Book Review: Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich

Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich is the true story of Kevin Lewis and five other MIT students who took Las Vegas for millions in the 1980s. The (totally legal) trick? Card counting. This is an exciting story of great successes and life-threatening failures with a suspenseful ending. Kevin Lewis is your average brilliant MIT student when he discovers a secret group of students working on their card-counting skills and strategy. After the group tests him and finds him up to snuff, they pull him in. Soon, he’s flying to Vegas nearly every weekend, smuggling tens of thousands of dollars taped to his body through airport security, wearing disguises and adopting personae at the casinos, and partying like a rock star. But, as mounting suspicions grow within the group and watchful eyes at the casino start to track them, Kevin begins to realize it’s hard to let go of the sweet life once you’ve tasted it - even when it becomes a matter of life and death.

This was another fast-paced read; think Ocean’s Eleven with college students and fewer explosions. I’m not big on gambling, and this was still fascinating and gripping. I’d definitely recommend this book to older teens and adults who enjoy personal narratives, sports, or challenging adventures.

Read-alikes:

• Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston: if you really want to get your adrenaline going, read about Aron’s experience falling down into a cavern and getting his arm pinned by a boulder. You’ve probably heard the rest of the story, but it’s even scarier to read his account of it.
• The Ridiculous Race by Steve Hely and Vali Chandrasekaran: a much more lighthearted adventure about two friends who race around the world in opposite directions without using airplanes.

I haven’t read the following books yet, but I have heard great things about them, and I think there's a lot of cross-over appeal: Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich, Catch Me if You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake by Frank W. Abagnale and Stan Redding, and Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand.