Take Down

Billy Cunningham, Book 1

By: James Swain

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Whoever says crime doesn't pay isn't doing it right.

There are hundreds of casinos in Las Vegas, and Billy Cunningham knows how to rip off every one. His scams are a thing of beauty - so perfectly orchestrated that onlookers believe he and his crew are winning fair and square. In a town where bosses will kill to protect their profits, Billy can't afford to make mistakes, but even the best-laid plans can go wrong...

Desperate to keep his team out of jail, Billy agrees to help stop a legendary family of thieves from taking down a casino. But he has no intention of breaking the cheater's code: never rat out your own kind. He's running his own con on the casino's psycho owner and his vicious, violent wife. Throw in a murderous drug dealer, a vengeful gaming agent, and the girl Billy's never forgotten, and this scam artist is playing for sky-high stakes: a cool eight million, and the chance to live long enough to spend it.

©2015 James Swain (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Loved it

Great voices!!! Best narration I have ever heard.
Very few books keep my attention like this one did!!

Extraordinary narrator

This story was quite entertaining, but mostly due to the narrator. Exceptionally talented. Made this book so much more enjoyable.

Great story. I would recommend this book.

Great book. Loved it like watching a good movie in my head. Wish there was a sequel

detailed and keeps you're interest

was very good the details in the knowledge to the gaming industry in the scam were impressive

A Rolicking Read (Listen)

What did you love best about Take Down?

I really enjoyed this story and the performance. It was a classic "caper" story with shades of Mission Impossible mixed in with the Las Vegas ambiance and culture (if you can use "Las Vegas" and "culture" in the same sentence.)

I think the author stretched reality a bit with regard to the incompetence of the casino owner and the ineffectiveness of security measures at LV casinos but it helped support the story line.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Take Down?

I enjoyed the plot line focused on how the protagonist became a "cheater."

Any additional comments?

I plan to buy more books from both this author and narrator.

This should be a movie.

I could picture the movie as I was reading. Super fun read. Im on to #2 now.

loved it!

I could not stop listening to this book. The narrator was excellent and the story was quite exciting for me.

best book ever

Great book. The author's immense knowledge about the casino scams is beautifully narrated.

Nick Poehler narration is brilliant and engaging. This is my first book of James Swain. All I can say is I am already a fan and can't wait to read more of the books.

I heard the audio book non stop. So much interesting and engaging.

DAILY DEALS ARE THE BEST!!!

Bought this little nugget 3yrs ago, daily deal for 2.95. WOW! Perfect trifecta! Willing to purchase the rest of the series, full price or credit, which ever will cost me more. Yep, I will pay for quality. My advice? Pay attention and consider the daily deals. Winner, winner chicken dinner!

Best seen after Ocean's Eleven

I appreciated that Swain described how casinos work in a lot of detail, as I am very ignorant of that. it's possible his detail may be annoying to readers already familiar with it.

I did have issue with the narrator's depiction of Ly. I found it overly...stereotypical of Vietnamese people.