The Dogs of Brownsville

““The Dogs of Brownsville” is a historical novel ripped from the headlines of the past seventy years told in Godfather fashion that tells the story of a handful of guys, and girls, that make it out of the ghetto of Brownsville and arrive in Las Vegas in time to witness and participate in the changing of the guard from the “Mob” to Howard Hughes to Corporate America. The novel traces the lives of Lawrence Cohen or Mongoose and his boyhood friends, Ringo, Solly, Moe, Scumbag and Charlie The Man together with Eunice and Yetta, the wife of a Rabbi who runs a “bunny ranch” in Pahrump and her daughter Wylie who becomes a Navy jet pilot. Mongoose, who is in charge of the gaming activities for the Desert Winds Hotel and Casino, the last holdout of the “Mob”, works for Frank Rothman the “Wizard of Odds” and Ignacio Baldacci or Balsy, reunites with Eunice who has become a successful showgirl under the name of Venus. At first she ignores him but softens after he is almost killed in a car bombing. As their relationship develops Mongoose is haunted by her prior connection with Tommy DiMeglio who he must deal with, and “make his bones”, as he was responsible for the car bombing. The novel concludes with the partnership between the Desert Winds and Stanley Ho, the richest man in Asia to establish The Pacific Winds in time for the new millennium in the Year of The Dragon.