Review of SIN CITY REFUGEES by Ken Hattaway (see his website)

iUniverse, April 2005

Freed from prison by a Nevada State error, Stanley Bupkis, now with a manufactured identity proving him to be Dallas Fort Worth, is looking for a job with no paperwork requirements. He is hired to investigate a strange death--an apparent suicide by hanging. Writer Alan Johnson is stuck in the middle of his novel--the one that's supposed to be his breakout, but that just might break him. He decides to head to Las Vegas to connect with his theme. The blue-haired ladies watch for the poker machine set for a big payoff and play bingo--until a con-man rips the bingo system off to the tune of a quarter of a million dollars.

In Las Vegas, crime, greed, sex, and fame are unhidden and obvious.

Author Ken Hattaway mixes hardcore grit with tongue-in-cheek humor as he follows the lives of a number of people over a few days in America's 'sin city.' People are clipped on the head, threatened with guns, transformed by tattoo artists, chased by blue-haired ladies, and amazed by the incompetence of Nevada's prison system in fast order. Hattaway's strong voice and professional writing kept me engaged in the story--even when the sheer number of characters threatened to overwhelm me.

SIN CITY REFUGEES is one of those books I finished in a single reading. I have no hesitation in recommending this one.

Four Stars

Reviewed 6/30/05

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