Lad Lit Book Reviews: Bringing Down The House by Ben Mezrich

For anyone who is lucky enough to have been to Las Vegas, you will understand that this town is unlike any other town on the planet! But when you get past the glitz, the gimmicks, and the amazing sights and sounds, gambling remains at the heart of the place known as Sin City, and it doesn't take a genius to work out that more people lose their hard earned cash than they win!

Simply put, the big chiefs in Vegas don't like winners, and the more you win, the more they dislike you! So when six MIT students turn up and take the casinos for millions, you know you are going to get much more than just a tale about hoe to play Blackjack!

Based on a true story, author Ben Mezrich is given creative licence to dramatize the events as told to him by MIT graduate Kevin Lewis who was part of a team of mathematical geniuses who made regular trips to Vegas, and work together to 'count cards' in order to swing the odds of winning hugely in their favour.

The story is fast-paced, and Mezrich writes in a style with one eye on that Hollywood movie deal (which he succeeded in getting when Kevin Spacey starred in the 2008 film adaption, 21). The more money the blackjack team win, the deeper they fall into the infamous Vegas underbelly, and it isn't long before the darker side of Vegas starts to engulf them.

Without giving away too much, the team starts to fall apart due to in-house fighting and the teams principal leader, Mickey Rosa's increasingly obsession to have complete control over everything the team does.

I probably would have given this book five-stars (as I thoroughly enjoyed reading it) had I not recently read about the numerous claims of inaccuracies in the story. I appreciate that Mezrich had some creative freedom to exaggerate events in order to create a really interesting read, but from what I can gather, there wasn't a great deal of truth in this book based on a true-story!

But please don't let that stop you from giving this book a go! It is a fast-paced exciting read, plus it makes geeks look like the coolest kids on the block!