The murder of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, heroin, and heavyweights
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Description
"A daring investigation into the mysterious death of Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston, set against the dawn of the 1970s, when the mob was fighting to keep control of the Las Vegas Strip, Richard Nixon was launching America's first war on heroin, and boxing was in its glory days. Las Vegas, 1970: Elvis Presley is playing two shows a night at the International. Howard Hughes is running his empire from the penthouse suite of the Desert Inn. And middle-America is flocking to The Strip, transforming it from an exclusive playground for the mob to a mecca for corporate dollars. But the city is also rotting from within. Heroin is pouring over the border from Mexico and the segregated Westside is on the cusp of a race war. The cops, brutally violent, are barely holding it together. Driving through town with the top of his pink Cadillac down, Sonny Liston is the one celebrity who's unafraid to bridge both worlds. Cashing in on his fading notoriety in the casinos, he is also dealing drugs, working as an enforcer for a crime syndicate, and trying to break into Hollywood as an action star. Along the way, he has a boxer's faith that he can duck any threat, slip any punch. Heroin addiction is the only knockout punch he doesn't see coming. On January 5, 1971, Liston was found dead in his home, with heroin in his blood, from what Las Vegas police speculated was a drug overdose. But Liston's closest friends never believed that he accidentally OD'd. They believed he was murdered. In the decades since, a cottage industry of theories has hung over his death. But none have been substantiated. By digging deep into the life Liston tried hard to hide, investigative journalist Shaun Assael treats Liston's death as a cold case. The result is a page-turning whodunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas, based on police records and original interviews with cops and politicians who worked in Vegas at the time--including a key suspect who was accused of killing Liston, and who offers up his own theory about who did it. The Murder of Sonny Liston takes a fresh look at the legendary boxer, and the town he called home, getting to the bottom of one of America's most enduring mysteries"--
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Subjects
Subjects
African American boxers
African American boxers -- Biography
Biography & Autobiography
Boxers (Sports)
Boxers (Sports) -- United States -- Biography
Boxing
Heroin
Heroin -- Nevada -- Las Vegas -- History -- 20th century
History
Las Vegas (Nev.) -- History -- 20th century
Liston, Sonny
Liston, Sonny, -- 1932-1970
Nonfiction
Sports & Recreations
True Crime
African American boxers -- Biography
Biography & Autobiography
Boxers (Sports)
Boxers (Sports) -- United States -- Biography
Boxing
Heroin
Heroin -- Nevada -- Las Vegas -- History -- 20th century
History
Las Vegas (Nev.) -- History -- 20th century
Liston, Sonny
Liston, Sonny, -- 1932-1970
Nonfiction
Sports & Recreations
True Crime
More Details
Contributors:
ISBN:
9780399169755
9781681681337
9780698156661
9781681681337
9780698156661
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Grouping Information
Grouped Work ID | 01c994a4-7a2e-a898-9196-487db5d9cb22 |
---|---|
Grouping Title | murder of sonny liston las vegas heroin and heavyweights |
Grouping Author | shaun assael |
Grouping Category | book |
Grouping Language | English (eng) |
Last Grouping Update | 2022-05-28 02:08:33AM |
Last Indexed | 2022-05-28 02:38:33AM |
Novelist Primary ISBN | 9780399169755 |
Solr Details
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auth_author2 | Bray, R. C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
author | Assael, Shaun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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author_display | Assael, Shaun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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display_description | "A daring investigation into the mysterious death of Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston, set against the dawn of the 1970s, when the mob was fighting to keep control of the Las Vegas Strip, Richard Nixon was launching America's first war on heroin, and boxing was in its glory days. Las Vegas, 1970: Elvis Presley is playing two shows a night at the International. Howard Hughes is running his empire from the penthouse suite of the Desert Inn. And middle-America is flocking to The Strip, transforming it from an exclusive playground for the mob to a mecca for corporate dollars. But the city is also rotting from within. Heroin is pouring over the border from Mexico and the segregated Westside is on the cusp of a race war. The cops, brutally violent, are barely holding it together. Driving through town with the top of his pink Cadillac down, Sonny Liston is the one celebrity who's unafraid to bridge both worlds. Cashing in on his fading notoriety in the casinos, he is also dealing drugs, working as an enforcer for a crime syndicate, and trying to break into Hollywood as an action star. Along the way, he has a boxer's faith that he can duck any threat, slip any punch. Heroin addiction is the only knockout punch he doesn't see coming. On January 5, 1971, Liston was found dead in his home, with heroin in his blood, from what Las Vegas police speculated was a drug overdose. But Liston's closest friends never believed that he accidentally OD'd. They believed he was murdered. In the decades since, a cottage industry of theories has hung over his death. But none have been substantiated. By digging deep into the life Liston tried hard to hide, investigative journalist Shaun Assael treats Liston's death as a cold case. The result is a page-turning whodunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas, based on police records and original interviews with cops and politicians who worked in Vegas at the time--including a key suspect who was accused of killing Liston, and who offers up his own theory about who did it. The Murder of Sonny Liston takes a fresh look at the legendary boxer, and the town he called home, getting to the bottom of one of America's most enduring mysteries"-- | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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literary_form | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
literary_form_full | Non Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
local_callnumber_catalog | 796.83092 L773za 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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primary_isbn | 9780399169755 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
publishDate | 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
publisher | Blue Rider Press, HighBridge, Penguin Publishing Group | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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recordtype | grouped_work | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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subject_facet | African American boxers -- Biography Boxers (Sports) -- United States -- Biography Boxing Heroin -- Nevada -- Las Vegas -- History -- 20th century Las Vegas (Nev.) -- History -- 20th century Liston, Sonny, -- 1932-1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_display | The murder of Sonny Liston : Las Vegas, heroin, and heavyweights | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_full | The Murder of Sonny Liston Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights The murder of Sonny Liston : Las Vegas, heroin, and heavyweights / Shaun Assael The murder of Sonny Liston : Las Vegas, heroin, and heavyweights [electronic resource] / Shaun Assael | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_short | The murder of Sonny Liston | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
title_sub | Las Vegas, heroin, and heavyweights | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
topic_facet | African American boxers Biography & Autobiography Boxers (Sports) Boxing Heroin History Liston, Sonny Nonfiction Sports & Recreations True Crime |