Tuesday, May 19, 2020

recent read; VEGAS HEIST by Van Allen Plexico


It's the Holiday Season of 1965 and the fabulous Caesars Palace Resort and Casino is about to open in Las Vegas. And the vault is filled to bursting with cash. 
John Harper and Saul "Salsa" Salzman roll into town with inside information: A secret way into the casino, leading right to the vault itself. 
Putting together a small but highly skilled team, they make their move, aiming for untold riches. 
But jobs like this never go as planned. 
A beautiful widow, a jealous enforcer and a murderous rival casino owner all want a piece of the pie. 
Before New Year's Day arrives, Harper and Salsa will be lucky to escape Sin City with their lives!
The cover tease is exactly what you get. Reading VEGAS HEIST is like watching a crime-caper right out of 1960s cinema. It's easy to see why this novel won the Pulp Factory Awards Novel of the Year, 2019.

In an interview I heard recently, author Van Allen Plexico described the novel as 'Donald Westlake meets OCEAN'S ELEVEN.' That description is spot on. Harper is clearly influenced by Westlake's Parker. Though, VEGAS HEIST tends more toward Westlake whimsy than the ruthless aura of Westlake's Richard Stark pen name tales of Parker.

VEGAS HEIST could be dropped right into the Hard Case Crime line without missing a beat.

The narration of the audiobook by Pete Milan is stellar. So good, in fact, that Van Allen Plexico stated on Twitter that those are now the voices he hears as he is writing the sequel, MIAMI HEIST.

You can place your bets I'll be all over that sequel when it it released.