by Rick Lax
St. Martin’s Griffin, $15.99, 295 pages
After being conned by a drug dealer in Chicago, Rick Lax left his life as a lawyer behind and moved to Las Vegas. In order to never again be taken advantage of, he decided to become an expert on deception. Fool Me Once: Hustlers, Hookers, Headliners, and How Not to Get Screwed in Vegas is the true story of Rick Lax’s time in Law Vegas. Readers will enjoy the fast pace and funny recounting of his adventures in Sin City. Rick meets some of Vegas’ best known deceivers. He spends time with magicians, well known pick up artists, and poker pros. As part of his quest to learn about deception, he tries his hand at counting cards and finds out what it is like to be kicked out of a casino. Readers will enjoy this hilarious and entertaining book. But the title is misleading. It makes it seem like readers will learn specific ways to avoid getting deceived. In reality, the book focuses on Rick’s experiences with people who use deception in their line of work. Overall, the stories are great and it is a fun read.
Reviewed by Chris “Shifty” Johnson