Las Vegas Books

My son loves this series. I enjoy reading them to him as much as he enjoys the book.

A wonderful book series that is both entertaining and educational for kids. Author Mike Miller with his background in Disney films shows he also has an aptitude for both writing and drawing. One Hot Day is the first story in the Tomas series introducing Tomas and all his friends on their trip from Red Rock to Lake Mead.

Out From Las Vegas: Adventures A Day Away by travel writer Florine Lawlor is an intriguing, informative, and "user friendly" guide to a wealth of interesting landmarks, getaways and scenic geographical significants within a day from Las Vegas, Nevada. Packed from cover to cover with fun and peculiar findings, Out From Las Vegas introduces the reader to a landscape and entity-based landmark world of Nevada never before known or recognized. Out From Las Vegas is very strongly recommended to all readers interested in travel to the Las Vegas area, or those already living in the area wishing to instill a new atmosphere or experience on their free days. Out From Las Vegas showcases the fact there there's more to do than visit the gaming tables of downtown casinos!

This book describes favorite off-road trips to the rugged natural beauty of the Las Vegas desert, including the Red Rock Canyon, an idyllic contrast of deep sandstone canyon forests and desert hills in spring bloom. Alas, though much of what is described still exists, the book is nearly thirty years out of date and requires revision. Hey, I can do that! Why? I've lived in the Radiant City for thirty-five of my forty-one years.

I am heartened that this book in the most popular purchase of the Las Vegas purchase circle. It means that those who have moved here truly wish to make Las Vegas home rather than the place they cashed in their Southern Californian real estate chips.

I really enjoyed the book because it lead me to things and places that I didn't realize were in Vegas. Everyone knows the Strip, but what's off the strip were the jewels of this book. Also, when I had last been to Vegas, the Deuce transportation system did not exist....this is a great book for not only the newcomers, but the old ones as well....I will be handing this off to some friends who are going to travel there soon...

As an actual Las Vegas native, I don't expect to be surprised by travel books about my hometown. This book, Pauline Frommer's Las Vegas, both taught me a few things I didn't know and made me laugh out loud at the same time. The writing is funny, more than a little irreverant, and to the point. Ms. Frommer had some local help from Kate Silver, who also keeps the snazzy verbiage coming. There is enough in this book to keep anyone, including LV locals, busy for weeks. And it's a hoot!

In addition to this book being a "labor of love", Steve Carp leaves no stone unturned regarding the history of the team. Chock full of facts and statistics, as well as personal observation, it is easy to read and comprehend even if one is not a fan of the team, or of the sport.

Being a local from Las Vegas I have always been a fan of the Rebels Basketball Team. "Runnin" is a great vivid look into the 'entire'history of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels. Steve does not throw any punches as he looks into the drama and glory that continually surronds this team located in the heart of 'Sin' City. A good book for any basketball aficionado or weekend couch viewer.

This book has a lot of nice shots of Vegas including a fold out panoramic view of the whole strip, however a few of the photos are a tiny bit out of focus. There is also a lot of interesting facts and history about the different hotels and the city. Other than those few pictures out of focus, I think it's a great book.

I purchased this book as a Christmas present for a friend that just made her first trip to Las Vegas. The book is filled with amazing photographs of all the popular sites in Las Vegas. The photography is absolutely beautiful. The book has some large fold-outs pictures of the strip. It makes you feel like you are right back in Vegas. This will truly be a treasured momento of fun times!!!!

done that, and it shows. His writing is lean and sharp. A fun read with no bs.

If you are a fan of Las Vegas, and great mysteries, this book is for you. The lean prose keeps the pace exciting, and this book is a lot of fun, just like the author's other works. I wish he would have written more of them.

I'll cut to the chase here and guarantee that if you enjoyed the movie CASINO, you'll enjoy Taciturn. As Miller said, "Joe Pesci played Tony Spilotro, my former employer, better than Tony could have."

Bob Miller goes by the name of Ben Walker in this book for a thousand good reasons; but it was Miller, a real person, who lived this nightmare, not some factual character named Walker.

I know of no other action adventure book, fiction or non-fiction, that has held my attention like Taciturn did, and without stupid car chases or a hero who could kill a T-Rex with his bare hands. The first few chapters could easily become a quality outline for a book in an entirely different genre. Taciturn is not one of Miller's bestsellers, but it should be.

Fast-paced and electric, this is a story that has that quality of deja vu all over again.

As a general rule, I find anthologies dissatisfying. This collection, however, was like a breath of fresh air through the stale anthology shelf.

Viva Las Bad Boys is set, well, in Las Vegas, of course. It features three stories that take place at the The Berkley Hotel and Casino, a premiere luxury destination on the Strip. All three stories feature great dialogue with funny and smart exchanges between the hero and heroine. The last story didn't really live up to the standards set in the first two but not by too much.

I hesitate to say much about the stories because I don't want to spoil the fun reveal that takes place while reading. Jackpot features a jilted bride and a man jilted by his business partner. Not all is what it seems. This is a deception story and what makes it work is that the character being deceived doesn't mind because initially their encounter is all about the sex. When it grows into something more, the characters are savvy enough to realize when someone is actually trying to hurt them and when they are trying to help. The Big Mis would have been an easy way to pad the story but the author avoided that dreadful trap and ended with a strong, believable HEA. B for this entry.


Player's Club showcases a different type of heroine: one who is self aware. She was devoted to her job, but also recognized that she had power as a woman. This is so rare in books these days, particularly contemporary ones. The heroine is a consultant hired by the hotel to reform the bad boy cook. The heroine catches the bad boy chef in a compromising situation and the way in which she deals with that scene is hysterical. No stammering, no blushes, just cool, calm manner which caused the hero to feel quite awkward. The heroine and chef engage in a steamy game of one upmanship (perfect for a Vegas themed book) wherein both end up winning. B for this one too.

Two of a Kind portrays a jet set hotel critic and Alex Mitchell, the hotel's manager. The two of them get stuck in the casino's spa when the blackout takes place. TOAK is another deception story wherein the hotel critic hides her identity from Alex. Alex doesn't find out until late and his accusations against the critic were valid. I liked this story less as it seemed to be a bit disjointed and I didn't find the quick resolution to the couple's problems believable as I did in the previous two. C+ for this one.

Overall, this was a good anthology with great dialogue, good humor and belieavable HEAs. Based on the first two novellas, I can't wait for the single title: Your Mouth Makes Me Crazy.

"Jackpot". At the Berkley Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Jack McAllister hopes to score with the jilted bride sitting next to him at the slots. However, he hits the big time until up in his room, he observes Laine Monroe's private investigator's license. Instead of under the covers, she is undercover seeking to find proof Jack is womanizing.

"Player's Club". The hotel's newly appointed Director of Human Resources Jenna Barrister's first major task is to fire playboy super-chef Zach Jacobs for carousing with the guests. However before she can complete the distasteful task a power outage leads to Zach teaching Jenna how to turn up the heat without cooking.

"Two Of A Kind". Alex Mitchell feels strongly he earned the casino's assistant management position, but first he must outshine rival Caroline Rogers. She feels the same way relishing the all out competition to top her top challenger for the job she covets. Neither relishes the attraction between them as that leaves each feeling vulnerable and the blackout insures both learn the meaning of consensus.

These three "Bad Boy" tales are as always fun lighthearted romps this time with women rolling the dice and taking a chance on love.

Harriet Klausner

In Bringing Down The House, Ben Mezrich tells the true story of a group of MIT students who count cards in blackjack. The story focuses on Kevin Lewis, and how he came to be an expert card counter. At no time is this story dull or boring. It will keep you into it until the very end. The story itself is unbelievable, which makes the book even more amazing. Mezrich does a great job of describing the thoughts and actions that each student took during the book. He also does a good job on showing each character's growth and development during the book. Kevin starts off the story as a shy Asian kid who is not happy with his job at the lab. Once his friends Martinez and Fisher show him the amazing world of counting cards, Kevins life turns completely different. The Las Vegas highlife and huge amounts of money turn Kevin into a completely different person. His change during the book is smooth and very believable. This is the kind of book that you will pick up and wont be able to put down. It's an easy and a very fun read. It will show you a different side of Vegas and a different side of Blackjack. Mezrich shows how difficult card counting really is and how much hard work it is to master it. Kevin and his team went out nearly every weekend to Vegas to count cards. Their lives in Las Vegas completely overshadowed their lives at home. Not only did the team spend almost every weekend in Las Vegas, but they had to keep their double lives secret from all their family and close friends. The team counted for over a year. Spending that much time together, there must be some problems they encounter. If you read this book I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.

Looks like Ben Mezrich can join the ranks of James Frey, Dave Pelzer and Kathy O'Beirne, who write fiction but call it non-fiction. After reading this book I decided to do some online research. Didn't take long to find this comment in Wikipedia "In 2008, Boston magazine and The Boston Globe investigated the accuracy of Mezrich's non-fiction, identifying occasions in his blackjack books where scenes were invented out of whole cloth." Very disappointing to discover another best seller that is so fabricated yet purports to be telling the truth.

Not sure what to say. There might be a kernel of truth to what happened, but it certainly didn't happen as described in this tripe. Anyone who falls for this sure is naive.

I didn't understand why the book said the F word so many times. I know that it is based in Vegas, but I just don't think that it was necessary and got very annoying towards the end. It also makes me hesitate to recommend this book because I don't want to offend anyone and them thinking that I didn't mind the crude language.

After I read the book I looked up the story on the Internet about what happened with these MIT guys and I was annoyed to find that most of the stuff that was in the novel was untrue or exageratted. I just wish he wouldn't of made up some of the stuff in the book. I am sure it would of still been interesting if he told the truth of what the students did.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well this book was written. Ben did a fine job of capturing, in words, what the MIT counting team experienced. In doing so, he brought the reader into the lives of the players and into the rush of the game/scam. This book will keep you turning the pages until you're done. Make sure that you set aside a few hours of uninterrupted time to read this book in its entirety. I read this book long before the movie came out and I want to say that the movie does this book an injustice. You're better off owning this book than owning the movie. This is a must read for thrill seekers and for the modest of gamblers. For ten bucks...you can't go wrong.

Do yourself a favor. Buy a used copy or better yet get it from the library.

This is thoroughly middle of the road stuff. I am really getting tired of the "cop gone bad" angle that he is now putting in all of his Bosch books. He needs a new schtick, already!

But it is well written. I will give him that. It is quite readable but also quite forgettable.

Yes, I do realize this book was published a few years ago, but I just finished reading it.

I'm still not fond of first person, but when it comes to Connelly, I'll make an exception.

This book was a wonderful addition to the Harry Bosch novels and a wonderful sequel to The Poet.

Now all I have to do is buy Lost Light, The Closers, Echo Park...and of course find time to read them. Maybe I'll have reviews of those in a few years. ~L~

I'd recommend this book to those that like crime thrillers/mysteries, stuff along those lines. ;)

I'm a big Connelly and Bosch fan, and I've read most of the HB books. Since other reviewers have summerized the story, I'll get to my opinions. This is a good story but, I felt Harry lost a lot of his "edge" in this book. Unlike the books,Harry tells his story in the 1st person which I feel diluted his razor sharp persona. In the other books, I've really enjoyed the descriptions of the true to life details of police work, the "politics" of the L.A. Police Dept.,and it's interactions with other agencies, media, city government etc.. I thought much of the investigative detail in this story was repititious and uninteresting. The "shock" value of the murders, condition of the corpses and "smell of death" descriptions were reptitious after while. I also became impatient with the segments he is with his ex wife and daughter. His interludes with them are tedious, and add little to the story. However, once the we get to the last quarter of the book, the story becomes a typical Connelly/Bosch page turner. Since we know who the bad guy is throughout the book, we don't get the usual Connelly shocks and surprises. However, the action that brings the conclusion is typical Connelly, "what's going to happen next" writing that left me feeling that I had read a good story. The feeling I didn't get, that I've felt with every other Bosch book, is "What a terrific movie this would make!"

I have read all of the Harry Bosch series (beginning with The Black Echo), plus Connelly's related novels. This is the best and most exciting of the lot. It begins with the chilling news that The Poet, a serial killer responsible for a large number of murders, is back. FBI agent Rachel Walling hoped she had killed him, but he obviously survived and escaped. Now, he is killing again. The FBI finds the bodies of more victims buried in the California desert between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Retired FBI agent Terry McCaleb has also died, and his wife thinks he was murdered. She enlists the aid of Harry Bosch (now retired from the LAPD) to find out. He initially hits a stone wall of FBI agents, but Rachel Walling knows that crusty, old Bosch is a superb detective, so she joins forces with him. But as they pursue The Poet, he stalks them, leading to non-stop and steadily-increasing excitement. If you enjoy thrillers, you should enjoy this.

As a relatively new reader to the Harry Bosch novels (This was the 2nd out of 3 I've read so far and I'm eager to check out more,) it's hard to say where The Narrows stands when compared with the rest of the series. I will say it was a bit of a disappointing follow-up to the nearly perfect Lost Light, but not a bad book in its own right.

I hadn't read The Poet, but didn't need to, as The Narrows does a fine job of setting him up as a standalone villain. Rachel from that story joins Harry Bosch here as their cases intersect, leading to a serial killer. The chapters also alternate between being from the perspective of Rachel (3rd person) and Harry (1st person), sometimes within the same chapter, but I thought it worked and added a fresh feeling to the story.

As with many of the Harry Bosch novels, it never stops amazing me how Connelly manages to think of such complex and layered mystery stories and yet manages to tie them together so perfectly at the end but he's done it again here.

There are a couple factors that prevent this book from reaching its full potential, however. The pacing's all over the place; sometimes the book's a real page-turner, at others it seems unbearably slow, like when Harry's uneventfully exploring a boat early on that seems to drag on forever. What's also a little disappointing is the reduced time spent in LA; it's a city that Connelly has proven to know extremely well and to feature in the plot with such passion and atmosphere and spirit that its general absence here is felt. Connelly just doesn't manage to do for Las Vegas what he managed to do with LA; same goes for the desert settings. Eleanor Wish, Harry's x-wife, seemed a little too bitter and distant in this story; I'm not sure what happened there. But these flaws aside, it's a good read and recommended. It's a good story with very memorable characters and action scenes.