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Storming Las Vegas: How a Cuban-Born, Soviet-Trained Commando Took Down the Strip to the Tune of Five World-Class Hotels, Three Armored Cars, and $3 Million | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
Category: EBooks
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $8.01 (44%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 6243
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1552092
ASIN: B0014BRLLK
Publication Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
“In my world, you are either the hunter or the prey, and I am the hunter. Vegas was my prey. I tell my crew: Vegas makes it, Vigoa takes it.”
–Jose Vigoa[pg. 37]
When it comes to violent crime, the Las Vegas cops and casino owners thought they had seen it all. But they had never witnessed anything like Jose Vigoa.
Born in Cuba, a child of Fidel Castro’s revolution, Vigoa used his quick wits and quicker fists to trade a life of poverty and desperation for one of danger and adventure as a Soviet-trained special forces officer. Battle hardened in the killing fields of Afghanistan and Angola, Vigoa won a reputation for toughness, bravery, and coolness under fire. A brilliant military career lay ahead of him.
Then, in 1980, Castro opened Cuba’s floodgates in the Mariel boatlift, and Vigoa, like so many of his countrymen and -women, braved chaos and hardship to start a new life in America’s promised land. But involvement with the drug trade brought his dreams crashing down. Years of prison followed.
On his release, Vigoa was determined to take revenge on what he perceived as the corrupt power structure of Las Vegas. On September 20, 1998, the former Spetsnaz lieutenant launched what would be the most audacious and ruthless series of high-profile casino and armored car robberies that Las Vegas had ever seen. In a brazen sixteen-month-long reign of terror, he and his tightly disciplined crew would hit the creme de la creme of Vegas hotels: the MGM, the Desert Inn, the New York-New York, the Mandalay Bay, and the Bellagio. They struck hard and fast, then vanished without a trace. Millions of dollars were stolen. Two brave men were gunned down in cold blood; others were wounded. And yet the robberies were so well planned and executed that the police–“the stupids,” as Vigoa contemptuously referred to them–were all but helpless.
Not Lt. John Alamshaw. The twenty-three-year veteran, in charge of robbery detectives, was not giving up so easily. For him, Vigoa’s rampage was a personal affront. And he would do whatever it took, even risk his badge, to bring Vigao down.
With exclusive access to all the major players, including Vigoa and Alamshaw, veteran journalist and network producer John Huddy is the perfect man to tell the gripping never-before-told story of this harrowing true-crime drama that will leave readers breathless.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 This Review Does No Justice To The Book August 1, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
What a story...one of my top picks from the non-fiction genre. Action, adventure, brutality, justice. Amazing story.
 Disappointing June 28, 2008
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
The cover blurb got me to buy this book; it led me to think I was going to read some sort of real life "Ocean's 11." But it's not. The author recounts a series of what amount to snatch-and-grab armored car heists as well as a botched cashier's cage robbery at the Bellagio. The robberies are not very interesting, and the characters aren't very interesting either. There's too much luck, incompetence and happenstance in the events, all of which diffuse any drama. Added to that is the fact the author can't decide in which tense to write the book -- he jumps from present tense to past tense, in a rather disorganized way, while providing lots of extraneous detail. This would have been much better as a 40 or 50 page section of an anthology crime book, but at this length, it's bloated. If the subject interests you, check it out of the library...it's certainly not good enough to warrant a place on your bookshelf.
 A story that needed telling. May 24, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is an amazing story, with details little known even in Nevada.
The writing could be better, but it's still worth reading.
Great Read, better than fiction May 22, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Great book on a little known robbery spree in La Vegas in the 90's. The book is very good at setting up the character's backrounds and life stories.
Breathless May 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book moves from cover to cover, with an unexpected twist at the end. I understand the movie rights have been sold, but no way will this story fit into a two hour movie. It's a mini series.
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