Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas

by Matt O'Brien

     The catacombs of ancient Rome served as houses of worship for Christians. The sewers of Paris yielded gold, jewels, and relics of the revolution. Slave trade thrived in underground chambers along Portland, Oregon’s, waterfront. And thousands of street people lived in the subway and train tunnels of New York City.
     What secrets do the Las Vegas storm drains keep? What discoveries wait in the dark? What’s beneath the neon?
     Armed with a flashlight, a tape re-corder, and an expandable baton, Las Vegas CityLife writer-editor Matt O’Brien explored the Las Vegas flood-control system for more than four years.
     Beneath the Neon chronicles O’Brien’s adventures in subterranean Las Vegas. He follows the footsteps of a psycho killer. He braces against a raging flood. He parties with naked crackheads. He learns how to make meth and find art where it’s least expected. He discovers that in many ways, he prefers underground Las Vegas to aboveground Vegas, and that there are no pots of gold under the neon rainbow.

 

281 pages • TRADE PAPER
10-Digit ISBN: 0-929712-39-0 • 13-Digit ISBN: 978-0-929712-39-0 • $19.95us