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 Millions of Dollars

By: John Huddy

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Immediately gripping and thoroughly harrowing, Storming Las Vegas tells the story of a remarkable true-life crime spree—a story that was previously squashed so as not to disturb tourism, in the ultimate proof of "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas".

On September 20, 1998, a Cuban-born former Red Army lieutenant named Jose Vigoa launched a series of raids on the Las Vegas Strip. During a 16-month spree, Vigoa robbed five world-class hotels, three armored cars, and one department store. The casinos hit were the MGM; the Desert Inn; the New York, New York; the Mandalay Bay; and the Bellagio.

Lieutenant John Alamshaw, a 23-year-old veteran in charge of robbery detectives, was ordered to stop the robberies at all costs. He knew he was up against a mastermind. What he didn't know was that he was running out of time.

©2008 John Huddy (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This debut is a must for true-crime enthusiasts." (Publishers Weekly)

incredible from start to finish

great narration, sorry keeps your attention despite length of book. really bummed that they never came out with the movie that was planned. highly recommend

Wow

I have ties to Las Vegas and had never heard of this story in the press before. So my curiosity got me to listen. The book grabbed me at the start. But then, in chapter 3, the story went to places other than Las Vegas and I thought I had bought the wrong book, based on the description. I later found out that this back story was very important and, like a flywheel, discharged energy into the story when it returns to Las Vegas. The narration is the best I've ever heard. Rudnicki's general narration is fantastic, but when he impersonates the voices of the characters' quotes (and there are a whole lot of characters in this story) I was really impressed. This is, it turns out, the story of the real Tony Montana (characterized in the movie Scarface). I couldn't wait until I could find an opportunity to listen to the next chapter and didn't want it to end. I was left thinking that if Vigoa, the main character in the story, were CEO of a mid-size company, he would have been on the cover of Fortune magazine.

Very detailed, but too long

Author definitely put a lot of effort and research into this book. Probably a little too much research. The detailed descriptions of the lives and histories of those involved was laborious. The main players sure, but even bit players were given quite long biographies. I would have been fine with just modern day crime coverage and Vigoa's background.

Storming Las Vegas.

This is a great book. I can't believe I have never feard of this in Las Vegas, but than I guess they really don't want this getting out. I would recommend this to anyone and I guarantee they will like it.

Great story

I was living in Las Vegas when the Ross fatal robbery happened. I had no idea the story behind that and the other robberies that were in the local news at the time. Well researched and well narrated.