Chances was published by Warner Books in 1981, and it introduced the Santangelo family — a dynasty that would occupy Collins through multiple novels and become her most enduring literary creation. The novel follows Gino Santangelo from his childhood on the streets of New York through his rise to power as a crime lord in Las Vegas, spanning fifty years of American history from the Depression through the 1970s.
Collins’s Gino is a compelling antihero — violent, charismatic, sexually voracious, and possessed of a code of honor that coexists comfortably with his criminal activities. The novel draws on the tradition of the American crime saga (from The Godfather onward) but adds Collins’s distinctive element: the women in Gino’s life are not mere accessories but fully realized characters whose own desires, strategies, and betrayals drive the plot as powerfully as any male action.
The novel’s most important creation is Lucky — Gino’s daughter, who will become the protagonist of the sequel and the central figure of the Santangelo series. Lucky inherits her father’s ambition, his ruthlessness, and his charisma, and Collins uses her to explore what female power looks like in a world where power has traditionally been male.
Collecting Chances
First edition (Warner Books, New York, 1981): Mass-market paperback original.
Market values:
- First printing (Warner paperback): $10–$30
- First hardcover edition (later): $15–$40