The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing &

The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas [Paperback] Shaun Assael

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 homeâ€”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 boxerâ€™s death as a cold case. The result is a page-turning whoÂdunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas.
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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.
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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 Hollywoodâ€”all with a boxerâ€™s faith that he could duck any threat, slip any punch. Heroin addiction was the only knockout blow he didnâ€™t see coming.
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The Murder of Sonny Liston takes a fresh look at the legendary boxer, the town he called home, and one of Americaâ€™s most enduring mysteries.
Country USA
Brand MACMILLAN
Manufacturer Macmillan
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber FLPK9781509814831
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781509814831
ReleaseDate 0000-00-00

Country	USA
Brand	MACMILLAN
Manufacturer	Macmillan
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	FLPK9781509814831
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781509814831
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

The Murder of Sonny Liston: A Story of Fame, Heroin, Boxing & Las Vegas [Paperback] Shaun Assael

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