Lost Vegas — Steve Brewer

A mobster hires a gang of professional thieves to rob his own casino in Steve Brewer's thriller LOST VEGAS.
Nick Papadopoulos used to be a button man for the Mob. Now he's the front man for an aging casino in Fowler, Nevada, an isolated backwater known as "Lost Vegas." Nick's stuck in a rut and deep in debt. Then he gets an idea: If someone would only rob his casino, he could collect on the insurance and get out from under.
Tony Zinn runs a heist crew in San Francisco. He's never even heard of Fowler, Nevada. But Nick makes him an offer that's almost too good to be true.
Neither man expects interference from rival casino owner Big Jim Kelton or his hired goon, a huge Samoan named Shamu. But once they're involved, it can only end in bloodshed.
Filled with twists and double-crosses, LOST VEGAS is Steve Brewer at his best.
"Like Elmore Leonard, the writer whose work his most resembles, Brewer writes with a light and deft touch, bringing style and wit to the crime genre." --David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times