Janice Oberding Boeken

Las Vegas is a city of glimmering lights, tanned celebrities, and mega-resorts. Every year, millions of tourists visit, seeking time in the sun, entertainment, and perhaps to return home with more money than they arrived with. Some will. Most won't. There are too many things--such as gambling, shopping, and fine dining--to suck the vacation budget as dry as the Mojave Desert that surrounds the city. That's the Las Vegas featured on the slick tourist brochures and TV ads. But there is another side. This is the dark side of Vegas, where money is the be-all and the end-all, the side the mob once ruled, a side where life is cheap and crime can happen any time, day or night. This is a look at today's and yesterday's crimes--drug deals gone sideways, prostitutes murdered senselessly, spouses offing spouses, cops being killed, mob hits, and a mass shooting--all part of the murders, mysteries, and misdemeanors of Sin City.

Las Vegas has a historic and haunted side. This book highlights the most interesting sites and stories, from haunted casinos to Hoover Dam.

With a well-known nickname like the “Biggest Little City in the World,” you might think Reno has no secrets. But you shouldn’t bet on that. For example, What is Reno’s connection to Mount Rushmore? How can you participate in a real-life cattle drive, see a shrunken head, or sip a glass of Picon punch in the midst of poltergeists? Arm yourself instead with Secret Reno: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure, and you’ll soon discover these and many more of the city’s secrets and lesser-known adventures. How about a lazy day kayaking down the Truckee River? You might want to climb the world’s tallest artificial climbing wall, or take a stroll where the lynching of an innocent man occurred in 1892. But be warned—his angry ghost is said to haunt the location, occasionally harassing passersby. If you’ve donned your leathers and are all in for a bike ride, you might want to know that Reno has an annual motorcycle rally not to be missed. Local author Janice Oberding loves to find adventure off the beaten path and be your guide to unconventional, but worthwhile, exploration. All you’ll need is here in this book about the Biggest Little City’s secrets.

Murder is shocking. The savagery of Elizabeth Short's (also known as the Black Dahlia) slaying was beyond anything Los Angeles, indeed the U.S., had experienced. Short would not be the only young woman in Los Angeles during the 1940s to suffer at the hands of a brutal and sadistic killer, a killer who was never caught. Senseless murder, rape, and robbery were a common thread throughout the streets of Los Angeles of the mid-twentieth century. Men and women without much hope, and even less money, were all too often the victims and the perpetrators. However, the wealthy were not exempt. Love, rage, jealousy, and money were all reasons for the murders, mysteries, and misdemeanors covered in this book, from one end of Los Angeles to the other.