Las Vegas Books

This is an intelligent, multi-textured book. It's involving, with all the elements of a good story; at the same time causing one to pause occasionally and consider deeper concepts. The author respects his readers' intelligence and avoids overexplaining the many subtle insights and messages tucked away like little treasures within a dramatic tale. The format is fun, and somehow helps prevent us from taking it all too seriously. Coyote slips in and out, speaks in riddles, and is as elusive as some of the ideas he hints at. I especially liked the quote or saying at the beginning of each chapter, which then goes on to somehow comment or elaborate on it. The author has a real talent with words. He "plays" them like an expressive musician, and he can describe something mundane in such a way as to truly create the actual experience and sensations of it. He also creates believable and clever dialog. His wry sense of humor adds yet another dimension, and all in all I found this book to be both delightful and thought provoking. I'm very much looking forward to the next book of the series.

Anyone who is interested in excellent science fiction will enjoy this book.. It's well-written and fun to read. I look forward to Book 2 and hope it will appear soon!

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from The Coyoteman Chronicles. I knew it was a post-apocalyptic fantasy, but I feared it might be built around some type of shamanism or New Age philosophy that would take precedence over the actual story. I needn't have worried because Las Vegas Rite is truly an enjoyable novel - and a meaningful one. In many ways, it's a coming of age story, its lessons magnified by the fact that the central character's coming of age coincides with his introduction to actual human society (in its post-apocalyptic form). The protagonist's journey outside his very insular world is truly a rite of passage in every sense of the word, and his spirit guide, the Coyoteman, is a source of ancient and mysterious wisdom.

It's not entirely clear what happened to human society, but "The Change" of eighteen years ago saw virtually all social institutions burst apart at the seams (not surprisingly, the trouble all started in California). Phil, Diana, and their infant son Taine escaped the growing insanity and violence of Pasadena and its nearby environs by heading for the hills; along the way they met a man named Hardin, and it was he who basically established the family unit in a remote location with the means to survive on their own. After Hardin died, the Coyoteman began appearing to young Taine, seemingly as an imaginary friend full of guidance and wisdom. Now eighteen, Taine has decided that the time has come for him to leave the only home he has ever known and see what is out there to be found in the world his parents left behind. The population has been greatly reduced by the sufferings of the past, but the end of civilization had not brought about the end of mankind (although a kind man might now be hard to find). Following the sometimes cryptic advice and warnings of the Coyoteman, Taine works his way to a deserted town ripe for exploring, whereupon he gets his first furtive look at his fellowman. Eventually, he finds his way to Las Vegas, a dangerous place run as a personal fiefdom under the self-appointed King Peter. It is a whole new world for Taine, and he engages himself quite fully in the experience (especially when it comes to Peter's beautiful young charge Veronica, as well as a young revolutionary named Joanne). Still, there is much about this new life that goes against Taine's principals, and Coyoteman still appears from time to time to point his young charge back toward the path of his destiny.

Las Vegas Rite is an insightful and almost profound novel punctuated by enigmatic truths that actually energize the events and experiences of Taine's journey. Each chapter in Taine's life serves as an instructive vignette on various themes of an enlightening sort. Through it all, Taine grows into an increasingly noble young man. The taste of sin lingers in his mouth but grows increasingly acrid to him, as his thoughts never stray very far from home.

The author's pen name, Canis Latrans, is the scientific term for coyote, and he does seem to stand somewhat apart from mankind. Taking on the spiritual mantle of the coyote (combining Native American spirituality with Zen philosophy), he seeks to offer a unique interpretation of mankind and this thing we call life. The quotes at the beginning of each chapter, the words of the Coyoteman, and a couple of illustrative intermissions all represent the voice of the coyote, if I understand things correctly. This literary device, if I may call it that, really sets this novel apart, making Las Vegas Rite as instructive as it is exciting. You've got to love a novel that succeeds so beautifully on two entirely different levels.

It has been about two decades since Phil and Diana fled the Pasadena area with their infant son Taine as the catastrophe apparently eradicated civilization. They were fortunate to meet up with Harbin when punks killed the man's wife. He took them to his mountain sanctuary where survival became the norm.

Encouraged by the Coyoteman, who visits only him, Taine needs to leave to find his mate in what apparently remains of Las Vegas. His father is worried about what his son will find out there while his mother encourages him to do what he must do though she will sorely miss him. The trek for his companion begins with him meeting the first human Ray in Independence besides his parents and the deceased Harbin since he was an infant. However, he also spots some vicious souls who he does not trust. After befriending Ray, Taine heeding Coyoteman continues on, but soon encounters dangerous foes like King Peter and Mendikek, who want to enslave him or kill him. His chances of reaching Vegas seem remote even with Coyoteman to guide him.

Mindful of Hiero's Journey, the first Coyoteman tale is a fabulous post-apocalyptic tale. The description above barely touches the action of this action packed science fiction thriller. Taine is a strong protagonist who keeps the tale coherent as he travels a ruined United States; his escapades like opening a can of what he assumes is food provides the perspective of a powerful saga that will have the audience reading this work in one delightful sitting and anticipating further adventures.

Harriet Klausner

The depth of the characters and their adventures kept me glued throughout the story.

However, it's not really a science fiction story. That is, science does not drive the story--the characters do. And although I was a little surprised with how Book One ended, I still want to see what's next for these characters.

this book is extremely condensed into a multitude of thumbnails or panoramas and text that never fails to reiterate its point. i mean, these two architects really understand the idea of symbols, suggestions, and sheds but after a dozen pages on one idea, you already get the point.

the images are really helpful in exemplifying the amount of criticism for or against the city ("idea") of las vegas.

Read this book to learn what you shouldn't do as an architect!

This book follows Venturi's "Complexity and Contradiction", where you can learn how cynically to use casement windows in housing for the elderly where the elderly will happily put their plastic flowers in the windows, but *you* secretly know these are not really hormal casement windows, since they are out of scale (like fascist architecture's lack of scale?).

This book will tell you about ducks and decorated sheds, but it will tell you nothing about building spaces which nourish creative human community. Try Louis Kahn (e.g., John Lobell's lovely little book "Between Silence and Light"). My postmodernist teachers at Harvard said Kahn's writings were incomprehensible, which says more about them than about him.

Read Lobell's book and learn why, e.g., a city might deserve to exist. Remember: Only *you* can get beyond postmodernism!

This is a quite unusual and offbeat treatise on architectural theory, as applied to the world's greatest architectural monstrosity - Las Vegas. This analysis from the early 1970s is obviously outdated because Las Vegas hadn't yet become the monument to megalomania and excess that it is today, but it was already well on its way. The authors analyze Vegas' unique usages of space, lighting, placement, transportation, and building design for the purposes of communication and promotion. Strange chapter titles give a clue to the left-field analysis in store, and the authors have a clear sense of irony, underhandedly implying that Vegas presents the worst in architecture while they appear to be praising its uniqueness. Unfortunately the narrative gets bogged down in dense professor-speak terminology like "Brazilianoid" and "neo-Constructivist megastructures," along with a general overload of obtuse theory. Add to that the poor-quality and under-elaborated illustrations and you have a book that sacrifices insight and readability in favor of pedantic attempts to impress the authors' colleagues. [~doomsdayer520~]

Robert Venturi's study of the Las Vegas signage phenomena and it's impact on "architecture" is brilliant in it's scope. While written almost twenty five years ago, this book gains more and more pertinence as we as a society progress further into a "reality" of symbols, reproductions and representations. These words and thoughts are basically essential to the understanding of any city anymore, not just Las Vegas. Where this book misses the mark though is in the execution, as shown in Venturi's work, of these ideas. The projects put forth seem to pale in comparison to the implications the text actually has. These notions of architecture are by far some of the most relevant and important in modern theory today, it is unfortunate that their full potential could not be realized in these projects.... but maybe that is for you and I to do.

I admire and respect Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown for their great career and contribution to architecture, which has yet to be fully assessed. The depth of their thinking, the vigilant efforts to achieve their aesthetic vision, their desire to overcome modernist dogma, which had mutated into marginalized elite uncivic abstraction, falsely denying vibrant areas of life...how can one argue with the importance and value of such work?

Let me try.

To me, this book represents one of the most interesting turning points of an architectural career, very similar to Rem Koolhaas' essay on Bigness in S,M,L,XL.

Both texts are attempting to give themselves an elite artist's alibi for co-opting the corporate machinery's unself-conscious production. Here, both artists (VRSB and OMA)attempt to escape into pop art, just like their friend Andy Warhol, thumbing his nose at the self important abstract expressionists.

There's just one problem with this; they are architects, not just artists.
And this places them in significantly different political territory. Architects build in the public sphere, and therefore have a powerful civic impact. They enable some political forces, and, by physical default, suppress others. If they were artists, their voice is a singular one, an unsponsored comment, to be entertained or dismissed. Architecture cannot be waved away.

So, being architects, is 'Learning from Las Vegas' and 'Bigness' an elite artist's manifesto, or a cynical architect's effort to solicit clients from the bloated and most lucrative areas of commerce? The ambiguity is disturbing, because ultimately it has proven out not to matter what their intention. Both Venturi and Rem Koolhaas have been most useful tools for the most egregious excesses of our runaway imperial corporate world.

And this is a sad legacy for two brilliant architectural careers. No matter what their aesthetic accomplishments in the way of rarified architectural thought, the more brutal reality is that architects seeking fame cannot also speak truth to power. This gravely undermines their civic responsibilities.
I am reminded of William Morris' quote, a sad retrospective look at his career, saying that ultimately, his work "only served the swinish luxuries of the rich." A bitter realization for a socialist, one who chose to retreat into archaic craft, instead of trendy pop.

Pop architecture is not a game. It is an insidious symptom of the polarization of wealth, a symptom that Venturi and Koolhaas cheerfully enable, both with their particular form of dissociating irony. They can play with it as a theory, but it has wrought disastrous consequences in the physical and political landscape. Same thing happened to Frank Gehry, another symptomatic starchitectural monster, who apparently doesn't need to theorize. Hard to say when the deal went down exactly. I just don't know.

Other reviewers have questioned the credibility of Soares as an author. I found him cocky and sure of himself, but wouldn't you have to be, to scam mobsters running casinos out of thousands of dollars? Soares justifies his cheating because these were the days when the casino was just as happy to cheat the customer if need be, before heavy gaming regulations. In fact, he started his life in the casinos as a crooked dealer, employed by the casino to bring down a player's winning streak if necessary.

The tricks described herein relate to old reel-style machines and the days when you only had to fool the casino floorpeople, not the omnipresent "eye in the sky" video camera. Some of what Soares describes in his craps games could still be employed today, but it would be awfully risky.

This is a fun read, and it might be embellished, but I enjoyed the glimpse inside a lifetime's worth of scams nonetheless.

This is a really good book! I started to read it just for the content but found myself really LIKING this guy Soares. Another surprise was that he is actually a good writer. I would enjoy reading another book by John Soares. How about it John?

I have to agree with David on this one. I bought the book and just finished reading it. The most of the scams wouldn't work, and about half the book has nothing to do with gambling, just some dudes uninteresting life. Total waste of my time. There are definitely better books out there.

I enjoyed this book. A very quick read. It chronicles the life of a group of professional cheats who swing the odds in their favor and reaped the winnings. Most of the action takes place in the 60's and 70's in Vegas. So much has changed in Vegas since then that I don't think these tactics would work anymore. An interesting historical account nonetheless.

I love Vegas and books about Vegas so it pains me to tell you that I truthfully hated this book. I was tempted to not even finish it, although I've never walked out on a book before.

I found the writing style to be sort of... archaic, I guess. It sounds like it was written in the 50s, or by a guy who is in his 80s (which may be the case, I don't know).

But primarily I disliked it because it simply cannot be a factual account. A few of the cheating methods he discussed are quite simply impossible. Even Madonna french-kissing Britney Spears at the craps table would not have been enough distraction to pull off what they supposedly did.

Some of the side stories were interesting, but nowhere near enough to recommend this book.

Having read both The Guardian and The Protector by Ms. Ruth, I can say I throughly enjoyed both stories. The Protector brings us back into the world of those who protect us against all that goes bump in the night. It is set in today's world, yet all those stories of supernatural beings that are told as myths are real. This is the second book in the series and I hope for a continuation of this world that Ms. Ruth has created. Going back and visiting old friends and meeting new ones was fun. Hopefully she will be able to to write a third story in this series where magic is just around the corner.

Alana is a stage magician in Vegas, but as a descendent of the queen of the fae, she uses real magic. To stay in the mortal realm, an ancestor promised to protect mortals from the Otherworld and keep their secrets. Alana is the current Protector for Las Vegas. Unfortunately, a mortal serial killer is targeting those involved in magic for death, and Alana is the next one on his list. Detective Leo O'Grady is determined not to let another die at the hands of the Claddagh killer, and a fierce attraction develops.

This book was much better than I expected. The author blends the elements of the paranormal, mystery, and romance with great skill. The characters and plot twists are very well done. I have already preordered the next book in the series.

A horrible piece of junk. I bought this book at a Goodwill store for .25 and after reading five pages of it, I wanted to go demand my money back. I can honestly say that this is the worst book that I have ever read. I hope this author doesn't quit her day job!!

In Las Vegas stage magician Alana Devlin performs two shows a night six nights a week. However, what makes Alana different from her performing peers is that she performs her sleight of the hand using real glamour illusions that fool human senses. Alana is the PROTECTOR keeping malevolent otherworldly creatures at bay.

In the garage after a performance, Alana bends down to pick up a gold Irish claddagh charm that someone dropped. That motion saves her life as someone tries to kill her. Using an illusion she manages to escape, but not without suffering a concussion. Police Detective Leo Grady informs Alana that a serial killer has murdered five people associated with the paranormal with her being the token survivor. He places her in protective custody, but watches Alana perform weird actions that shake his logic system to the core, but not as much as his love for the magician does to his heart.

Fans of police procedural romantic fantasies will receive plenty of pleasure from the delightfully charming THE PROTECTOR. The story line is loaded with action as the cop and the performer work together to stop a killer while falling in love. Alana is a great protagonist and her Helper Carrick Murphy is a solid secondary player who needs his own story told. Leo may be reeling with what he sees and hears, but when it comes to his beloved he refuses to accept anything except her safety. Jenifer A. Ruth effortlessly combines the three genres into a wonderful paranormal tale.

Harriet Klausner

Feel like the book is misleading - I'd rate the book cover as "R" - leading me to think it is an adult police-parannormal-romance, but the book itself is more of a PG read. Romance feels rushed - "villian" pretty evident from beginning - almost a Harlequin Romance kind of book. Not that there's anything wrong with that .....

This time there are sixteen short stories by authors for the most part that are not well known. Some of the reads are quite gruesome. Particularly I liked Tran Vu's Chinatown about a cop who's wife left him and how he tried to get revenge on her new husband and Preston Allen's Nellis about a tough, ugly,large,tender hearted black body guard/enforcer who had a traumatic childhood but became a gentle giant giving up his life for a young girl. Worthwile read.

This is a series of books that compile a number of very short stories and vignettes all based in a single city, Las Vegas in this instance. The writers are generally good, and in most cases published. After a while, I miss the substance of a complete novel, but if you like Vegas as a locale, you can't go wrong with this book. The crime genre is indicated in the title - Noir - which gives all the stories a similar dark, brooding, and sharp edge to them. This is the literary compliment of "cinema noir." I plan on reading the London Noir book next, although I will take a break and read one of Elizabeth George's novels first. Good read - easy to read while doing other things - the stories tend to be 15 pages in length. This is Vegas "old Style" before the glitzy legitimacy took over. And in many of these stories, what happened in Vegas not only stayed in Vegas ... but got buried in Vegas.

Gave this to my husband who is an avid action book
reader. He did not like this book at all.

I have enjoyed the other noir collections and Las Vegas Noir definitely was not a disappointment. Highly recommend this as well as the rest of the collections.

The latest compilation in Akashic Books' fine Noir series takes us on a wide-ranging tour de force of Las Vegas, America's own City of Lights. Here, the standard cliches are out, while a fresh literary degustation is in. Nicely edited by Jarret Keene (author of 2000's 'Underground Guide to Las Vegas') and Todd James Pierce, Las Vegas Noir avoids ubiquitous Hollywood-driven conventions regarding that which exists away from showgirls, poker geeks, and high roller suites on the Strip. Instead, we are treated to 15 highly original stories by a fresh roster of writers who capture the surprising diversity of voice and millieu that is 21st Century Las Vegas. From Felicia Campbell's riotous take on the University of Never Leaving Vegas ('Murder is Academic') to Tod Goldberg's knowing snapshot of my home neighborhood of Summerlin ('Mitzvah'), Las Vegas Noir vindicates a Southern Nevada literary scene slowly emerging from its clique-ish, native-born treehouse of not long ago - and gives Akashic's well-earned national readership another Noir collection to feast upon.

Fox's wit, charm, and intellect combine to create a fascinating book that is part memoir and part geography, culture, and history lessons. A rare combination that suits a reader like me who is always looking for books that help me see life through a clear new lens!

Though published by a university press, this is no dry academic tome. It's an unusally creative attempt to capture the spirit and the meaning of the drive through the desert. Fox writes of three approaches to the archetypal desert city, Las Vegas: from Sante Fe, from Los Angeles and from Reno. His writing is personal, captivating and will make you see the desert (and our paths through it) in entirely new ways.

Last November, I flew into las Vegas for the first time on a bright, sunny day. I had my nose pressed to the window most of the way, and was in awe of the what lay below. I followed the roads through the desert that led to Vegas and vowed to make the drive myself some day. I couldn't believe my luck when I happened across this book. But, the book left me bored and disappointed. Maybe I was expecting too much, but even the author's reader-friendly prose could not make this an interesting read.

What a letdown. Yes, the prose is decent, and the premise is undeniably attractive but, for anybody who holds the drive to Las Vegas close to their heart, these 3 separate tales of driving across the desert toward that glittery focal point called Sin City will all leave you feeling cheated. Why? Well, most of all, the author TURNS OFF THE HIGHWAY BEFORE GETTING TO VEGAS! How can you leave out the final 5 miles!? If you have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into a casino, what in the world are you doing writing a book with Vegas at its center? Yes, the author shows that he knows the road, and what the various mountains are called, etc., but he obviously has no understanding of what compels most of us to take that road so many times in our lives. Skip this book and spend the money on a tank of gas yourself. This book has no Elvis.

This book helped me plan a wonderful trip to Las Vegas. I didn't hit it big at te casinos (oh well), but I had a great time! This book was very informative.

This book has it all and more.... broken down by each hotel and includes the attractions/food/shops/gaming/shows available at each location, along with information on the hotel's rooms and rates. Doesn't skimp on knowledge, for example, there's 16 pages on the MGM Grand Hotel alone!! It's somewhat larger than most guide books, so don't think you'll be carrying it down the Strip with you but it's great for gaining an insight to what is available for the tourist at each hotel. The only drawback is that there aren't any color pictures or maps. Other than that, it's perfect!!

This book is not worth the money. The book does not cover downtown and is only broken down by hotel names. No break down of catagories such as restaurants, buffets or other items of intrest. There are much better travel books available! This book was very disappointing.

I'm going to Vegas for the first time very soon, and I admit, I had high expectations of this book. Maybe too high, because the book fell well short of what I was expecting.

First off, it was published in 2000, when the world as a whole was a very different place, not to mention all the changes to Las Vegas since then. Next, yes, it does give very in-depth descriptions of the hotels it covers (which is really only those on the Strip), and the dining options in them. But if you're a Vegas virgin trying to decide where in Vegas to stay based on this book, you'll have a tough time, since all the hotels are comfortable, luxurious, and tastefully decorated, and all the dining is top-rated and cutting edge. As for attractions, those attached to the Strip hotels are given a decent enough description, but the free-standing places are pretty much given just a quick once over.

If you're web-savvy at all, there's no information here that you couldn't get yourself -- and what you'd find online would probably be much more current. If you just HAVE to have a Vegas guidebook, go with "The Unofficial Guide to Vegas." That book is everything I was hoping this one would be.

Becky Blake has a good life. She runs a male strip club in Las Vegas that she inherited from her aunt, who retired and married a dancer. The club makes her a good living. But Becky can't seem to find a man. When her vibrator dies while she is in mid-fantasy she decides something has to be done.

Enter Vivian, who runs an occult shop near the club. She gives Becky a spell that will help her conjure the perfect man. Becky is at first skeptical, but she takes her candles and the spell out into the desert, and immediately has dreams of a coyote that turns into a gorgeous man.

Rick Frazier is a software developer. Coming off a bad divorce and the end of his company, he takes a job at Becky's club as a bartender. He is immediately attracted to Becky, and she to him.

Becky soon realizes that Rick is the man from her dreams. She feels guilty and thinks that he's attracted to her only because of the spell. Add to the mix Rick's manipulative ex-wife and things get really interesting.

How to Conjure A Man is a hot, tantalizing read. Rick is the perfect blend of hunk and sensitive man. I loved his reactions to Becky, and the fact that he was willing to talk about problems and face them head on. The physical attraction between the two is very strong, making for some steamy scenes.

Ms. Lindquist has written a wonderful tale with an interesting plot and fascinating characters. I highly recommend this tale.

Amelia
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Don't waste your time with this book! Unless you are looking for just sex with no story. The characters are not well developed, so since I couldn't care about them, I couldn't really care or become involved with the story.

I am not an English major, but even I was picking out words spelled wrong, grammar errors, and even words missing from sentences. Editing was horrible on this book - those type of errors should have been identified before it went to print.

Becky Blake is tired of being alone. Vivian, her best friend and strip mall witch, created a spell for Becky to use to conjure her ideal man. She's desperate so despite her better judgement Becky does as her friend instructs. She's soon sitting buck naked in the middle of the freezing desert with candles galore lit all around her. Vivian cautioned her that the flow of the incantation is vitally important and wrote down exactly what Becky should say . . . unfortunately Becky doesn't memorize the words and the paper catches on fire from one of the many candles when she's distracted by a coyote's howl. Since she's already put so much time and energy into this one endeavor, Becky decides to wing it and offers up her own version of a plea to Aphrodite.

Rick Frazier hasn't had the best of luck lately. His wife cheated on him with his business partner. Then after the divorce his ex-partner took off with all the money that his ex-wife had acquired in their settlement. Now she's using all her finely tuned manipulative techniques to bleed him of every last cent he has. Because of the two of them, Rick no longer has a company and he has to find a job to support himself until the software program he's created is fine tuned and saleable.

After the desert fiasco, Becky returns home to sleep away her desperate actions only to revel in an extremely erotic dream. She doesn't have time to ponder the significance of her dream though. Real life intervenes and she has to get busy. There are interviews to conduct in order to hire a new lead bartender at `The Buckin' Bronco All Male Review' as well as the rest of the day-to-day issues of running a business.

Rick's erotic dream involving a beautiful woman in a fire-lit circle is interrupted by a ringing telephone. His ex-wife, Tara, needs money again and being the softy Rick is, he agrees to send her a check. Thankfully he has an interview for a bartending job later that same day. Rick doesn't need the complication of any more manipulative women in his life. He'll be perfectly happy to keep his dream woman in his life and leave his real life uncomplicated for now. He didn't anticipate Becky, the owner of the Buckin' Bronco, being so very desirable or the incredible pull he feels toward her. Becky realizes that Rick is exactly the sort of man she requested of Aphrodite. Did the incantation really work? Can she possibly find real love with a man she conjured in a moment of desperation?

Nancy Lindquist's HOW TO CONJURE A MAN is a delightful read that is sure to enchant readers. You'll adore the witty plot, cast of fun characters and underlying sexual tension. I absolutely loved the scenes that take place inside the Buckin' Bronco. It serves as the perfect backdrop for the passion that flares to life between Becky and Rick. This story is sure to provide readers with a rip-roaring good time and a better understanding of why "what happens in Las Vegas, stays in Las Vegas!" Congratulations Ms. Lindquist on a fabulous debut novel.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

This book to me was just sex. there basically was nothing else to it. There were some funny parts but it was just not that great. This was the first time reading from this author and I was not to impressed. The story line is a good one but it goes by too fast.

I was impressed by some of the historical detail and entertained by the setting and some of the sleazy Vegas characters but mostly I felt dissapointed. The last 40 pages are a convoluted mess and the "big secret" that was alluded to all along turned out to be a dissapointing dud straight from a bad parody of a Fellini film.

But Flemming does have a good writing style and I did care about most of the characters for a majority of the narrative.

Definitely undone by "Third Act Problems".

Fascinating story in an exotic setting. Fleming takes us to the world inhabited by Blacks in 1950's Las Vegas. Here we find the entertainers forbidden to drink at the hotels where they work and the whites who follow them to their after-hours haunts. However, this no set piece of charicactures. Each denizen of Fleming's world has a purpose, and it is bound to collide with someone else. The story moves, ducks, and jives like a manic dance, all leading to a conclusion that is as interesting as it is disturbing. Fleming is a masterful storyteller.

I really wanted to like this book. However, I found it increasingly difficult even to keep reading it. It has a cast of such hateful, self-interested and/or depraved characters; it has so much racism and violence, that it's not even a remotely pleasurable reading experience. Add to that, many anachronisms ("good to go" and "gone south", for example, are two very modern terms not in common usage in the mid-50s) and sloppy copyediting (Spike Lee instead of Spike Jones, names misspelled, countless extra and/or misspelled words) along with famous names repeated over and over, and you have a book with a good premise that simply isn't sufficiently compelling or believable to hold one's interest. Graphically ugly sexual scenes and scenes of horrific racism further detract from what might have been an interesting examination of an era. It may well be that Las Vegas was every bit as crooked and racist as described by author Fleming but without any likeable characters, it's not possible to care much about what happens in this book--particularly with a drug-and-alcohol-addicted hero who seems always to do the wrong thing and who never becomes entirely real. That's unfortunate, because Fleming's pedigree is impressive. But a good book requires more than just a lot of research. It also requires a beating heart and The Ivory Coast's major failing is its lack of that very thing.

In 1955, trumpet player Deacon rides the bus from Chicago to Las Vegas. He barely disembarks from the bus when Mo "the man" Weiner pages him. Deacon knows you always respond when someone called "the man" wants to see you and immediately does. Mo orders Deacon to drive two hours to Shipton Wells where he is to warn someone to go back to Los Angeles. Deacon does the job, but someone else shoots the man anyway. Deacon grabs the man's suitcase and asks Anita, a waitress he just met, to stash it for him.

Deacon realizes everyone in Vegas tries to manipulate the odds. Mo is the front for the Chicago and Los Angeles mobs and plans to make a killing on a new casino, THE IVORY COAST, that he will open in the Black West Side of town. Worthless Worthington Jones is his front with his own contrivance for a killing. Police chief Haney has his schemes to trump everyone else. All three intersect with Deacon and that suitcase he lifted, making life dangerous for the horn player.

Though Deacon trusting Anita with the booty he snatched seems strained, readers will find Charles Flemming's debut novel a fascinating look at 1950's Las Vegas. The story line is so rich with history that it makes it possible for the audience to roll with high rollers and observe the Black stars unable to eat or sleep where they performed. THE IVORY COAST is a tremendous historical intrigue that is at its finest with its fifties texture that fans of mid-twentieth century tales will enjoy.

Harriet Klausner

I want to travel to Las Vegas. I was trying to find a guide to obtain information and I didn't see anyone. I searched here at Amazon a book and I found this one. I saw one review of another user and it was helpful for me. I bought this book and when I received the book I was very pleased because on this book it has a lot of information of Las Vegas, what you can do, what to visit. You can plan your own travel with this book. It will be very helpful for anyone who wants to visit Las Vegas.

These books are some of the best. They are so well written and very very helpful. If you have never been to Las Vegas, there is almost nothing left out of here to help you on your way to seeing one of the best cities in the world. If however you've been to Vegas many many times (like myself), there is still stuff in here you never knew. It's completely up to date and the pictures are brilliant and the glossy look of this book makes it more magical. I love Vegas and even if you don't need a guide to the city, you have this as almost a keep sake. I would highly recommend this particularily to new visitors because of the amount of information. It is great for shoppers instead of gamblers, good for hotel recomendations and where to eat etc. This is one great book. I love it.

If you are planning a trip to Sin City this is a great place to start looking. It covers all of the hotels and lays them out logically by region. Las Vegas is easiest to see when divided into three and I really appreciated the way it was laid out. Great recommendations for shopping and the pictures are wonderful.

As a fan of this collection (the Eyewitness Travel Guides), I can say that "Las Vegas" book doesn't worth a cent. No hotels' maps, just a few words about them. Don't buy!!!