Product Description
In the premier gambling hot spot before Las Vegas, a determined woman struggles against the major mob families to hold on to her glamorous casino.
Newport, Kentucky of the 1940s and 1950s (aka Little Mexico), is the illegal gambling capital of the United States, years before Las Vegas is a twinkle in Bugsy Siegel’s eye; and where the long battle between the independent casino operators of Newport and the major crime families of Cleveland, New York, and Chicago created the prototype for the mobster-run Las Vegas gambling industry of the Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin Rat Pack Era. But before that glamorous Las Vegas could exist, the rules were hammered out and written in blood on the streets of Newport.
I will be honest, at first I found this story a little disjointed. There were several strands to it that seemed to be flitted between too skittishly for me to really begin to follow events. However, as it continued the strands intertwined and thickened, evolving into a very accomplished and wholesome thriller.
ReplyDeleteThere is a real, and slightly frightening, grounded feel to the whole thing. The characters seem so naturally submerged in the criminal world they occupy with events unfolding in a very organic manner without unnecessary convolution. There is also a quite surprising variety, despite the clear symmetry of some pairs, of character and their subsequent trials and tribulations. These all wind together to form a rich tapestry of interrelationships which manages to just avoid becoming too confusing and complex.
As the tale unwinds all of the characters play their part, contributing to the core arc whilst struggling with their own journeys.
All in all, it was a very enjoyable crime thriller, and I will seriously consider pursuing more by the author.