John’s Jottings

I’ve been reading a lot of gambling related books recently - although “Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion’s World Series of Poker” by James McManus is the first non-fiction book I’ll review here. Sent by Harper’s to produce a story on the growing success of women in the biggest poker event on the planet and on the trial of the stripper and her boyfriend charged with killing Ted Binion, McManus finds himself in the middle of his story when he risks his book advance to win entry into the 2000 tournament. His story takes on a new dimension when he bucks the odds and makes it to the promised land of poker, the “final table.”

I give The Counter, by Kevin Blackwood, 4/5 stars. A top blackjack player and card counter, Blackwood has written a brilliant debut novel that sucks you into the world of a card counter and doesn’t let you go until it spits you out in the final satisfying chapter.

I give Dice Angel 4/5 stars. Fun, simple read written by a local who knows Vegas and has a knack for good dialog. Only downside was not enough craps!

I wanted to enjoy The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security. I really did. The teaser for the book sounds good: A legendary hacker reveals how to guard against the gravest security risk of all - human nature. Human nature is the focus of the book - the manipulating of it for gain called Social Engineering. This concept would make a terrific chapter or two in a comprehensive book on security. As a book it drags on and is extremely repetitive.

In “Prey: A Novel” author Michael Crichton moves away from the huge dinosaurs of “Jurassic Park” or the large primates of “Congo” to take us into the relatively new science of nanotechnology…..