Nevada Books

Orphaned boy makes good
Jon Land's The Seven Sins is an entertaining read that appears to set the stage for a series involving Michael "The Tyrant" Tiranno, an extremely brilliant and wealthy business entrepreneur. During his family's grisly murder, Michael escaped with his father's prized possession-an ancient gold medallion that supposedly has magical powers. Orphaned at a young age, Michael is all but adopted by the local Mafia Don and raised as a son. Michael soon shows a strong proclivity for business and high finance and eventually builds his surrogate father's illegal Mafia holdings into a legal world of high finance, trade and commodity speculation. Unfortunately, a split in the "family" forces Michael out on his own where he builds an entrepreneurial empire in the gaming world of Las Vegas, eventually building the world's grandest casino: The Seven Sins. But all is not right in the town that never sleeps, as a several different factions try and destroy various casinos of which The Seven Sins is one. The Plot then takes off as Michael hunts down the perpetrators only to find out that not all is what it seems.
All in all a fun read with many twists and turns. Numerous plots and sub-plots demand the reader pay attention to keep things straight. Flash backs contribute to the complexity of the story and help tie up loose ends. There are many characters which at times is confusing.
Character development was OK for the protagonist Michael but was rather shallow for most of the supporting characters. Again, it appears that this book is a setup for future Michael Tiranno adventures.
No gratuitous sex, violence, or language.
Entertaining story. Recommended, especially when trapped in the airport or visiting relatives.

Like most books on the casino business, The Seven Sins falls far short of reality. Michael Tirrano, the CEO of King Midas Resorts, has somehow hidden his connections to a Sicilian Cosa Nostra family (which would never be possible in real life) and built one of the most elaborate casinos in Las Vegas, which he acquired by blowing up a competitor's ready-to-open casino. If the gaming commission weren't blind, deaf and dumb, and the FBI so totally incompetent, Tirrano would be a hero. But his shallow characterization and his totally unbelievable rise to power are dead giveaways of a lazy plotline.

No, The Seven Sins isn't even good drama. The fast-paced action is, well, too fast. His miraculous escapes from death, the jarring trips back and forth through time, and a nebulous connection to someone who has the audacity to believe he actually IS Tirrano, someone named Fabrizio Boccardi, make The Seven Sins a real joke. It's good for a few laughs, but that's about it.

See storyline above.
This was one of my favorite thrillers of the year. When you're talking adrenaline, you're talking Jon Land. There wasn't much lacking in this novel. When you throw in Sicilian mobs, Pirates of the high seas, Middle East terrorists, along with international finance, high-stakes gambling, ancient history, and much more, you'll get the escape you won't soon forget. Great entertainment!
Highly recommended for thriller fans.

More is not necessarily better, and this book is proof of that.

Land has mixed together a hodge podge that includes Julius Caesar, the Mafia, Great White Sharks, ancient pirates, the historical King Midas and a mythic Islamic terrorist sect, and yet the end result is a strangely linear, predictable action story which really lacks any suspense, an amazing feat considering an apocalypse is threatening Las Vegas from almost the first page to the last.

The characters are pretty much cartoonlike, with no real depth. The main character suffers a horrible tragedy as a boy which the author rehashes every few pages or so in an attempt to give psychological underpinning to his actions, and yet by the middle of the book I found myself thinking enough already, we get it.

And while the author does try to create some shocking "revelations" as to the true identities of several of the characters, every one of these was so obvious that "ho-hum" seems to be the operative word in regard to them.

So why did I give this book 3 stars? I could say it was to reward it for its grasp, even if that did exceed it's reach (by a lot!), but the truth is that sometimes all you want is a pretty much mindless diversion that allows you to escape reality for a little while, like a "B" movie. The Seven Sins is just such a harmless excursion.

The star of this story is Michael Tiranno(Nunziato). As a child living on a farm in Sicily his parents are murdered as well as his sister. The
local Mafia kingpin Don Luciano Scaglione takes him to raise.The don pays
for Michael to go to the top business school in Monte Carlo. Here he makes
the acquaintenance of Amir Pharon a billionaire arms. With the help of
Pharon and Don Luciano Michael founds World Trade Agricola. He first gains the market for coffee in Kenya. He then gains the market for sugar cane futures in Cuba and Honduras. By reaping tremendous profits from this
company he moves to America. In America he founds King Midas World with the lavish casino the Seven Sins. Four suicide bombers explode car bombs
at the Seven Sins,Mirage,Treasure Island, and the Venetian. A terrorist
named Jafir Sari Bayrak and his group Al Altar take credit. The group is wiped out in a Tiranno sponsored raid. To his horror Michael Tiranno
discovers that an ancient clan of assassins called Hashishin is the real
culprit. The actual culprit behind the plot is a person from his past.
This book is a page turner that will keep you guessing. Be sure to read it.

It is never easy to identify yourself with a serial killer but at the same time you want to read about their escapades in an attempt to find some understanding on why they may have turned to such a life of violence. The story of a husband and wife serial killer team is most horrifying and not in the least something you can identify with. The brutality is full of rage and the sexual torture is something beyond belief. As a reader, I was just horrified at what these people did but at the same time, I wanted to remind myself that some element of society or nature creates these beings and turns them into monsters. So I'm not sure if reading this book educated me or sickened me in a way. Maybe a combination of both.

I have never read a book in this particular genre, i.e. true crime, so I have absolutely nothing to compare it to. I must say though, I did enjoy it at a certain level. The language is vivid and, to be quite frank, crude, but that was part of the appeal. The author's style was much like that of the old dime novel and tabloid type and I rather enjoyed that. This is the story of a (the only one the book tells us) husband and wife serial killing/raping/kidnapping team in California. As I said, the language is graphic and the story rather sickening, but it does hold your interest and is rather fascinating at a certain level. The book is a rather quick read, and even if you do not like it, not much time is lost. The work did seem to be quite well researched, as far as I could tell and the author certainly did not pull any punches in his vivid descriptions. I suspect that if you are into this particular genre of literature, this would be an excellent read and I do recommend it. I doubt if I will be seeking out further examples of this type of literature, but that is due purely to personal taste...I simply am not all that interested. On the other hand, I am glad I read it.

A VENOM IN THE BLOOD by Eric van Hoffmann is a shocking and gruesome true story about Gerald and Charlene Gallego, the husband and wife serial killer team who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered teenage girls throughout the American Southwest. A well-written true story that had me spellbound throughout!

John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures Inc.
California

Gerald and Charlene showed no remorse during the tial and Charlene only gets 16 years for killing 11 people. she needs to still be locked up. What about Kippi Vaught, Rhonda Scheffler and the rest of the victims. one of my friends was Kippi's cousin and was supposed to go shopping with her that day. why would they let Charlene out? Gerald had no remorse about killing the victims as Charlene did. So she needs to go back to prison.

Gerald Armond Gallego and his young wife Charlene shocked the world with the sexual serial murders of many young women. This book captured the grizzly details of the murders and makes you wish they would've gotten more of a punishment than they did. Truly a well thought out book.

I bought this book for just that purpose, and it works very well.

If you like Burning Man and like photography.....you're going to LOVE this book!

The book is great - you should check Roddie's website, too www.webbery.com - he's been working for a while on burners' body details (hips, but also hands, feet) and the guy rocks!!!

(like pretty much everybody else in Black Rock City).

Beautiful photos of an oft-overlooked part of the body that is -- now that I think about it -- a stunning intersection of the functional and the sensual. Great conversation/titillation piece for the coffee table.

patrick is one of the most well-respected photographers at burningman. hips will give you a genuine feel for burningman, while also expressing the creativity and identity of each burner. a wonderful showcase of genuine love for burningman and the individuals who make up our diverse community.

I will be heading to Las Vegas in a few weeks and found this book very helpful, not only for the great restaurant's but their locations as well. This book will enable myself and my family to enjoy our vacation, and find some wonderful places to dine at reasonable prices as well.

The book is excellant. I never knew there were so many places to eat cheap in Las Vegas. It's is really hard to believe. We are taking this book with us and plan on using many of the reccomendations in the book.

I've been to Las Vegas many times for business and pleasure. I did not find this book very helpful. While the concept for a 1 to 777 ranking of restaurant values is a good idea, this book has no information about the restaurants or their food. With ranking by price in various categories, you could use it as a cross-reference to the Unofficial Guide or Frommers. But who has the time? Just use one of those 2 books first -- both are good. This book would be useful to a Las Vegas resident, but is of limited value for a visitor. Prices have really gone up this year, so the information is out-of-date by as much as 50 percent.

I found this book helpful in finding bargains thruoghout the Las Vegas area.Though there were a few entries that were no longer in business or discontinued, for the most part it was very helpful.

With all of the changes that happen Las Vegas EVERY DAY I found that this book was of little help. Several of the places that were listed did not even exsit anymore, and most of the others had changed their specials. If you decide to get this book I recomend doing your own "back-up" homework and call the places to check and see if the specials are still in effect.

Blue Lonesome was my first Pronzini novel and I was completely hooked by his moody, noirish, detective procedurals. After reading Blue Lonesome I spent the next 18 months acquiring and devouring all of the thirty-plus Nameless mysteries, and many of Pronzini's stand-alone mysteries. Most of his books are great reads, some are classics of the genre, but they all have his spare, straight, brilliant way of putting you in a scene. The carefully developed plots lead to some out-of-the-way corner and maybe a single clue. Pronzini's loner-protagonists are usually on a quest for truth, despite the consequences, and they don't give up. They keep digging until the mystery is solved, sometimes in an explosive climax.

In many of the Nameless mysteries, I felt like I became Nameless himself, grinding away until I had it all figured out. Can there be any greater compliment to a writer? As some reviewer said of Pronzini's novels, "this is writing to be savored over a glass of single-malt scotch". Exactly.

Note: I made some immature Mormon angry because of my negative reviews of books out to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews almost as fast as they are posted. This is the second time I've re-posted my review of this book.

Your "helpful" vote is greatly appreciated, and please remember that a short review is not necessarily a bad review if it leads you to a great novel.

This book hooked me from the start. I don't want to give much of it away, but a man meets a lonely woman in San Francisco, and then she dies. The man knows nothing about the woman, and he goes to her apartment and finds a book that was checked out of a Nevada library. He takes some time off work and tries to solve the mystery of her life and death. It's also a great love story of a man finding a new home.

A great mystery, and not to be missed.

Check out the mysterious cover illustration. Very nice!

Also, if you are interested in American history, check my one-star reviews of books written by Mormons.

i'm impulsive. i often purchase multiple books by the same author before ever having read any of their stuff. case in point: bill pronzini. based on all the favorable reviews his "nameless detective" books get on amazon, i bought over a dozen of the things, and picked up a couple other pronzini offerings, to boot. Blue Lonesome was the 1st that i've read. and here's the thing: the entire premise of this book's plot is eye-rolling ridiculous. completely unbelievable. the protagonist is just as bad as the plot, and i won't even go into the wooden, asinine dialouge. thanks amazon reviewers. now i have a bunch of books by this author hanging out at the house, and i am afraid to go near them. over the course of 25 years of reading i have seldom delved into the genre of mysteries. i am trying to get into them, but perhaps my initial instincts were correct, and i need to avoid this stuff. anyway, i hope not. i want to find good (great might be asking too much) mysteries. i will keep looking. certainly did not find the right stuff here.

This is a novel with the depth of Horton Footes classic "Tender Mercies," and although noir in tone it is not quite like anything else Pronzini has written. A wonderfully understated novel written by an author at the height of his powers.

Okay. Here's the set-up:
You are a lonely middle-aged CPA and you eat at the same places almost every day. You notice a sad looking woman, not a pretty one, mind you, just sad, and you identify with her because she is so obviously lonesome, just like our CPA.
You get the nerve up to try and speak with her, and it doesn't work. She doesn't tell you her name or anything about her. You follow her home one night and find out her name is Janet Mitchell. You are obsessed with why she's so lonely. Soon she stops coming to the restaurant and you're worried. You go visit her apartment complex and speak to the oriental landlady. She tells you that the lady is dead, committing suicide in her bathtub. Now, would you even imagine pursuing this any further? Well, James Messenger, our hero does.
Although I found the setup for this novel quite unbelievable, Pronzini manages to make it work with his wonderful prose and sense of characterizations. Needless to say, Messenger ends up in the lady's hometown of Beulah, Nevada, and finds out her real name, and learns that she had been accused of murdering her philandering husband AND her eight year old daughter. Messenger knows she didn't do it (how, you got me!). Soon, Messenger faces the expected town bullies and even the dead woman's sister. He takes a job on her ranch, and gets more and more involved with the lady and the townspeople.
The book is short, moves along well, and the ending is quite a surprise, at least to me.
It's not what I consider a great book, but if you can get past the ludicrous setup, you should enjoy it.
RECOMMENDED.

This is a fairly good hit and miss book on modern day Las Vegas. If you like Vegas, and want some snapshots of the modern incarnation thereof, this is a good book to read. There are some very interesting chapters (e.g. chapters on Oscar Goodman, and Binions) but there are also some so-so ones (e.g. homeless problem and transvesite stripper).

The writing is average but the book moves along at a good pace. It is a good airplane read but there are more interesting books on Vegas out there.

I stumbled onto this book while prepping for my 1st ever visit to Vegas. What we have here is an outstanding piece of 1st person journalism, story telling and ground level interviews with long time "core" Vegas denizens from a long time Vegas expert. The narrative is colorful, imaginative and thought provoking. I cannot over state how much I enjoyed this sage piece of story telling and biting social commentary about Vegas and indeed our nation as a whole. I'd kill for an autographed copy.....

Marc Cooper's book is a collection of essays about Las Vegas. The first quarter of the book is a history of the city, which will be old material unless this is the first book you've read on the subject. Why does everyone who writes about Las Vegas feel obligated to rehash the city's history? The rest of the book is an assortment of essays about such things as the Ted Binion murder trial, a Franciscan monk who works with the homeless, corruption in local politics, the life story of the author's favorite blackjack dealer, a self-help group for gambling addicts, and a transsexual stripper who is trying to unionize the city's strippers. Cooper loves to gamble and conveys the addictive nature of trying to win at blackjack. What surprised me most is that for only $250 you can take a 100 hour course on how to be a blackjack dealer - surely a bargain for training that actually leads to a job.

I can't help but compare this book to Hal Rothman's "Neon Metropolis," which covers the same territory. Rothman's book covers a wider variety of topics and focuses more on life away from The Strip than Cooper does. On the other hand, Cooper doesn't seem to have an ideological axe to grind like Rothman, although both writers are politically liberal. Cooper's theme, that Las Vegas is an "honest" place at a time when Americans have lost faith in other institutions, seems like quite a stretch.

Cooper's book feels like it was published too hastily: There's an epilogue with updates on his stories - why not simply revise the main part of the book instead? There are a few factual errors, there's no index, and someone should tell Cooper that the possessive form of "it" is not "it's."

The writer does a good job of exploring the sides of the city that tourist seldom see, from advocates for the homeless to the personal lives of long-time casino workers. The book really hits its stride with the stories about the Honorable Oscar Goodman. However, as the book goes on, the writer's political bias becomes more and more prevalent with the last few chapters turning into nothing but a political rant against the GOP and its supporters. I would recommend the first 80 percent of the book, but after that, one could read the New York Times Opinion page and see the same tired demagoguery you can see here.

I picked this book up at the Mandalay Bay's Reading Room bookstore during my last visit to Vegas but read it after I got home. How can anyone take time to read a book in Vegas?

Marc Cooper's writing keeps moving for a quick overview of Vegas history, focusing on the couple of years after 9/11. For a book crammed with a lot of info and trivia, I didn't find any chapter where it slowed down or lagged.

Cooper writes about his own experience as a Vegas gambler (where most visitors and tourists exist), and chats with a transsexual stripper trying to unionize nude dancers, Blackjack dealers and other older Vegas denizens who reminisce about the Sin City they used to know. He also profiles the "Big O," Oscar Goodman, who first made his mark as a mob lawyer and now acts as the mayor of Las Vegas.

Cooper then moves on to listen to professionals working with addicted gamblers and an activist-monk fighting for the homeless, showing an underside to the party.

(I think the book would've been more interesting if Cooper had used his investigative skills to take a closer peek at the ultra-rich in Vegas, juxtaposing that with the chapters about the bottom-dwelling addicts and homeless. At the same time I was reading this book, I also read the latest Vanity Fair article by upper-crust gadfly, Dominick Dunne, detailing a lavish visit to the opening of the new Wynn Hotel & Casino. It would've fit nicely into Cooper's book, broadening it from the richest to the poorest in Vegas).

There are several complaints about Cooper turning political near the end of the book. There are snide comments about the War in Iraq and the Bush Administration, but the book doesn't turn into a complete political screed.
The venom Cooper reserves for an abstinence group meeting near Vegas does interfere with the flow, however. He talks about strippers, gambling addicts, crazy homeless, mobsters and even mob attorneys while remaining objective and indifferent to any of their messy details--but he completely tears into virgins participating in an abstinence program. It just about ruins the book.

(Also, there are no less than six typos in the epilogue alone in the paperback I read).

But this is still a good Vegas read.

I really liked the book and the fact that when i ordered it it was very prompt, in good condition, and wrapped in paper to keep it looking good. thank you amazon for all of your help withj finding all the books i needed.

Phoebe's recent job hunt lands her a small gig with 415 magazine, the magazine that Prue was working with before she died. This assignment is a photography assignment which means Phoebe must dig in the attic to find Prue's old camera. Because Piper feels like she and Leo never get any time to them selves anymore, Phoebe offers to take Paige, their newly discovered half sister with her, so Piper and Leo can get some peace and quiet. However, things don't go as planned.

Paige and Phoebe end up attending a wilderness camp with other journalists and photographers. That weekend is for positive exposure of a wilderness camp for business types wanting to gain some outdoor experience. Before the girls arrive, strange things start happening, like trees that spontaneously combust and levitating beds. At home, Piper and Leo can't get a moment's rest while things happen to Piper's club, P3, and a water line break, with the possibility of a gas leak.

The Charmed One's, along with Leo's help, embark on a journey to help Native American's, become reunited with the land that was stolen from them thanks to a spirit that roams the woods, along with the spirit of a wolf that just wants Phoebe's attention.

My first Charmed book read and definitely not my last.

I read this book a few years ago so I don't know if I would feel the same way now, but this was by far my favourite charmed book. It had an awesome plot, and it was much scarier than the other ones and more mature than the others. I loved this book, it was fantastic!

Not only was the ending too abrupt, some questions of this book just was not answered satisfactorily. Firstly, this did not seem like a Charmed book. It was more of a mediocore horror or sci-fic novel with the aspects of the rudimentary Charmed added to it. For starters, so many (confusing) parts of the book infuriated me so much that I continued reading it for the sake of finishing it and getting it over and done with. Not only that, the author of this book focused so much on the non-Charmed-propertions of the plot, that it practically caused a debacle in the entire Charmed book series.

Also, what I disliked most about this book is how the so-called demons in this book did not get any mention after the "bad guy" got vanquished. The point is, it is these two goons who pretty much caused the entire spectacle of the story, that Diana G.Gallgher did not state what their reactions were, what happened to them or what they were going to do now, etc. Maybe it just me, but this book just did not flow with me. In my opinion, I wouldn't recommend it, and I would encourage non-Charmed readers to get othe Charmed book, than this.

i admit that paiges character has to be set but in the first few books she's in it's all you here about, plus prue is hardly mentioned like pheobe and piper have just forgotten about her even though in this book pheobe does prue prebooked photo assiment she's hardly talked about. plus with this book there is no major battle as a big charmed fan i found this book dissapointing

I am with one of the Poster,s that The LP Travel Books is the best Travel Books written nowadays. What I like best is the Road Maps at the end of this book for those who go to Las Vegas by Motor Vehicle.

While this Lonely Planet Guide is a decent enough guide filled with the "usual suspect" type of attractions, hotel and restaurant info, I must agree with "A Reader from Long Island" (Australian comment aside) that this guide is disappointing. Yes, it seems well researched regarding some of the historical aspects of the area... (but who really gets a travel guide for a history lesson?) However if you are a frequent traveller to Vegas like myself you'll do better with a more off-the-beaten-path guide such as the "Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas." I mean really, to list chain establishments that are pretty much nationwide such as Applebee's and Krispy Kreme as "Killer Vegas Eateries" does no one a service and shows a lack of imagination. Give us a real taste of Sin City! Hey Avant Guide, when are you gonna hit the Strip and show us something new and exciting?

This is one of the smaller books I own on Vegas, which makes it perfect for toting in a pocketbook or backpack. It has some great photographs in it, and the tabbed format makes it easy to skim through and find what you're looking for. Of course, because it's on the slim side, this does NOT have thorough information on all of the hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc. that can be found in Vegas. So keep that in mind.

This is great to carry with you as you wander around Vegas. It has the numbers of cab companies. It has the highlights of each casino so you can know what to look for. It has notes on restaurants, in case you don't have a particular one in mind and find yourself hungry. Most of the information is pretty generic - hours of operation, dress guidelines, quick descriptions. This isn't a massive tome. It's a pocket book. It gives you what you need to get where you're going.

While I have other Vegas books that are invaluable for actually choosing hotels and main restaurants, they are too big to actually carry with me on the strip. This book fills in that great niche, to have a reference guide with you as you go walking, to make decisions as you go.

I've always preferred Lonely Planet guides when I travel. I wasn't disappointed with the new LP Las Vegas guide. It gives you pretty much all the information you need for a good vacation in Vegas. Best of all, it's a nice portable size. I was able to keep it in my purse the whole time and whip it out at a moment's notice. Despite the good coverage of information in this guide, it doesn't go as in depth as the Frommer's guide, which is probably a better guide for planning your vacation before you leave, while the LP guide is good for traveling around the city.

I have always preferred LP travel guides to any other guide. The been-there-done-that pithy writing style, combined with coverage of the off-the-beaten-path areas make my vacations (or business trips) memorable.

However, this one stands apart from the other LP travel guides. This guide is only 232 pages, about the size of a novella. Missing are the cheap eats, some transportation information, and the typical insider's insights.

Reading the information, I got the feeling that this was less of an insider's guide, and more of a condensation of the visitors guides published by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

As a result, I was somewhat disappointed by this one. Still, it is on par with the other travel guides on Las Vegas, just not up to the LP standards.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Vegas -- from the Mafia days to the current town. Well written and puts you there!!

I love Las Vegas; I am fascinated by the procession of hotels - each more interesting than its neighbor, in at least some way. Las Vegas absolutely feeds the human needs for release and occasional excess. This book traces the excesses of the people who built the city. The writer, John L. Smith, is one of the most widely read reporters on the Las Vegas scene, and that actually sets up one of my two biggest complaints. First, writing a book is not the same as a newspaper column or a magazine article. Smith's style is as if he was writing a series on countless newspaper columns. The writing is too glib, it's too vernacular, and just too "hip" and tries too had to be "tough" and "street wise." Smith really needed an editor to make this a well written book.

My second complaint is the format. This is a history written through the stories of people who came to Las Vegas and built the city. I would much rather have seen a history of each hotel, in proper chronological order. The problem with the approach Smith takes is that people moved in and out of the city, jumped ownership of hotels and corporations, and in many cases, ended up at the bottom of a river. It is a highly fragmented story that in the end, does a poor job of creating a narrative of the city.

All that said, there is still much to learn from the book. Perhaps it will just be a jumping off point for further study. I learned volumes from the book, in spite of the shortcomings. It is worth a read, but the episodic approach may frustrate you. If you know Las Vegas fairly well, you can create the necessary context; if you are not familiar with the city, you may have trouble constructing a useful portrait..

This book gives you the real story behind the Vegas gaming legends. Nobody does justice to this topic like John L. Smith. His research is impeccable.

This is a book that appeals to no one. If you're not already familiar with Vegas history, it is not a good place to start. And if you already know something about Vegas, it will not teach you anything new.

In theory, the structure of this book seems like a good idea -- devote a chapter each on the movers and shakers who built Las Vegas. The problem is that they all influenced each other, so separating them results in an arbitrary, fragmented, sometimes difficult-to-follow, narrative. Even the chapters themselves tend to jump back and forth in time and place. Structurally, the book just doesn't work.

Then there's the problem of sketchy information. Smith doesn't go into great detail explaining the why's and how's of events, leaving the reader with a great longing to know more about the individual characters of these men and what makes them tick. If you're looking for some good dish on Vegas -- which is what the snappy title promises -- there are better choices.

Compounding the reader's frustration are the numerous typos, spelling, and grammatical errors. Smith either had no editor or edited this himself. It feels like a first draft in serious need of a major rewrite and fact checking. It's difficult to believe Smith makes a living as a journalist. He must have a good editor at the Review/Journal.

This book is a fun read if you are someone who is familiar with Las Vegas. The book indeed delivers on what the subtitle, "..The Founding Fathers and Current Kings of Las Vegas" states. Each chapter is more or less devoted to discussing a specific person and the impact they had on setting the stage for the evolution of Las Vegas. I imagine those of you who have never been infatuated with Las Vegas will want to pass on this one.

Based on some of the anecdotes, it seems amazing that some of the Vegas hotels are still open today. The mobsters and the so called "straight laced" owners who ran (or still run) the hotels come off as either extremely brilliant or totally incompetent. It is no wonder that most of the Strip hotels have all been swallowed up by one or two companies. The author also seems to question if some hotels are completely honest when it comes to gaming.

The problem I had with the book was perhaps I was expecting something more chronological and dramatic. Instead, the book is like a compilation of old newpaper columns that are all put together in one place(of course, maybe that is not a surprise since the author is a newspaper reporter). Much like other books of that nature, the reading becomes almost repetitive and seems easier to take over a long haul rather than a week or two of reading cover to cover. Also note that there are a few typos and errors that make it seem like someone did a spellcheck with a computer rather than really proofreading it.

If you can stick with this type of book, you will probably enjoy it. Now this is the first book about Las Vegas I have read so I can not compare it to anything but I've got to believe there is probably something a bit more compelling.

I live 3 hours away from Las Vegas and never go because of my kids. I went recently to meet a relative for the weekend and fell in love with the city! Now I cant wait to take my kids...Ive booked a room for 3 nights in March and am looking forward to getting this book...I have the one for Southern California and use it all the time!

I browsed through this book to see what was available for kids in Las Vegas. It was good to see so much was there. Parents: Please read this book and keep your kids out of the casinos!

We bought this book last summer when we took our two sons to Las Vegas. The guide was very helpful, it gives lots of detailed info such as parking, prices, hours of operation, and numbers to contact. My only "complaint" would be that it is almost TOO much information, they have so many things listed, lots of off beat places, that if you are going there for a short time (like we were) and want to hit just the "big" places, you have to weed through a lot of information to get it. They should have it organized better. But it is definatly worth getting.

This book does a decent job of just mentioning a bunch of facts, but I found that other similar books such as Open Road Publishing's "Las Vegas with Kids" 2nd edition or even Frommer's book with the same title do a better overall job. One problem is that the edition that I received (last week) was published in 1999. The kid friendly aspects of Vegas has changed since then. Some hotels are no longer kid friendly (by choice). For example, the book speaks of the MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park as an awesome place, but it closed back in 2000. Also, the other mentioned books seem to give more advice about WHAT to do rather that just listing everything that's available. I want to know what to do and what to skip. I want advice, not just a listing of all available destinations. A chapter on suggested itineraries would have been nice. After buying this book, I found that I needed to supplement it with the other Vegas with Kids travel books.

I fail to see how anyone could say this book is great. First of all if you live in Las Vegas like I do chances are the you already know the 10 things there are to do with kids here. Secondly many of the attactions are closed or have changes, the TI show is not as kid friendly as it once was, and the arcade as well as wet and wild have closed! Save your money and call the chamber of commerce they will give you all the information in this book for free!