EtoYoto
Logline: In a world where luck is for losers, one boy learns that the only way to survive the game is to rig the deck.
Synopsis:
By day, Sam Xiong is a ghost-the invisible scholarship student at Northwood High, a favorite punching bag for Viper, the sadistic son of the city's most ruthless mob boss. Sam has no money, no muscle, and no future. He is a card waiting to be discarded.
But Sam has a secret weapon: his Uncle Dante.
Dante is a washed-up legend of the Las Vegas underground, a grifter who burned every bridge he ever crossed. Seeing Sam's desperation, Dante offers him a way out. He doesn't teach Sam how to throw a punch; he teaches him how to deal from the bottom of the deck. He teaches him the art of the con, the science of the tell, and the brutal mathematics of revenge.
Under Dante's tutelage, Sam transforms. He stops being the victim and starts becoming the player. Along the way, he falls for Roxy, a fierce, street-smart girl with a dark past and a deadly aim, who shows him that the most dangerous gamble isn't on the table-it's in the heart.
But when a high-stakes heist against Viper's father goes wrong, Sam is thrust into a world far darker than he imagined. From the neon-soaked backrooms of underground Vegas to the opulent, deadly VIP suites of Macau, Sam must adopt a new identity: Sebastian Ky, the phantom high-roller.
Hunted by the FBI, targeted by the elusive Syndicate, and seduced by the thrill of the win, Sam realizes that his uncle's lessons came with a hidden price. To save his father and protect the woman he loves, Sam must pull off the greatest bluff in history against the "Grandmasters" of the criminal underworld.
The cards are marked. The dice are loaded. And Sam Xiong is all in.
Genre: Young Adult / Crime Thriller / Dark Romance Themes: Revenge, Heist, Underdog, Forbidden Love, Mind Games