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Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich, reviewed by Adam K.

In this national best seller, Ben Mezrich reveals stories and schemes told by Kevin Lewis, a member of the notorious group of M.I.T students who took Vegas for millions. In Bringing Down the House Mezrich describes in detail the personal accounts of Kevin Lewis, and other members of the “blackjack club,” during their five year run of card counting.

Kevin Lewis attended M.I.T university, traveling on a straight, planned line. He would spend all day in the lab working with test tubes, trying to fulfill his father’s hopes of Kevin becoming a doctor. Kevin came to the realization that this was not what he wanted to do with his life. When he was introduced to the casino scamming, double life living blackjack club, his perfectly planned schedule of a life was about to change drastically. The MIT Blackjack team began as an after-school club held in campus classrooms where students assembled to apply their genius to card games, unwind, and have fun. The club eventually evolved into serious business. The team set up a complete underground system of casino mock-ups spanning apartments, warehouses, and classrooms scattered across Boston where they worked to perfect their complicated card-counting scheme. Under the eccentric mastermind of a professor at the university, these brilliant math students take on Vegas and the obstacles this fast life throws at them. This book is recommended for teenagers and adults who appreciate the fast and exhilarating lives of brilliant gamblers. Even if you aren’t amused by this lifestyle, the ingenious plans and adventures will enchant you.

This fast paced novel offers the reader exhilarating, nail-biting encounters of a group of true masterminds, using their god given intelligence to tilt the advantage in their hands, rather than the house’s. A particularly interesting aspect of the book was an essay by Kevin Lewis at the end. He explained in depth the exact formula they used to play the odds at numerous casinos. The book will have you on the edge of your seat, as it takes you through close encounters with Vegas security guards, smuggling operations, millions of dollars, and many more thrilling events.

However, the novel does assume that everyone is enthralled by the high rolling Las Vegas lifestyle. If you are not easily intrigued by blackjack and gambling, this is not the book for you. One might also find the authors writing style to be blatant in it’s descriptions. In lines such as “Chinese you could see it in his eyes, narrow drops of oil beneath a ridged brow.” People may find it distasteful.

Overall this was an excellent novel that gave you a glance at an adventurous lifestyle. It installs a feeling of ambition within the reader, letting people know that life is an adventure. The novel conveys that no matter where your life is leading, you can turn it in which ever direction you would like. I very much enjoyed this novel and I give it four and a half stars out of five. I truly recommend it.