

Yes. Antonio Nicassio served 23 years in the U.S. Army, reaching the rank of Sergeant First Class, and deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 to Combat Outpost Najil, earning the Bronze Star Medal and Combat Action Badge. He joined the police department at age 47 and is currently a full-time Las Vegas detective.

Antonio Nicassio completed a Crisis Negotiation Course, conducted undercover vice operations, and spent two years as a violent gun crime detective before his current post. He also spent 15 years producing independent films before writing — that combined background in combat, undercover police work, and film storytelling is exactly what gives Nevada Lowball its authenticity.

Never Fold, Book One of the Nevada Lowball trilogy, is available now on Amazon. Double Down and House Takes All are both coming soon.

Join the reader list on this site to get notified as soon as Double Down and House Takes All are released. You can also follow Antonio Nicassio on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.