Sharks in the Desert

by John L. Smith

The story of the evolution of the gambling racket from mobbed-up vice to corporate success story as told through the biographies of the men who made it happen.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

A prize-winning journalist, John L. Smiths (1960- )column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal is the most widely-read newspaper feature in Nevada. In addition, John is the author of many books.

John lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Tricia, and daughter, Amelia, and carries the distinction of being a fourth generation Nevadan."

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See:

John L. (Lewis) Smith (1811-1899)
John L. Smith (1846- )
John L. Smith (1945- )
John L. Smith, Baptist preacher

Reviews

[Nancy Fornataro]

A great research tool, clearly and precisely written. Recommend for new Las Vegas residents or history buffs!!

[Vince]

The stories in this book are amazing, but the storytelling is awful.
Each chapter focuses on one person or resort which makes for a very choppy book because there is so much interplay between the characters. A better organization would have been chronological so the reader could follow the interaction and one-upsmanship that made the history of Vegas so interesting.
There's also a lot of assumptions made about familiarity with casino lingo and the mob. For example, when a new mob family is mentioned I have no idea if they are a big player, an up-and-coming group, or just a footnote. Again, telling the story as a story rather than a jumbled mess of events would have helped.
I really wanted to like this book but in the end I got tired of the repetition, assumptions, and lack of continuity.

[Amber]

While the subjects are interesting, the author jumps around in time too much, like Tarantino on crack. It took me five times longer to read than it should have. I kept getting to the end of a page, realizing it was discussing a story from an entirely different era than it was on the previous page, and having to re-read it in order to put the story into proper context. Maybe the book is better suited as a reference for all these subjects, if you just want to look up one of these classic Las Vegas players at a time. I don't recommend the book to be read in a linear fashion.

[Jimmy Neville]

Outdated (nearly 20 years old) but a fascinating read and sparked an interest in finding more Vegas history.

This book’s Bibliography might be its most underrated feature

[Neil]

I had an interest in the history of Las Vegas, Nevada and this book was recomended as a good read. Overall it was interesting and very easy to pick up and put down. The short chapters covered a different shark so you didn't have to worry about losing track of information from the previous chapter. A lot of inside information was presented, but I almost needed a minor in organized crime to truly understand who some of these sharks were and where they came from. Overall a good read, but I was less interested in the subject matter than I anticipated.

[Brett]

Good book and well researched. It's written in short chapters that covers a lot of ground. As a result, you aren't going to get a whole lot of detail on any individual or any particular situation. Worth reading, and the bibliography gives a decent roadmap if you want to dive deeper.

[David Rolo]

While I find the topic interesting, I found the writing bad.