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.On January 5; 1971; Sonny Liston was found dead in his home—of an apparent heroin overdose. But no one close to Liston believed that his death was acciÂdental. Digging deep into a life that Liston tried hard to hide; investigative journalist Shaun Assael treats the boxer’s death as a cold case. The result is a page-turning whoÂdunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas. Elvis Presley was playing two shows a night at the International. Howard Hughes was running his empire from the penthouse suite of the Desert Inn. And middle America was flocking to the Strip; transforming it from an exclusive playground for the mob to a mecca for corporate dollars. But the city was also rotting from within. Heroin was pouring over the border from Mexico; and the segregated Westside was on the cusp of a race war. The cops; brutally violent; were barely holding it together. Driving through town with the top of his pink Cadillac down; Sonny Liston was the one celebrity who was unafraid to bridge the two sides of Las Vegas. Cashing in on his fading notoriety in the casinos; he was dealing drugs; working for a crime syndicate; and trying to break into Hollywood—all with a boxer’s faith that he could duck any threat; slip any punch. Heroin addiction was the only knockout blow he didn’t see coming. The Murder of Sonny Liston takes a fresh look at the legendary boxer; the town he called home; and one of America’s most enduring mysteries.
#9597098 in Books 1984-11Original language:English #File Name: 039434278X
Review
