Publishers Weekly
10/16/2023
In this splashy group portrait, Patterson (Obsessed) and Seal (Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli), a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, spotlight the “unseen toiling armies of personnel” who make Sin City run. Among the profile subjects are Raymond Torres, who served 18 years in prison before becoming one of Las Vegas’s most trusted chauffeurs to the stars, and “high-end sex worker” Dixie, whose clients are high rollers often seeking “companionship disguised as sex.” Elsewhere, Patterson and Seal recount how interior designer Roger Thomas helped elevate Vegas from scruffy gambling outpost to dazzling fantasyland when he designed the Bellagio for casino owner Steve Wynn in 1998, and chronicle “Wedding Queen of the West” Charolette Richards’s journey from lonely wife and mother who arrived in Las Vegas in 1959 to pioneer of the drive-through wedding and the Elvis Presley Pink Cadillac ceremony. Focusing primarily on Horatio Alger–like rags-to-riches stories, the authors downplay the city’s dark side but keep things uptempo, vivid, and fun. Vegas fans are in for an entertaining ride. (Dec.)
From the Publisher
Lively tales of those who labor and dream in Sin City…the entertainment value is high.”—Kirkus
“Up tempo, vivid, and fun … an entertaining ride.”—Publishers Weekly
"Unusual facts and tales about Las Vegas... the inner workings of those who live and work in Las Vegas and those who make the city come alive... reads like a novel."—Library Journal
“A breezy, nonstop narrative capturing the essence of a crazy, wide-open town … a dazzling and fun account of America’s entertainment capital.”—New York Journal of Books
“Especially entertaining…What Really Happens in Vegas is a must-read for anyone wondering what really happens in the city Hunter S. Thompson once dubbed ‘the savage heart of the American Dream.’”—Air Mail
Library Journal
12/01/2023
Patterson (The 23rd Midnight) takes a break from fiction to uncover unusual facts and tales about Las Vegas in this breezy book coauthored by Seal (Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli). Readers who are curious about high rollers at Caesars Palace or have ever wondered what it's like to cater to millionaire poker players or work as an Elvis Presley impersonator will enjoy this light history of the so-called Entertainment Capital of the World. Patterson and Seal offer the inside scoop on casinos, shows, wedding chapels, and more. It starts with a group of underground divers who burrow under the city to fix the hydraulic system for the dancing fountains at the Bellagio, and readers will discover that Las Vegas sits on several fault lines. The book also looks at the inner workings of those who live and work in Las Vegas and those who make the city come alive. It reads like a novel, which probably won't surprise Patterson fans. VERDICT The combined popularity of the authors and topic should find an eager audiences.—Lupita Garza Grande
Kirkus Reviews
2023-09-05
Las Vegas, behind the scenes.
Patterson and Seal bring us inside tales of those who have made the nation’s entertainment capital their home, focusing on the “endless battalions who build, service, and maintain the perpetually expanding facilities; the dealers and croupiers who run the games; the international superchefs, cocktail wizards, and servers who fortify the multitudes; the dazzling superstars of stage, screen, nightclub, and stripper pole; the pilots, limo drivers, and cabbies who keep the city on the move.” This is a book full of zippy profiles of success and struggle on a variety of socioeconomic levels, as the authors introduce us to a host of interesting characters: Charolette Richards, a plucky entrepreneur who opened the first drive-through wedding chapel; Chundrea Gardner, an elite yoga instructor who flies his clients by helicopter for open-air classes in the Mojave Desert; Kaitlyn, a 21-year-old nursing student who made a small fortune as an exotic dancer; and Shin Lim, a former concert pianist who rose from obscurity to score a residency position as a magician at the Mirage. There is nothing that feels especially insightful or surprising about these biographical sketches, but they make for energetic reading. The writing moves along briskly to create a pleasant—if blinkered and sentimental—panorama of the city’s vitality and its potential for fulfilling the most outlandish fantasies. Readers will gain a dynamic sense of how the city channels extraordinary flows of money and hope through its complex infrastructure, nourishing seductive promises amid sparkling eclecticism. This is a book about positive outcomes—or gambles that paid off—and the authors offer very little commentary about Vegas’ role in generating misery through excess and, often, exploitation. For those intrigued by such a viewpoint, the entertainment value is high.
Lively tales of those who labor and dream in Sin City.
