Customer Reviews

The Seven Sins: The Tyrant Ascending

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

More is not necessarily better, and this book is proof of that.

Land has mixed together a hodge podge that includes Julius Caesar, the Mafia, Great White Sharks, ancient pirates, the historical King Midas and a mythic Islamic terrorist sect, and yet the end result is a strangely linear, predictable action story which really lacks any suspense, an amazing feat considering an apocalypse is threatening Las Vegas from almost the first page to the last.

The characters are pretty much cartoonlike, with no real depth. The main character suffers a horrible tragedy as a boy which the author rehashes every few pages or so in an attempt to give psychological underpinning to his actions, and yet by the middle of the book I found myself thinking enough already, we get it.

And while the author does try to create some shocking "revelations" as to the true identities of several of the characters, every one of these was so obvious that "ho-hum" seems to be the operative word in regard to them.

So why did I give this book 3 stars? I could say it was to reward it for its grasp, even if that did exceed it's reach (by a lot!), but the truth is that sometimes all you want is a pretty much mindless diversion that allows you to escape reality for a little while, like a "B" movie. The Seven Sins is just such a harmless excursion.

Like most books on the casino business, The Seven Sins falls far short of reality. Michael Tirrano, the CEO of King Midas Resorts, has somehow hidden his connections to a Sicilian Cosa Nostra family (which would never be possible in real life) and built one of the most elaborate casinos in Las Vegas, which he acquired by blowing up a competitor's ready-to-open casino. If the gaming commission weren't blind, deaf and dumb, and the FBI so totally incompetent, Tirrano would be a hero. But his shallow characterization and his totally unbelievable rise to power are dead giveaways of a lazy plotline.

No, The Seven Sins isn't even good drama. The fast-paced action is, well, too fast. His miraculous escapes from death, the jarring trips back and forth through time, and a nebulous connection to someone who has the audacity to believe he actually IS Tirrano, someone named Fabrizio Boccardi, make The Seven Sins a real joke. It's good for a few laughs, but that's about it.

The history of Jon Land's The Seven Sins may be more interesting in the book itself. According to the acknowledgements, the novel is inspired by Fabrizio Boccardi, one of those self-promoting tycoons along the lines of Donald Trump. My guess, however, is that Boccardi, to boost his own image, recruited an author to create a fictional version of himself, with a movie version to follow. Of course, that is only speculation on my part: the truth may remain a mystery.

The book itself is standard Jon Land fare, with a little bit of a twist. The story's protagonist, Michael Tiranno (the character based on Boccardi) is more of a businessman than a typical Land action hero. Nonetheless, the other elements of a Land story are present: international conspiracies, the tough guy sidekick and the monstrously huge super-killer.

Tiranno is the owner of The Seven Sins, the ultra-lavish new casino/hotel along the Las Vegas Strip. Tiranno is also Michael Nunziato, the ward of an Italian crime lord. Under his former name, he was able to expand his guardian's empire and legitimize it at the same time before breaking off to run his own business. When a terrorist attack in Vegas threatens the financial existence of the Seven Sins, Tiranno takes the fight to the terrorists, using his financial and criminal contacts to unearth a conspiracy that threatens an even greater attack.

This is not Land at his best. Did he sell out somehow to write this story for Boccardi? I don't know. In actuality, the joke may be on Boccardi: Michael Tiranno, for all his superficial virtues, is not a very likeable character. He's arrogant and even a bit of a sociopath, willing to crush anyone who gets in his way. At least when the terrorists kill, it's at least nominally to better the world; Tiranno, however, is just interested in personal wealth.

The plot itself is okay, although the story concludes too quickly, leaves open some loose ends (for a sequel, no doubt) and has some rather obvious plot twists. It's overall a disappointment, especially for a long time Jon Land fan like myself. The only good news is that book seems to be an aberration, probably because he had to give up some creative control (his next book, Strong Enough to Die, is much better). For all its flaws, The Seven Sins is not a truly bad book (even off his game, Land can write reasonably well), but it merits at most a low three stars.

Whether you like THE SEVEN SINS depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a story with a complex plot and characterization, you will no doubt be disappointed. On the other hand, if you're looking for a fast-paced story with a lot of action and twists, this one isn't so bad.

The main character of THE SEVEN SINS is a casino mogul in Las Vegas with a secret past involving the mafia. Someone is trying to destroy his business and empire, and he spends most of the novel trying to find out who's behind the nefarious plot. As the story progresses, we learn more about the mogul's life history in a multitude of flashbacks.

THE SEVEN SINS is written like a James Patterson book, in that it resembles a fleshed out screenplay, where each scene gets its own chapter. It's pretty easy to read, and Land keeps most of the book pretty entertaining. Most of the characters border on cartoonish, but they are fun cartoons for the most part, especially the mafia don character who dominates the early scenes of the book.

One thing I really disliked about this book was the sheer number of flashback scenes, which prevent the present-day story from achieving any real momentum. Parts of this book read more like a biography than a story. Land also constantly jumps from character to character, and from time period to time period, which made it difficult for me to get absorbed in the story.

Overall, THE SEVEN SINS is passable entertainment, nothing more. Still, the storytelling is somehwat better than most of James Patterson's recent output, so fans of that author may want to give this one a try.

The star of this story is Michael Tiranno(Nunziato). As a child living on a farm in Sicily his parents are murdered as well as his sister. The

local Mafia kingpin Don Luciano Scaglione takes him to raise.The don pays

for Michael to go to the top business school in Monte Carlo. Here he makes

the acquaintenance of Amir Pharon a billionaire arms. With the help of

Pharon and Don Luciano Michael founds World Trade Agricola. He first gains the market for coffee in Kenya. He then gains the market for sugar cane futures in Cuba and Honduras. By reaping tremendous profits from this

company he moves to America. In America he founds King Midas World with the lavish casino the Seven Sins. Four suicide bombers explode car bombs

at the Seven Sins,Mirage,Treasure Island, and the Venetian. A terrorist

named Jafir Sari Bayrak and his group Al Altar take credit. The group is wiped out in a Tiranno sponsored raid. To his horror Michael Tiranno

discovers that an ancient clan of assassins called Hashishin is the real

culprit. The actual culprit behind the plot is a person from his past.

This book is a page turner that will keep you guessing. Be sure to read it.

This book made me a fan. I have been buying his older books and man I am so glad to have found a new author I love to read.

a mindless entertainment, perfect for vacation or airplane. A lot like the big fat "Carpetbaggers" type of time passer.

A hero you don't really like, but bad guys you love to see brought down.

In 1975 in Caltagirone, Sicily his farm family was murdered when Michael "The Tyrant" Tiranno was seven years old, but he survived taking his father's gold medaillen with him when he saw them assasinated and took a bullet too. He survived and a Sicilian Mafia Don raised the lad and instilled certain values in the child. As an adult Michael becomes a super real estate king, whose showcase is the Las Vegas casino Seven Sins that accommodates the fantasies of their customers.

However, suicide bombers explode their cars at four Vegas casinos including the Seven Sins. The media, Homeland Security, and most Americans assume Islamic radicals brought their form of terrorism to the sin capital for its symbolism. However, Michael postulates that the other casino hits were to conceal their target inside a Jihad terrorist cloak to throw off the scent. He thinks he was the target. With help from his lawyer Naomi Burns, Michael investigates his theory knowing some of his other properties are at risk by a birlliant diabolocal adversary who accepts without any remorse collateral damage of the innocent. However he is unprepared to learn his late father's antique gold medallion that fascinated him as a young child might be at the epicenter of the attacks.

This 368 page thriller is a one sitting action-packed tale that grips the audience from even before the Vegas attacks and never slows down for an iota until the final confrontation. In between readers are escorted on a whirlwind tour all over the place as they accompany Michael and Naomi on their quest to stop an enemy from more destruction. Over the top story line and characters somewhat comic book, but no one is going to care; readers are not landing until the book is finished as few novels are as exciting as the SEVEN SINS is.

Harriet Klausner

I was a fan of Jon Land until I read this piece of cr*p.

The problem with this book is Fabrizio Boccardi.That's the

guy this book is supposedly loosely based on.

I found myself wishing someone (in the book )would knock off

the hero Mike Tiranno.Why? Because he is a money grubbing low life who gets others to do his killing. All so he can become

the owner and builder of the biggest casino in Vegas.

The flier of this book says it's a rags to riches story.

If you think being raised from age 7 by the biggest mafia don in

Sicily and surrounded by wealth and having all the advantages

that can bring then I guess we have to redesign what rags to riches means.You can also imagine what kind of scruples he must

have if he is surrounded my mafia thugs.

Self made man? Sure if you consider stealing $25 million as seed

money from the don that raised him.

He (Tiranno)is so self centered and self absorbed that you really get sick of reading about his greedy yearnings.Especially when

he has people killed to achieve his goal.

Essentially he is a big mouthed hustler,with a Bernie Madoff

mentality.

He would make a perfect wall street banker.Same concern for people.

.

and self absorbed that

The book opens:

"The Aegean Sea, 74 B.C.

"'She's out there all right, Captain. Hiding from us.'

"Captain Ali-san Kubivaros returned the spyglass to his eye. . .."

Spyglass? 74 B.C?

I read another fifteen pages or so, but my mind kept returning to the spyglass; the first known practically functioning telescope is credited to the German-Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey in 1608.

I knew I'd never finish a book that started out this poorly, so I took it back to the library, thanking my lucky stars that I had not paid out good money for it.

Where oh where are the editors of yesteryear? Where oh where are the authors of yesteryear who would have known better than to create such a foolish anachronism?

This reminds me of another book I reviewed in which the author moved the White House to 1400 Pennsylvation Avenue, NW.

ARGH!!!!