This book wasn't really what I expected. It's hard to review in any meaningful way without giving away the secrets of the book, which are the real reason to read it. The premise is that a set of conjoined twins (Fire and Water) are discovered near a barrel of blood near Las Vegas. Detective Salazar, a LV detective near retirement, wants to solve a case involving body dumps of many homeless men and one young woman; he feels that the twins might somehow be involved. He elicits the help of Dr. Suni...

It makes me irrationally angry when authors don't use quotation marks for dialogue, or at least old style dashes. It's such an easy thing to do, and it makes everything so much more readable. It's like using paragraphs. Yes, all authors do it, but they do it for a good reason. People who make the 'artistic' choice not to do it just piss me off. Oh, you're too fucking good for quotation marks? Well I'm too fucking good for this book.I'm kind of glad I persevered with this book, but it could have

You know I really didn't care for this book. I finished it, which means it isn't all bad. But here is what I disliked about the book:1. The book never used quotation marks in the dialogue. This makes dialogue hard to follow and confusing.2. The story would go from riding in a car, to a flash back and then back to the current car ride with no warning. I find this very hard to keep up with, and found myself re-reading things wondering what I missed.3. The cover of this book describes this book as

I really thought I would enjoy this book because I enjoyed his Graceland and other reviewers who I follow and respect gave it high marks. I had one of those "what's wrong with me" instances where you're not quite understanding how others have loved the book and you're like this lone wolf out there alone. I just don't get it. This one really, really disappointed me.

Wrenching, delicate, breathtaking, brutal. Read it.

I'm headed to Las Vegas next week to visit family, so thought it would be the perfect time to read this one. And holy moly, but where has Chris Abani been all my life?Here is the premise: Before he can retire, Las Vegas detective Salazar is determined to solve a recent spate of murders. When he encounters a pair of conjoined twins with a container of blood near their car, he’s sure he has apprehended the killers, and enlists the help of Dr. Sunil Singh, a South African transplant who specializes...

Splendid!Was my thought when I finished the last hauntingly suspenseful page of this intensely intimate novel exploring the human soul seeking redemption, revenge and acceptance to the question what do we owe to others and ourselves for their roles in our lives. While I have read other Abani’s novels in the past, I was not quite sure what to expect as this book seemed it would a departure from his other work. So I was pleasantly surprised when discovering this was much more than a standard myste...

I had to DNF this because it was so horrible and disgusting. If you want to read about the worst of humanity, read this book. I'm on page 22 and there's already been a suicide, leukemia, a racist cop who shot an unarmed black man to death, another pair of racist/ablest cops who accuse a black pair of conjoined twins of being serial killers for no other reason than the fact that they are black and conjoined, and torturing animals, specifically torturing mother baboons with newborn babies to death...

Interesting characters, plot doesn't sustain momentum.

This book is part detective thriller and part literary fiction. Abani is an incredible writer, with a voice that creates interesting, dynamic characters. I heard him describe this book at a recent conference as a "detective novel about a pair of conjoined twins that may or may not be serial killers." Throw in some major guilty flashbacks from South African upbringing for the main character, and that's a pretty spot-on description. I was enthralled with the book from the first page, and am still

http://www.mybookishways.com/2014/01/...Over the course of a couple of years, the bodies of homeless men have been turning up along the shores of Lake Mead, right outside of Las Vegas. Not just one or two at a time, either, but piles of bodies. Detective Salazar has been working the case, and, on the cusp of retirement, he’s determined to put it to rest, as the last good thing he can do. All of the dead are a burden on his soul, but it’s one body that stood out the most, that of a red headed you...

An absolute triumph in originality and its take on the noir. Asia's character--however--did not satisfy. Extremely well done save for the ending which fell flat.

The lavishly talented poet, novelist, playwright, and publisher Chris Abani began his writing career in Nigeria at sixteen with a satirical political novel, Masters of the Board, and followed up with political plays meant to be performed on the street. He was jailed in Nigeria three times in the 1980s, then moved to England and onward to the United States. He continues to accumulate awards for his edgy poetry and prose, publishes The Black Goat Poetry Series, an imprint of Akashic Press, and tea...

Everything about this novel was fantastic which left me kicking myself for not having read Abani sooner but excited that I have his back catalog to dive into. The writing is excellent; the story is captivating, disturbing, and dark; and the fringe characters create so much uniqueness and depth–from the conjoined twins (Fire and Water) to Sunil (a doctor that specializes in sociopaths)–that I could not put this book down. Abani expertly blends literary fiction, mystery, and horror as a detective

Chris Abani (and The Secret History of Las Vegas) included in this Between the Lines column for BBC.com:http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/2014...

I read this book back when it came out. I just realized that I never got around to writing my review of this book. Not because I did not like this book but because I loved this "freakin" book. It was both a combination of awesomeness and freaky. I was so in awe of what I read that I needed to digest everything before I wrote a review. Although I must admit in the beginning I was not sure what I was reading. Yet, the further I read the more I liked the story and the characters. This book has the

With “The Secret History of Las Vegas” a new genre emerges: Horror/Mystery/Literary Fiction. The book is chilling and not recommended for the faint of heart or easily squeamish. Deformity is the central theme in this book and that deformity can take many forms including physical or mental or emotional or some combination of the three. Sunil is a psychiatrist who grew up in South Africa and lived through some horrific things only to escape to the US only to find situations that are just as terrib...

For my video review of the book, go here: https://youtu.be/4uMDTQT61tsI thought this was a very interesting story. It wasn't quite what I expected from the summary on the inside flap--I thought it would be a murder mystery, but the cause of the mysterious deaths the detective is investigating is revealed to the reader almost immediately. That being said, there are still some mysterious elements to the story, such as the motivations of a pair of conjoined twins, which are worked out over time. I

I will give it a 3.5 ! Interesting story. Lots of intrigue, history, facts and conclusion. Characters galore in this twisted, somewhat, story about a researcher from afar, now in Vegas doing similar work. A love story that pit two men against each other with one plotting revenge. Add to the story conjoined twins who form the basis of the book, with suggestions that a lot of malformed individuals that were prevalent during the 60"s and 70's at freak side shows were in fact the results of the nucl...

I happened to randomly pick up this book as I was strolling past the infinite library shelves & am VERY glad I did! Not only was it a compelling page-turner, as every mystery should be, but it was beautifully written & far more complex than your average mystery—exploring ideas about human connection to the past, both physical & remembered, the connections between people and place, the ramifications of apartheid in South Africa (ever present for those who endured it), and how we view and behave t...