cover image Nevada

Nevada

Clint McCullough. L. Stuart, $19.95 (561pp) ISBN 978-0-8184-0350-7

In this first novel, McCullough recreates the saga of gambling in Nevada from its legalization in 1931. Hero Meade Slaughter sets up his own roulette wheel and crap tables in Reno. A loner who burns with ambition, Slaughter foresees the establishment of casinos on the Las Vegas strip and then the even greater potential of hotel complexes on Lake Tahoe. Though he is an honest man, Slaughter must pay off mobster Buggsy Siegel (one of several real characters) for a betting wire; he also borrows millions from Jimmy Hoffa. The narrative is pegged to a vendetta between Slaughter and the corrupt Guilianos, who sell ""protection.'' Trying to intimidate Slaughter, Carlo Guiliano mistakingly kills Slaughter's fiancee. When Slaughter takes his revenge, he earns the undying enmity of Carlo's son. McCullough provides a good history of the protean growth of the gambling enterprise, but the dialogue and predictable plot are less rewarding. 20,000 ad/promo. (June 19)