The Lucky Loser — Dan James

John was a young man firing on all cylinders into a life of drugs, booze, sex, and gambling, and fully intent on thriving in all of it. With every passing month the drinks got stronger, the sex got wilder, the bets got bigger. Some might say that boogie, bars and broads had captured John, but he felt that he had captured them. Like a fat dog on a beach of dead fish John wanted to roll forever. The 70s had arrived with a tolerance toward minor sins, but why go venial when mortal is more fun?

Who's got a line on the next party, the phone line of the next girl, the line of b******t that will put that girl on her knees or back, the next line of coke, and above all, the sports betting line. John never thought he had a problem, he had a life. John just didn't get it:

When you bang the wrong broad, and beat the wrong bookie, you got a problem.

Now the lines are all running against John.

His wild life screeches to a halt with a double murder that takes John into the unexpected.