cover image Hit Me!: Fighting the Las Vegas Mob by the Numbers

Hit Me!: Fighting the Las Vegas Mob by the Numbers

Danielle Gomes and Jay Bonansinga. Globe Pequot/Lyons, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-7627-8072-3

Documentary filmmaker Gomes and novelist Bonansinga (Bloodhound) team up to tell the story of the former's father, Dennis Gomes%E2%80%94the driven chief of the Nevada Gaming Control Board in the 1970s who dedicated his career to curtailing corruption in Las Vegas. Gomes's task was not an easy one%E2%80%94in addition to the immediate threats that come along with setting the mob in one's crosshairs, he had to contend with a gaming commission reluctant to acknowledge glaring evidence of organized crime in casino operations and a state attorney general who flatly refused to prosecute the criminals outed by Gomes. Though forces beyond Gomes's control would postpone victory for almost 30 years, in 2007 the preternaturally perseverant vigilante finally helped federal prosecutors bring to justice a number of Chicago-based Mafiosos with dirty connections to the Las Vegas gambling world. (Martin Scorcese's 1995 film Casino is partly based on Gomes's efforts.) Aided by hours of interviews with Gomes and detailed records of his investigations, this telling of the sordid history of Las Vegas delivers. Agent: Peter Miller, Global Lion Intellectual Property Management, Inc. (May)