Las Vegas Books

Las Vegas is a city known for indulgence. While I had found some great places to eat, it has been difficult. The Michelin Las Vegas Red Guide does a great job of uncovering some amazing places to eat. I really appreciate that while many of the best places are on the strip, that there are many great finds off the strip. Looking forward to trying them all.

This Michelin guide to Las Vegas is the worst guide of any city I have ever bought. I have a complete collection of more than 50 Michelin guides, mostly of european countries and cities and they are great, very detailed with precise indications and a through research.

This guide is nothing like those. It is very thin, for every hotel there's just a little paragraph and a photo, same thing for restaurants. This is a complete waste of money.

How can you describe all the amenities of monster hotels like the MGM Grand, the Bellagio or the venetian in 10 lines? They don't even compare room amenities or features of each hotel.

Same thing goes for the restaurants, the european guides tell you which are the best entrees and specialities for each restaurant, in this guide you will find a simple picture and a very brief description.

I own some 6 guides to Las Vegas and this one by far is the most useless of them all. It's a simple (and very incomplete) listing of the major hotels and restaurants with no worthy information.

If you are like me and trust the Michelin guides, be prepared for a surprise with this one, better yet, dont waste your money and buy the Fodors guide or the Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas.

Sinning in the City is a Las Vegas travel guide that opens up Pandora's Box and shows the sinful pleasures of Sin City. It is wittingly split up into eight sections covering all the seven deadly sins with the final chapter dealing with repentance. The guides are up to date with all the latest and greatest sin's Las Vegas has to offer; lust can be found in the hottest dance clubs in the nation, and gluttony is appeased in the assortment of restaurants and buffets on and off the strip. It is a perfect gift for those visiting Las Vegas and for those who call Sin City home.

The info in this book is superficial at best. Repeat Vegas visitors will laugh at its naivete. First-time visitors can get much more value from any of the other guidebooks such as Fodor's or Frommers.

I have never read a Faye Kellerman book before this one, and knew that it was different from her standard mystery novels. I was enthralled up until the last 50 pages. Though the book's characters were rather amoral and often nasty, I enjoyed reading about their adventures.

However, the last 50 pages suddenly turned into sci-fi and I was disappointed as I was expecting a straight-up mystery.

Let's put it this way... you wanna read about a manitou, stick with Eva Galli.

I have read all of Faye Kellerman's books so was looking forward to this one. It was a great disappointment--too weird for me. Connie of Oak Harbor, WA

What a weird book. It was mesmerizing, even as the plot became increasingly far-fetched. I can buy the theory better without the radiation factor, but then...I lived in Santa Fe, NM, for a while.

Then the end came and it just seemed so ridiculously out there.

But the characters are very well done. And the writing was pretty tight. The pace moves quickly and you really want to know what's behind these grisly murders.

In the process of trying to throw you off the track of figuring it out, Faye Kellerman throws in a wild card about a big Vegas guy who virtually controls the city and this girl who ends up dead - but not as horribly mauled as the others - and his ex prostitute lover whose house he blew up, and his preference for, and method of, procuring underage prostitutes...and other tawdry stuff.

Then as the end nears, and the main theme gets really ridiculous, she sort of spits that secondary plot one off to the side, wraps it up with an unsatisfying statement about this powerful and powerfully warped guy and never gives it anything else.

So you whip through this thing, unable to put it down, tied to the characters and their interaction in solving the murders and then at the end you throw it over your shoulder and say, "What a stupid book."

Let's face it, Faye Kellerman is never going to win a writing prize, but her Decker/Lazarus novels are good enough for their genre. On average, they're tight, compelling and memorable. And then there's Moon Music, a departure from her Decker/Lazarus series, where Kellerman stumbles badly. Maybe she wrote it in a hurry. Maybe she wrote it on crack. Or maybe trying to write a mystery involving Native Americans, nuclear testing, dwarfism, giantism, pimps and ho's, cancer treatment, mental illness, romance, the casino biz and a werewolf was just a tad too ambitious. Whatever the cause, this book is a poorly paced mess of subplots that go nowhere. The only sympathetic character in the book works on cadavers; perhaps Kellerman can take a stab (no pun intended) at making her the central character the next time she feels the need to give Peter & Rina a rest.

The Access series tends to be a great series of guide books and the Las Vegas book is well done for 2000 but it is 2007 and the amount of changes in Las Vegas has me begging for a complete overhaul and update to this book ASAP!

We love the Access series travel guides and have been using them since 1988. Typically they are just absolutely great, we actually always buy one before traveling anywhere. They normally have maps of all locations in the book as well as convenient transportation maps, often times a mass transit route. This one did not have the tram service or trolley route, and our hotel although mentioned was not on the map. It also said that taxis were expensive when they were actually competitive to the mass transit and quicker. Normally Access does an especially good job of highlighting interest such as architecture and great restaurants. When we went looking for one restraunt it wasn't there. This is the first Access guide that has been a disappointment to us. There were many errors that we could not trust the map in the book. My husband actually said that we should get our money back.
We had just used the Los Angeles Access and were just as happy as we always have been with Access. The Las Vegas Access is just a dud. Every other one we bought we great.

In 1996 I purchased several books about Las Vegas for a trip I was planning. I found that the third edition of this book, Access Las Vegas, was a great source of information. I found the maps and the information cross referenced to them especially helpful. Plus the size of the book made it very easy to take along as you explored Las Vegas. Since I was highly impressed with the 3rd edition I decided to purchase an updated book for our up coming trip.

Upon looking thru the book for the additions to the ever-changing landscape of The Strip, it became apparent that the map of the strip was filled with errors. Based on their map the Monte Carlo was built on the site of New York New York. The MGM Grand has moved east on Tropicana Ave. New York New York has moved to the site of the Tropicana and the Tropicana has moved off of the map. The Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay are not even referenced on the map. The majority of the maps cross-references for the Strip are inaccurate. Did anyone with any knowledge of Las Vegas check these maps before they were published? If the maps are this inaccurate what other information is incomplete or inaccurate? It is a real shame for what was a great vacation guide to become useless. I am highly disappointed in that Mr. Wurman produced in this 5th edition.

I went to the Access Guides web site to see if they posted corrected maps for this book. Unfortunately they have not made corrections available. I looked for a way to email them about the problems with their book. However they did not offer that option.

For correct maps of Las Vegas visit the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority web site. There are numerous other Las Vegas web sites with very useful information. My recommendation is to skip the book and use the web sites.

I am a fan of the Access Guides because of their unique format, which divides a city into neighborhoods and then describes specific buildings, but this particular guide is a disaster. With this format, the neighborhood maps are especially important, and the most important of all - the map of the Strip - is riddled with errors. I counted 19 key buildings that were incorrectly located on this one map, including such landmarks as Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Paris, Aladdin, New York New York, MGM, and Tropicana. The New Frontier, a Strip hotel, is shown as being on Industrial Road! Who edited this debacle?

At the time I am writing this (early 2005), this 2000 edition is the most recent version available. It is shorter than the others in the Access series, about 140 pages, of which 20 pages are devoted to gambling tips. Coverage of the Strip and Downtown is thorough (if you can figure out where things are located), but outlying neighborhoods get less attention when compared to other guides in the Access series.

While I have enjoyed the compact format of Access Las Vegas with its color-coded run-down's of various restaurants, casinos and hotels in the past, I found this edition to be slightly out-of-date, especially in the section on shows (featuring several that closed or changed stars prior to January 2000). I enjoyed the featured "Bests" comments by local Las Vegas personalities and trivia boxes with interesting Vegas facts. However, [..] for 140 pages [..] I found this to be a little pricey.

I should have put this book down after the first chapter. I found the writing both boring, disjointed and hard to follow. Frequently, throughout the book I found myself flipping back trying to figure out what in the world was going on and how we got from one place, one topic to another. I also never cared about the characters. I thought I would enjoy reading about a mystery that takes place in Las Vegas because I have family there and am familiar with the strip but that didn't help at all. The locale may be the reason I decided to suffer through it instead of putting it down.

This is a really boring book. Things start to jump within two pages, but all that happens is that the setting gets murkier. My growing feeling as I struggled to follow the story was, with each new twist, "So What!"
This book is about stringing together an author's notes. It's not about realistic people. Dont waste your time or your money.

This was an excellent book. The humor may be too subtle for the trogs who posted before. Maybe you need Evanavich sledgehammer type schtick before you can crack a smile. I love the Charlie Green series and hope she writes another one soon.

This is one of the most boring books I have ever read and I sure wish I hadn't bought the second one to go with it before reading the first. It takes place around Area 51...very appropriate since I feel like I have lost my way the entire time I've been reading the book. I can usually read a book in a day or 2, but I have been on this one 2 weeks determined to give it a chance. I can't believe the front of the cover compares this to Janet Evanovich's books. What a Joke!

To be very blunt, this book is dumb and disjointed. Previous books by this author are much better, especially her early novels.

We bought this thinking it would offer information that every other Las Vegas guide offered. That is not the case. It's just as informative as the rest, which isn't saying much. If you are looking for in depth information on hot spots or different places than just the regular strip fodder, this ain't the book for you.

This book is awful.
I bought it with the hopes that it would give me more of an insider's guide to Las Vegas.
It Didn't.
It had things arranged in an good manner but contradicted itself by including things in their `Overrated' section after they had raved about them.
Also (and this is unforgivable), their map was both outdated and wrong. The copyright was 2004, but the map was circa 2001. Things in Las Vegas change quickly, but the map was wrong way before they published the book. Even worse, some of the casinos were in the wrong place. That didn't change over the past few years. Avoid this book.

We picked this book up out in Vegas, when we left (a better) guide book at home mistakenly. We were looking for things to do off the beaten path, or just off of the strip. Nearly every one of the descriptions for 'should-do' things according to these authors were wrong in my opinion. Also, it was difficult to follow because they list multiple locations/attraction in standard paragraph form and all of the addresses at the end of each chapter. Too much flippin' around and jumping around whenever we wanted to just find out directions. You may think that Vegas never closes, but restaurants do and the hours of operation would have been helpful.

If you're going to read this book for information on Tony Spilotro, don't waste your time or money. If however, you are interested in hearing about the career of William Roemer Jr, then this is your book. In 355 pages, maybe about, 60-65 have any real information about Tony. The title is confusing, The Enforcer, is that in reference to Roemer's career? This book is primarily about what Roemer did in his years as an IFB agent and how he was the first to do this and the first to do that, and because of what he did this and that happened. There is lots of information explaining why some of his cases failed, all due to corrupt judges of course, not due to any mistake on his part or the FBI's. Also, there is a lot of stuff about his career after the FBI and all that he achieved then. Also, lots to read on just about anybody but Tony Spilotro. Let's not forgot to mention the inaccuracies--such as Meyer Lansky being called The Prime Minister of the Underworld and that Lanksy was a member of Murder Incorporated. Huh? First time I have ever, in my pretty extensive readings on the mob/mafia/outfit/LCN, heard these things. I believe he is thinking of Frank Costello and Albert Anastasia, respectively. This book is a "toot my own horn loudly" read. Not something that I would've chosen, if I hadn't been duped by the title and reference to Tony Spilotro. I really wish I had waited for Frank Cullotta's book. I recently heard an interview with him on The Vegas Tourist--WOW. I cannot wait to read his book! At least I'll get some real information about Tony Spilitro instead of this trite self-aggrandizement. Roemer should stick to what he does best, congratulating himself on a job well done and leave true crime writing to real writers. In closing, I would say, don't waste your time or money on this book!

I was looking for a good summary of mob connections between Las Vegas and other cities. The book does a pretty good job of summarizing Tony Spilotro's life and the activity of the Chicago and Milwaukee mobs in Las Vegas, but there is too much Bill Roemer in the book. It reads like a war story told over drinks in a tavern.

This book consists of 22 articles and over 60 b&w photos covering organized labor, feminism, and state politics. It is uneven in style and tone, ranging from first-person narratives to academic essays. The focus of the book is the city's underclass, which seems to be defined as unionized casino workers. (Many of these writers are oblivious that there are several strata of less-well-off people below unionized employees.) Much of the book is a paean to organized labor. For example, the longest article is titled "The Recent History of the Culinary Union in Las Vegas." Entrepreneurs are the villains of this book, while the heros are union leaders and (perversely) mafioso - there is some nostalgia for the good old days when gangsters ran a tight ship and took care of the little people.

The most touching essay is by Constance Devereaux who writes of her experiences conducting a class inside a Nevada prison, juxtaposed with her finding the body of her murdered husband in their bedroom as a result of a bungled burglary.

This book doesn't really offer anything that you won't get in you mail after you have lived here for about a week. Las Vegas is a town used to having outsiders move here so don't worry about it and just have fun.