Customer Reviews

Murder in Vegas: New Crime Tales of Gambling and Desperation

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"Murder in Vegas" is an interesting anthology of short stories set in and around Las Vegas, all of which contain a murder. The similarity between the stories stops there, with the authors choosing a number of plot lines to tell their tale. We have stories of desperate gamblers, beautiful show girls, down and out druggies, and even a story about bird-watching in the desert. My favorite story was "Killer Heels Kill Twice as Dead", by T.P. Keating, an author who I'd not read before. In this wicked tale of revenge, a smart show girl tries to get out of an unfair contract she signed under duress. She's out for revenge, and the story is a good one.

One of the most enjoyable things about reading an anthology such as this is the exposure to new authors. In addition to T.P. Keating, I also really enjoyed the stories by Wendy Hornsby and Ruth Cavin, other authors whose work I'd not read before.

Not every story in this collection really appealed to me, but there were enough good ones to definitely recommend the collection. If you're looking for to immerse yourself in the glamour and desperation of Las Vegas (without risking your money at the gambling tables), definitely read this book.

Anthologies with a particular theme can be a great idea, and Las Vegas seems a natural for a mystery anthology. If you're Michael Connelly, you could contact some top mystery writers and ask them to write some short stories for a new anthology, or you could search the literature for any mystery short story having some kind of Vegas connection. Connelly seems to have gone that route, with mixed results. Some of these stories are quite good, while others seem barely intelligible. Perhaps the biggest advantage of the short story format is that you do get the good with the bad!

Michael Connelly edits MURDER IN VEGAS, a fine collection of new crime tales performed by audio veterans Phil Gigante and Joyce Bean, who bring to life tales of gambling and Vegas culture. Works by James Swain, Michael Collins and others provide a satisfyingly diverse collection of scenarios and intrigue.

I was truely disappointed with this book. It is not a Michael Connelly Book. I didn't have a chance to read the reviews so I bought it for my kindle and wish that I had tried a sample. This a compilation of short stories that are not very good.

Some stories are ok and some just leave you thinking that more was needed. i read it at the beach and it works for me in that way, otherwise not pulitzer material in any way.

I purchased this book because I love the writing of Michael Connelly amd didn't realize that it was the work of multiple mystery writers.

I was very disappointed to find this book was not written by Connelly. They used used his name to sell a collection of stories by authors who wouldn't sell without his name. I have only read a few so far. They were so bad that I haven't had any desire to finish the book.

This has to be The Worst book I have ever read. I wish Amazon would let us give negative stars because one star is 10 times more than this book deserves.

First of all, the way this book is fraudulently marketed may make many people believe this is actually a novel written my Michael Connelly when this is far from true. Michael Connelly is a great author, but, unfortunately, this book is only *edited* by Connelly and even that is limited to a brief two-page introduction, albeit extremely well written. The rest is a collection of short stories written by authors the most of which would be moving far up the ladder were they even considered incompetent.

It is false that each of these short stories revolves around or even touches on a murder.

To be fair, there are some short stories in this anthology written by authors that show promise and / or skill, but these are few and far between. The worst is the second in the series written by S. J. Rozan and seems to be nothing but approximately 13 pages of poorly-written incoherent babblings revolving basically around no plot. Based on this short story alone, I wouldn't take anything written by Rozan even as a gift from a dying close friend.

For the most part, though, it seems like main purpose of this book is either to use Michael Connelly as a hook to make a few $ from unwitting suckers thinking that the name Michael Connelly signifies that this book is worthwhile and well-written or, equally is likely, used as a way of getting the works of at best mediocre authors before the public eye where they have a chance at being "discovered."

Unfortunately, though, for whatever purpose this book was written, the book sucks. I expect that whatever Michael Connelly puts his name to will be exceptionally good. Shame on Michael Connelly for allowing his name to be used on this garbage.