What happens when you find out that Grandma's vase mistakenly sold at a yard sale is worth tens of thousands of dollars—and somebody else is about to cash in on it on Antiques Roadshow? Of course, you hop on a plane with your best friend and race off to Las Vegas to get Grandma's vase back! Filled with action and suspense, hunky blackjack dealers, divine drag queens, strange sex, and sex in strange places, plus a Federal agent or two, Divas Las Vegas puts the sin in Sin City. A fun, new take on the murder mystery genre, Rob Rosen's Divas Las Vegas is a hilarious, touching, and compulsively readable page turner!
Bill (aka "Em", as in "Auntie ...") and Justin are two 20-something gay best friends from San Francisco, who descend into the craziness of COMEX-week in Las Vegas, supposedly on a mission to locate the valuable vase that had belonged to Em's mother, but was shown appraised on an episode of "Antique Roadshow" taped in that city. Of course, with Justin along, the focus soon shifts to men, drinking, men, gambling, men, partying and men, and Em knows Jason well enough to hold on and enjoy the resulting insanity. The duo (along with their friend Glenda, whom they invite along for the fun) have madcap adventures with Jason's boyhood ex-lover, a Patsy Cline imitator, a lecherous motel owner, double dating possible murderers while in drag, and find themselves helping to solve an FBI investigation into organized crime.
Although the author has had over sixty short stories published in various anthologies, this is just his second novel, after 2001's "Sparkle," which was a delightful, witty and original romp. "Divas Las Vegas" is in the same vein, and likely even better, keeping the reader rolling with laughter as our campy duo gets into one imaginative situation after another. This is almost two books in one, as the author also gives some rather spot-on advice about places to see (and places to avoid) in Las Vegas. Secrets may be welcome to stay in Las Vegas, but clearly many of its residents were happy to see Em and Jason go back home to San Francisco! A rollicking, roller coaster of a read, sure to keep you smiling. Four stars out of four, on your fun reading slot machine!
Hysterically funny campy romp in Las Vegas!
