The Music of Chance by Paul Auster

By the time Nashe understood what was happening to him, he was past the point of wanting it to end . . .'Following the death of his father and the inheritance of a large sum of money, Jim Nashe takes to the open road in pursuit of a 'life of freedom'. But as the money runs out he finds that his sense of disillusionment has only been compounded by his year on the road. However, having picked up Pozzi, a hitchhiking young gambler, he is drawn into a dangerous game of poker with Flower and Stone, two eccentric and reclusive millionaires. Unwittingly, Nashe finds himself in a situation in which, although the stakes have been raised, he will finally meet a challenge equal to his questions.