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Chasing Vegas
When Ricky Vegas got out of jail, his parole officer told him to get a job and stay in Nevada. Hours later police spot Vegas entering Horizon a tower of interstellar transit stretching from the desert to the stratosphere. He could only be going one away. When the search for Vegas turns into a manhunt of epic proportions, his parole officer, Geoffrey Sink, wonders why all the fuss for a simple fugitive. He stops wondering after a series of violent, bloody incidents lock the station down – and starts worrying when he realizes Vegas’s flight up Horizon coincides with a rare appearance by the most recognizable people on Earth. The Originals – the first astronauts to return from deep space; the faces everyone thinks of when they stare up at the stars – arrive on Horizon to deliver their first speech since touching down in the desert five years ago. And when Vegas tries to kill them, Sink realizes there’s more to chasing this ex-con than he ever wanted to know.
331 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 24, 2012
19 people are currently reading
377 people want to read
About the author
Tad Vezner
2 books2 followersTad Vezner has been a night cops reporter at a metropolitan daily, the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota's Twin Cities, for years. He sometimes offends people with the jokes coroners tell him, but they eventually forgive him. Prior to that, he backpacked across Australia, worked as an illegal banana picker, and did social work in Chicago. He and his wife live in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 11, 2012
Article first published as Book Review:Chasing Vegas by Tad Vezner on Blogcritics.
Belief systems are often a part of who we are based on what we were exposed to as we developed from childhood to adulthood. While strong, the beliefs may be subject to change due to several factors. One of those would be seeing something that you have been told is not possible. You then either begin to question your actual beliefs finding a way to make your vision fit your back ground, or you begin to wonder if you are beginning to lose touch with reality.
In Chasing Vegas by Tad Vezner, we follow the exploits of Ricky Vegas as he tries to reconcile his own background and beliefs. Recently released from jail, he has been instructed by his parole officer, Geoffrey Sink, to get a job and stay in Vegas. This is an easy request, on one that Sink has been making in his many years as an officer.
When Vegas disappears and is spotted entering Horizon station, it appears he may be trying to use the interstellar transit system to not just leave Las Vegas, but to go much further. Sink is surprised when a massive manhunt occurs. What would create such an unusual event, why is this man now in the spotlight. Soon Sink finds himself in the middle of the manhunt, surrounded by bloody incidents and dead bodies, causing a shutdown of the station.
When Sink realizes that Vegas has timed his move to coincide with the appearance of the originals, he begins to question everything thing he knows of Vegas’ background. The originals are the first astronauts to return from deep space, and as such they are virtually worshipped. As Sink begins to follow the unraveling life of Vegas, he finds a secret hidden in his past. Accused of trying to kill the Originals, only Vegas and the Originals really know the truth. But for some reason neither of them is talking. What is the secret they are trying to protect? Is Vegas willing to die to hide the reasons behind the killings? As Sink delves further into the discrepancies, he begins to see what appears to be a cover-up. Can he find Vegas in time to get the answers?
Vezner has written a science fiction tale with the overtones of a thriller. The characters are well written and believable. Sink reminds me a bit the part in the old ‘Columbo’ TV series played by Peter Falk. He seems to be a bit bumbling, and others tend to not see how sharp he really is. His techniques for getting information are a bit sly and seem to take others off guard. Vegas himself is a maverick. He has become a loner and no longer knows who to trust. There is something quite admirable about him, and yet it is difficult to understand the things he does. Somehow you know that something drives him.
The twists and turns often took me off guard and I would lose where I was for a moment, but nevertheless I found the book to be absorbing. The characters that enter and exit are a tough bunch, and the scenes as they are played out are well written.
If you enjoy thrillers and quick paced excitement, you would enjoy this book. Light Science fiction aficionados as well as those that enjoy a good puzzle would also enjoy the work. There is something at work here that drives everything that happens.
It is a challenge to see if you can puzzle it out, often it is easy to see where a story is headed, but this ending takes you by surprise. This is a futuristic novel that ads a bit of punch and danger, just the right mix to keep you reading well into the night.
This book was received free from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material.
Belief systems are often a part of who we are based on what we were exposed to as we developed from childhood to adulthood. While strong, the beliefs may be subject to change due to several factors. One of those would be seeing something that you have been told is not possible. You then either begin to question your actual beliefs finding a way to make your vision fit your back ground, or you begin to wonder if you are beginning to lose touch with reality.
In Chasing Vegas by Tad Vezner, we follow the exploits of Ricky Vegas as he tries to reconcile his own background and beliefs. Recently released from jail, he has been instructed by his parole officer, Geoffrey Sink, to get a job and stay in Vegas. This is an easy request, on one that Sink has been making in his many years as an officer.
When Vegas disappears and is spotted entering Horizon station, it appears he may be trying to use the interstellar transit system to not just leave Las Vegas, but to go much further. Sink is surprised when a massive manhunt occurs. What would create such an unusual event, why is this man now in the spotlight. Soon Sink finds himself in the middle of the manhunt, surrounded by bloody incidents and dead bodies, causing a shutdown of the station.
When Sink realizes that Vegas has timed his move to coincide with the appearance of the originals, he begins to question everything thing he knows of Vegas’ background. The originals are the first astronauts to return from deep space, and as such they are virtually worshipped. As Sink begins to follow the unraveling life of Vegas, he finds a secret hidden in his past. Accused of trying to kill the Originals, only Vegas and the Originals really know the truth. But for some reason neither of them is talking. What is the secret they are trying to protect? Is Vegas willing to die to hide the reasons behind the killings? As Sink delves further into the discrepancies, he begins to see what appears to be a cover-up. Can he find Vegas in time to get the answers?
Vezner has written a science fiction tale with the overtones of a thriller. The characters are well written and believable. Sink reminds me a bit the part in the old ‘Columbo’ TV series played by Peter Falk. He seems to be a bit bumbling, and others tend to not see how sharp he really is. His techniques for getting information are a bit sly and seem to take others off guard. Vegas himself is a maverick. He has become a loner and no longer knows who to trust. There is something quite admirable about him, and yet it is difficult to understand the things he does. Somehow you know that something drives him.
The twists and turns often took me off guard and I would lose where I was for a moment, but nevertheless I found the book to be absorbing. The characters that enter and exit are a tough bunch, and the scenes as they are played out are well written.
If you enjoy thrillers and quick paced excitement, you would enjoy this book. Light Science fiction aficionados as well as those that enjoy a good puzzle would also enjoy the work. There is something at work here that drives everything that happens.
It is a challenge to see if you can puzzle it out, often it is easy to see where a story is headed, but this ending takes you by surprise. This is a futuristic novel that ads a bit of punch and danger, just the right mix to keep you reading well into the night.
This book was received free from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material.
April 26, 2012
I won a copy on Goodreads Firstreads.
Ok I went crazy and reviewed the wrong book.The real review will be posted in a few days.Here is the real review.
This was an intoxicating melange of genres that will keep you up well past your bedtime.You could call it a sci-fi/noir/action/suspense/mystery.Different elements shine at different parts of the story but overall blend into a fusion.
There are two main threads in the book.The first follows recently paroled Vegas who gets pushed just a little too far.His thread provides most of the action and suspense.The second thread follows Sink.Sink is the parole officer of Vegas,but he likes more like a private eye form a noir mystery.A minor thread follows Sofie and the reporters of Horizon station.They add a counterpoint to the multiple groups chasing Vegas.They are, of course Given Mr.Vezner's background,superbly portrayed.
Good science fiction is a tricky thing.If the author is not careful, it reads like a "normal" story with sci-fi elements tacked on as an afterthought.Other times the science outweighs the fiction so much you feel like you are back in school.But if it is done right,the (usually) futuristic world seems not only realistic but like you know all about it as you read it.This novel is one that got it right.No one breaks into long spouts of exposition explaining the world to someone who should know it.Also it is easy enough to follow that you can sink into the world as you read.
Noir mysteries can also be tricky.It can easily slip into camp.Again this novel keeps it right on track.Dark and gritty but not to the point of being silly.Just remember the old noir advice.Always follow the money and even your heroes may let you down.
The story builds and builds to a stunning conclusion.I thought I knew what was coming but was blindsided.The characters are great, both the ones you will like and the ones you want to see blown out of an airlock.
There were a couple of glitches only.Once the word "I" was left out and the other was of similar nature.The language was rough at times but thankfully the author knew more than one 4-letter word.(Yes, I mean that as a compliment because I am so tired of reading novels with one certain word repeated as often as a valley girl saying like y'know like.)A couple of references seemed anachronistic.Would they really remember "a little dab will do you" over 100 years from now?
If you like movies like Total Recall, The Running Man, and Blade Runner, read this book.If you like Sam Spade or Mike Hammer, read this book.If you like great books, read this book
Ok I went crazy and reviewed the wrong book.The real review will be posted in a few days.Here is the real review.
This was an intoxicating melange of genres that will keep you up well past your bedtime.You could call it a sci-fi/noir/action/suspense/mystery.Different elements shine at different parts of the story but overall blend into a fusion.
There are two main threads in the book.The first follows recently paroled Vegas who gets pushed just a little too far.His thread provides most of the action and suspense.The second thread follows Sink.Sink is the parole officer of Vegas,but he likes more like a private eye form a noir mystery.A minor thread follows Sofie and the reporters of Horizon station.They add a counterpoint to the multiple groups chasing Vegas.They are, of course Given Mr.Vezner's background,superbly portrayed.
Good science fiction is a tricky thing.If the author is not careful, it reads like a "normal" story with sci-fi elements tacked on as an afterthought.Other times the science outweighs the fiction so much you feel like you are back in school.But if it is done right,the (usually) futuristic world seems not only realistic but like you know all about it as you read it.This novel is one that got it right.No one breaks into long spouts of exposition explaining the world to someone who should know it.Also it is easy enough to follow that you can sink into the world as you read.
Noir mysteries can also be tricky.It can easily slip into camp.Again this novel keeps it right on track.Dark and gritty but not to the point of being silly.Just remember the old noir advice.Always follow the money and even your heroes may let you down.
The story builds and builds to a stunning conclusion.I thought I knew what was coming but was blindsided.The characters are great, both the ones you will like and the ones you want to see blown out of an airlock.
There were a couple of glitches only.Once the word "I" was left out and the other was of similar nature.The language was rough at times but thankfully the author knew more than one 4-letter word.(Yes, I mean that as a compliment because I am so tired of reading novels with one certain word repeated as often as a valley girl saying like y'know like.)A couple of references seemed anachronistic.Would they really remember "a little dab will do you" over 100 years from now?
If you like movies like Total Recall, The Running Man, and Blade Runner, read this book.If you like Sam Spade or Mike Hammer, read this book.If you like great books, read this book
February 22, 2012
This story is as much a action adventure, cops and robber tale as it is science fiction. Sure it's set in the future, and there's some tech used in the plot, but the primary tale is of a guy in a bad place trying to do what he can to make it right and a work stiff trying to do his job and also do the right thing...
I liked how the the author didn't need to flesh out the entire background, that he just told the tale and didn't feel the need to to explain how the world got to the point where it was. Like the "Neveda Coast" was thrown out there a couple times. It's kind of obvious of why it might be called that and the author didn't feel the need to flesh that out... He just left it out there for you to understand. It kind of felt that he didn't want to unsult our integelence and spell everything out to the Nth degree. Some might be turned off by that style, but this time it seemed to work well.
This book took me a little bit to get into, but once I did the hours, and pages, seemed to just fly by.
I liked how the the author didn't need to flesh out the entire background, that he just told the tale and didn't feel the need to to explain how the world got to the point where it was. Like the "Neveda Coast" was thrown out there a couple times. It's kind of obvious of why it might be called that and the author didn't feel the need to flesh that out... He just left it out there for you to understand. It kind of felt that he didn't want to unsult our integelence and spell everything out to the Nth degree. Some might be turned off by that style, but this time it seemed to work well.
This book took me a little bit to get into, but once I did the hours, and pages, seemed to just fly by.
January 8, 2018
Chasing Vegas is the story of Ricky Vegas, who was released from prison and began to dodge the authorities and his parole officer. Instead, he runs to Horizon Station, presumably to escape to the stars.
I wish I could give you more of what this book is about, but, unfortunately, it found it’s way into the abandoned folder. It had an interesting premise. The summary mentions a race called the Originals and Vegas starts killing them. However, I couldn’t read past 34%, so I can’t actually say whether or not it was interesting.
What I can say is the whole story felt like a mushed blob. What does that mean? Well, for one, the setting was very poorly developed. I had a feeling this was sci-fi, but not completely sure until it started talking about traveling to the stars. The Horizon Station isn’t well described, and neither is the city built around it. The characters lack differentiation. Other than names changing as anew chapter started, and so, too, the POV, it was difficult to keep track of whose story was being told. This was mostly because every character had the same speech style and the prose didn’t change, either. At least Vezner was consistent, but to a point where all the characters sounded the same.
Except one. The crazy lady Vegas meets. She is different. She is interesting. She definitely stood out. Unfortunately, not enough for me to stick with the story.
Bottom line: I can’t really say much since I didn’t finish it, but I suppose it could be more interesting later on. A sci-fi story with an interesting premise that was poorly carried off.
I wish I could give you more of what this book is about, but, unfortunately, it found it’s way into the abandoned folder. It had an interesting premise. The summary mentions a race called the Originals and Vegas starts killing them. However, I couldn’t read past 34%, so I can’t actually say whether or not it was interesting.
What I can say is the whole story felt like a mushed blob. What does that mean? Well, for one, the setting was very poorly developed. I had a feeling this was sci-fi, but not completely sure until it started talking about traveling to the stars. The Horizon Station isn’t well described, and neither is the city built around it. The characters lack differentiation. Other than names changing as anew chapter started, and so, too, the POV, it was difficult to keep track of whose story was being told. This was mostly because every character had the same speech style and the prose didn’t change, either. At least Vezner was consistent, but to a point where all the characters sounded the same.
Except one. The crazy lady Vegas meets. She is different. She is interesting. She definitely stood out. Unfortunately, not enough for me to stick with the story.
Bottom line: I can’t really say much since I didn’t finish it, but I suppose it could be more interesting later on. A sci-fi story with an interesting premise that was poorly carried off.
December 7, 2020
Wildly disjointed throughout (im my opinion). I prefer stories that are more serial in their storytelling approach. I understand "vignettes" that run in parallel, but this was all over the map. I struggled to get 50 pages in. When I did, it had captured me so that I wanted to see where the story took me, but to me it was a slog.
December 6, 2017
Interesting space chase
Vegas is a recently released prisoner and ex-soldier. Trying to make right a past wrong. Keeps your interest well, fast moving.
Vegas is a recently released prisoner and ex-soldier. Trying to make right a past wrong. Keeps your interest well, fast moving.
March 8, 2013
I'm not a big fan of books done in first person, however, once I got into this one and got used to the way the auther used first person I found the story quite enjoyable. This book is set on a future Earth where Nevada has a coast and they have built a type of earth bound space station. Sounds odd, right? Well, this place is anchored to the land and rises up into space. A parole officer is sent to help find one of his parolees that appears to have gone off the deep end. We find out he's trying to get off Earth, but the situation changes and he ends up almost taking part in an assassination of a group of people called the Originals. The only ones to return from a trip out into deep space. This parolee, Vegas, was there when they returned, and is there to save them later, when they are nearly killed. I may not do the book justice in my review, but if you want to take a chance read this one. It's a great read.
June 27, 2013
At first I thought this would be a disappointment...one of those "oh look, it's a crime drama, in the FUTURE!" but it turned out to be a gripping story that didn't let go of many of it's secrets till the very end...and left you with a few new questions.
There are some frequently referenced past-future events and realities that could use some fleshing out.
There are some frequently referenced past-future events and realities that could use some fleshing out.
April 28, 2015
A very fast and at times confusing roller-coaster sci-fi ride. It reads like a cross between a Marlow private eye, conspiracy thriller and sci-fi technology description with some cyber-punk thrown in.
There are lots of technology concepts and societal changes to try and grasp but you just have to roll with the punches and go with the flow. The dialogue was at times challenging, but all in all a good tale.
There are lots of technology concepts and societal changes to try and grasp but you just have to roll with the punches and go with the flow. The dialogue was at times challenging, but all in all a good tale.
May 16, 2013
As a book picked at random from the Kindle store, I have to say I quite enjoyed this. A few niggles aside - mainly to do with the dialogue, the confusing action scenes, and perhaps a few extraneous characters - this is a reasonably interesting sci-fi noir story. I enjoyed the balance sturck between unasnwered questions and total confusion. Worth a read if you're into this genre.
January 13, 2014
When a manhunt for a fugitive goes off world, anything can happen. I enjoyed the ending of this book but I had trouble staying interested for the first half of it. Once the story all comes together about 3/4 of the way through, it gets good but it just took me too long to get there. Had my OCD not prevented me from quitting, I probably would have.
August 6, 2016
This book started off a little too much like a boilerplate detective novel for me, but it did get better. Plus, I enjoyed reading a detective novel in a sci-fi setting.
March 27, 2012
I only got 30% through and I wasn't able to finish it. Between characters that you couldn't care about plus a chapter format that was hard to follow. This was a letdown.
April 19, 2012
Four stars is rounding up, but I'm willing.
June 22, 2012
Ok. Hard to follow 4 different narratives. I still don't know what happened to it or what the big reveil was in the end. Good story though, lots of action.
Want to read
December 21, 2012Kindle freebie, 12/21/12
August 7, 2013
Interesting book, rotates among 3 1st person narratives. Confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, an interesting device, and a pretty good story.
November 29, 2013
just couldn't follow it
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews