Neon Mirage [Hardcover]

Max Allan Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1988

When Nate Heller clears Bugsy Siegel of murder, the Chicago P.I. and brash, handsome gangster become unlikely friends...and rivals in love. Bugsy invents modern Vegas, but receives bullets as his reward and Heller becomes his avenger.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fourth chronicle of Collins's Nate Heller (True Detective et seq.) is set in Chicago and Las Vegas in 1946. When a gangster shoots the private detective's client, gambler James Ragen, Heller assigns himself to investigate the case. During his sleuthing, Heller meets and falls in love with Ragen's niece, Peggy Hogan. She's one of the few fictional characters in the nostalgic story that features real people and parallels actual incidents of the times. The assault on Ragen is a minor part of the events when Heller and Peggy become involved with Ben ("Bugsy") Siegel, Virginia Hill and other notorious mob figures in Las Vegas. Generating suspense, the author describes Siegel's murder with the detective at the scene and details the shaky beginnings of the Flamingo Hotel, Siegel's unrealized dream of a luxury mecca for gamblers. There is such immediacy in narrator Heller's voice that the reader doesn't need the afterword about the novel's historic base.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

In 1946 Chicago, Nathan Heller—president of the flourishing A-1 Detective Agency—is hired to protect racing-wire gambling chief James Ragen, who is nonetheless shot down on the streets of Chicago. Not one to take such an affront sitting down, Nate goes after the killer, but he’s in for the biggest surprise of his career. Demonstrating once again that he is the master of true-crime fiction, Max Allan Collins’ story of the birth of Las Vegas—and the dirty deeds that floated all around it—is a masterpiece of modern noir. Heller follows the trail as it leads to Hollywood and Las Vegas, specifically to Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, but when he proves Siegel’s innocence, Heller and the suave gangster wind up friends...and rivals for the love of Nate’s life. Bugsy hires Heller as security chief of the under-construction Flamingo hotel, where mob bag woman Virginia Hill is a dangerous, if glamorous, distraction. It all comes to a boil with a shocking mob assassination in Beverly Hills that sends Heller into fever-dream ride of vengeance.

“Collins breaks out a really good one, knocking over the…competition (Parker and Leonard for sure, maybe even Puzo)...The book is unputdownable.”—Kirkus Reviews --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 275 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1 edition (February 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312014848
• ISBN-13: 978-0312014841
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,105,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Max Allan Collins is a New York Times bestselling author of original mysteries, a Shamus award winner and an experienced author of movie adaptions and tie-in novels. His graphic novel ROAD TO PERDITION was made into a major motion picture by Tom Hank's production company, Playtone.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What happens in Vegas...., July 5, 2006

By 

Daniel Lee Taylor "dan57" (GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Neon Mirage (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the story of how a sleepy little town in Nevada became a mecca for gamblers and other sinful types. It is also the story of Bugsy Siegal, a want to be movie star and mobster. The story is told as the investigation by Nate Heller of a murder back in Chicago. Needless to say, there is a lot of history told here but never a lecture. Collins is one of the greatest in this kind of storytelling. Read the notes at the end of the book to find how much is fact, a whole lot, and what is created for the tale. If you ever heard of a town called Las Vegas, read how it got its start. Truly fascinating, you won't put it down.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but I'm disappointed..., January 27, 2012

By 

D. Hurd - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Neon Mirage (Nathan Heller Novels) (Paperback)

I liked the story, just like I liked all the other Nate Heller novels. What's disappointing to me is the physical book itself. I first got introduced to Nate Heller when I wandered into a bookstore where Max Collins happened to be signing. Since he's from a town about 10 miles from my hometown and my mom knew his dad, I thought what the heck. The book was Carnal Hours, and I loved it. I've bought every Nate Heller book since. Unfortunately, the first four books were out of print when I realized I wanted them. I managed to get ahold of all but this one until now. Boy was I happy when I ordered it. And then the big disappointment - it's a weird size and doesn't fit in with the rest of my set. I had no way of knowing that when I ordered. So get the book if you want a good read, but be aware that it's not going to fit on your shelf with your other Heller books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bugsy, January 21, 2012

By 

Obie - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Neon Mirage (Nathan Heller Novels) (Paperback)

One of the novels covering the middle years of Nate Heller's career, this is one of the top of the line. As usual, history mixes with fiction to produce a page-turner.