|
The Seven Sins: The Tyrant Ascending | 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Land
Publisher: Forge Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $2.78
You Save: $22.17 (89%)
New (57) Used (32) Collectible (4) from $2.50
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 293763
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0765315343
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780765315342
ASIN: 0765315343
Publication Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
To Dream...To Dare..To Win...
The ancient motto, inscribed in Latin on a mysterious golden medallion, recovered from the ruins of the Roman Empire, has guided Michael Tiranno to heights few men have achieved. Once an orphaned farm boy in his native Sicily, Michael made millions by mastering the intricate world of high finance, and is now the fabulously wealthy owner of Las Vegas' The Seven Sins, the grandest and most extravagant casino in the world. The lavish resort embodies the personal philosophy fueled by his lust for power: the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
But he also has secrets, secrets that he and Naomi Burns, his driven corporate attorney and confidante, have gone to great lengths to bury. When an enemy from the past threatens to undermine everything he has built, his dark history must now be uncovered. Together, they must tear open painful scars in Michael’s heart and soul to discover the true identity of their unknown foe—before all of Las Vegas pays the price for Michael Tiranno’s realized dreams.
The Seven Sins is a globe-spanning saga of one man's spectacular rise from rags to riches, the sins that brought him there, and the insidious vendetta that may cost him everything.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Another Failed Casino Book October 5, 2008
Like most books on the casino business, The Seven Sins falls far short of reality. Michael Tirrano, the CEO of King Midas Resorts, has somehow hidden his connections to a Sicilian Cosa Nostra family (which would never be possible in real life) and built one of the most elaborate casinos in Las Vegas, which he acquired by blowing up a competitor's ready-to-open casino. If the gaming commission weren't blind, deaf and dumb, and the FBI so totally incompetent, Tirrano would be a hero. But his shallow characterization and his totally unbelievable rise to power are dead giveaways of a lazy plotline.
No, The Seven Sins isn't even good drama. The fast-paced action is, well, too fast. His miraculous escapes from death, the jarring trips back and forth through time, and a nebulous connection to someone who has the audacity to believe he actually IS Tirrano, someone named Fabrizio Boccardi, make The Seven Sins a real joke. It's good for a few laughs, but that's about it.
 5 Star Fantastic! September 19, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
See storyline above.
This was one of my favorite thrillers of the year. When you're talking adrenaline, you're talking Jon Land. There wasn't much lacking in this novel. When you throw in Sicilian mobs, Pirates of the high seas, Middle East terrorists, along with international finance, high-stakes gambling, ancient history, and much more, you'll get the escape you won't soon forget. Great entertainment!
Highly recommended for thriller fans.
Orphaned boy makes good August 16, 2008
Orphaned boy makes good
Jon Land's The Seven Sins is an entertaining read that appears to set the stage for a series involving Michael "The Tyrant" Tiranno, an extremely brilliant and wealthy business entrepreneur. During his family's grisly murder, Michael escaped with his father's prized possession-an ancient gold medallion that supposedly has magical powers. Orphaned at a young age, Michael is all but adopted by the local Mafia Don and raised as a son. Michael soon shows a strong proclivity for business and high finance and eventually builds his surrogate father's illegal Mafia holdings into a legal world of high finance, trade and commodity speculation. Unfortunately, a split in the "family" forces Michael out on his own where he builds an entrepreneurial empire in the gaming world of Las Vegas, eventually building the world's grandest casino: The Seven Sins. But all is not right in the town that never sleeps, as a several different factions try and destroy various casinos of which The Seven Sins is one. The Plot then takes off as Michael hunts down the perpetrators only to find out that not all is what it seems.
All in all a fun read with many twists and turns. Numerous plots and sub-plots demand the reader pay attention to keep things straight. Flash backs contribute to the complexity of the story and help tie up loose ends. There are many characters which at times is confusing.
Character development was OK for the protagonist Michael but was rather shallow for most of the supporting characters. Again, it appears that this book is a setup for future Michael Tiranno adventures.
No gratuitous sex, violence, or language.
Entertaining story. Recommended, especially when trapped in the airport or visiting relatives.
 Too many ingredients August 8, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
More is not necessarily better, and this book is proof of that.
Land has mixed together a hodge podge that includes Julius Caesar, the Mafia, Great White Sharks, ancient pirates, the historical King Midas and a mythic Islamic terrorist sect, and yet the end result is a strangely linear, predictable action story which really lacks any suspense, an amazing feat considering an apocalypse is threatening Las Vegas from almost the first page to the last.
The characters are pretty much cartoonlike, with no real depth. The main character suffers a horrible tragedy as a boy which the author rehashes every few pages or so in an attempt to give psychological underpinning to his actions, and yet by the middle of the book I found myself thinking enough already, we get it.
And while the author does try to create some shocking "revelations" as to the true identities of several of the characters, every one of these was so obvious that "ho-hum" seems to be the operative word in regard to them.
So why did I give this book 3 stars? I could say it was to reward it for its grasp, even if that did exceed it's reach (by a lot!), but the truth is that sometimes all you want is a pretty much mindless diversion that allows you to escape reality for a little while, like a "B" movie. The Seven Sins is just such a harmless excursion.
Another Winner From Land! July 11, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
The star of this story is Michael Tiranno(Nunziato). As a child living on a farm in Sicily his parents are murdered as well as his sister. The
local Mafia kingpin Don Luciano Scaglione takes him to raise.The don pays
for Michael to go to the top business school in Monte Carlo. Here he makes
the acquaintenance of Amir Pharon a billionaire arms. With the help of
Pharon and Don Luciano Michael founds World Trade Agricola. He first gains the market for coffee in Kenya. He then gains the market for sugar cane futures in Cuba and Honduras. By reaping tremendous profits from this
company he moves to America. In America he founds King Midas World with the lavish casino the Seven Sins. Four suicide bombers explode car bombs
at the Seven Sins,Mirage,Treasure Island, and the Venetian. A terrorist
named Jafir Sari Bayrak and his group Al Altar take credit. The group is wiped out in a Tiranno sponsored raid. To his horror Michael Tiranno
discovers that an ancient clan of assassins called Hashishin is the real
culprit. The actual culprit behind the plot is a person from his past.
This book is a page turner that will keep you guessing. Be sure to read it.
|
|
|
 | |
