It can be read as a biography, that of the American sportsman, Sonny Liston, who attained fame and notoriety in equal measure. This is also a sociological account of the transformation of a city - Las Vegas - from a provincial desert to a gold mine of drugs and gambling. The 'murder' remains unresolved, however, as Assael, chasing a scent gone cold with the passage of time, cannot quite provide a clinching answer. Of these three narrative strands that Assael tries to balance, not quite deftly at times, the retellings of the life of the boxer and the city are engaging. The descriptions of Liston's famous bouts are patchy; in boxing parlance, they would be more of a jab than a knock-out.

Source: The Telegraph April 12, 2018 18:22 UTC