Rating: 
Summary: Never mind the house, bring down an editor
Review: A gripping story told in prose redolent of Sidney Sheldon and Jacqueline Susanne, I enjoyed the book immensely but reading it gave me the feeling I get from bingeing at Mickey D's. I fear that if Mezrich listed his favorite writers, they'd be the people banging out those books with shiny silver covers in the paperback rack at the airport. At times the prose is so annoying it knocked me off track from the story, which is the book's strength. Mezrich never met an adjective or adverb he didn't like. Cliches abound, too. "Kevin's heart thumped as he saw the roll of bills." "Then, suddenly, a bright glow erupted, first formless, then mushroom-shaped. In a moment, the city became visible, the amazingly bright lights of downtown feeding into the long, radiant Strip and its mammoth hotels . . . the newly opened, sleek, dark glass Luxor Pyramid . . . the shimmering, emerald-green MGM . . . the Mirage, its bright red volcano spitting flames into the sky." The people in the book count cards to win money; someone should have counted Mezrich's modifiers and blue-penciled them out to make this a first-rate read. Still, the story is so interesting the book is worthwhile. Too bad that Mezrich makes flesh and blood people seem like ink and gel cartoons. The book is a guilty pleasure, one you shouldn't deprive yourself of if the subject matter is the least bit interesting for you.
Rating: 
Summary: badly written nonsense
Review: These guys must be smart. We know this because we are told so
often. MIT is a great school but the system these guys use is very basic and can be learned by most people in a few hours.
They didn't invent a new system or even play it particularly
well.The writing is also horribly cliched and full of inconsistencies
where the main character,Kevin, magically manages to recount events he can't possibly have been aware of. The book concludes with the statement "We never had a year when we returned less than thirty percent to our investors. Find
a broker who can say that." Leaving aside the fact that their own
numbers of hands played, bet sizes and edge would imply a far
higher return than this, anyone with a basic understanding
of finance was making a bigger return than this in the mid
nineties. Maybe they should have gone to a few classes at Sloane
instead of hanging around casinos telling us how wicked smart
they are?
Rating: 
Summary: Beating the odds and living a constant adrenaline high!
Review: This is a fast and explosive read. It's a true story that's so high-powered that the tension never ceases and I was thrust into a roller coaster ride that kept my eyes glued to the pages. The story is told through the eyes of the author, who met one of the students at a party and was so intrigued by his outrageous tale that he was compelled to put it into a book. This is a story of a group of math whizzes, most of Asian descent, who used the art of card counting, worked as teams, and legally won as much as 4 million dollars during the few years they spent their weekends in the Vegas casinos, living the high life. They strapped thousands of dollars to their bodies with Velcro to get the cash onto planes, used false names, and were always on the lookout for Las Vegas personnel who would sometimes personally escort them out of the casinos. They also learned about the seediness of the gambling world, greed, the way the Vegas corporations work. Of course they all went through changes. And eventually, it had to come to an end. Some of it is kind of scary too. But mostly, it's about beating the odds and living with a constant adrenaline high. Well, reading this book is an adrenaline high of it's own. It put me right into the action and kept me there for the whole 257 pages. I loved it. And highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Warning! You Won't be Able to Put This Book Down!
Review: Anyone who has played blackjack, be it in Vegas or elsewhere should read this book. You will never sit at a blackjack table the same way again. You will always be wondering if this person or that person is on a counting team. It made me look back to all the time sI visited a casino and wondered if I played next to one of these people. This is a thrilling, gripping book that takes you from the street of Boston to the lights of Vegas with stops at Casinos in Chicago, Conn and the Bahamas. Ben Mezrich make feel like you are right there, almost a witness to the action. The events in teh book take place in teh 1990's which for some reason make sthe book all that more enjoyable. It has been confirmed as well, that this will be made into a movie. The working title of the movie will be "Six Kids From MIT", Kevin Spacey will Direct and star as "Mickey Rosa"...
Rating:
Summary: Don't Miss This One!
Review: As an avid reader, particularly of fiction thrillers, I have to reccommend this one without any reservations, despite the fact that it isn't fiction. It just reads like it. This is what defines the term "page-turner." You just won't be able to put it down. I seriously doubt if this will ever be made into a film, considering the subject matter and how Vegas investors most likely have ties to the entertainment industry; but, it would make a GREAT suspense/action thriller. No, I take that back: it IS a great suspense/action thriller. My only beef, if I had to have one, is the somewhat weak ending. But then again, you can't really change the outcome of what is true, can you? Do yourself a HUGE favor and read this one. Out loud, preferrably, so your friends and family can enjoy it, too.
Rating:
Summary: Bringing Up My Spirits
Review: One thing is for certain. Bringing Down The House is one of the best books that I have ever read in my life. I'm not much for reading a lot, and when I do, it has to be something that I enjoy. I could not put this book down and I read it in two days. And I'm really excited to here that it is going to be made into a film in a few years. Kevin Spacey and TriggerStreet Productions are rumored to be making it. It's gonna be great.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting book. Entertaining read
Review: Its been a long time since I read an entire book all the way through. This one I did. Highly reccomended !
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT READ
Review: This book ia a fast excellent read. I almost couldnt put it down!! Some great ideas drawn form this book for the novice trip to LV or Atlantic City.
Rating:
Summary: You won't be able to put the book down
Review: This is a great book that will keep you reading it until the end. This is one of those books that you just can't put down once you start reading. The amazing true and recent story about some MIT kids who went into Vegas and took millions. It walks you through the events as seen by one of the kids, how he got into it, what he did to stay in it, how he played blackjack with NBA stars like Patrick Ewing and how he ultimately was forced out of the action. Anyone who has ever gone to Vegas has dreamed about winning big, what these people did was amazing and even more amazingly it was legal! After reading this book you will want to grab a deck of cards and try to do what they did. As a reader of many books this was by far the best book I have ever read and I hear it will be made into a Movie this Summer
Rating:
Summary: Bringing Down the House
Review: This has become my new favorite book. I still can't imagine what it would have been like to have sat next to Kevin, Fisher, or Martinez betting thousands of dollars per hand and taking home millions of dollars per person. The author makes you feel like your right there in the casino, winning and losing along with the whole MIT team. This book is very easy to read. At times I couldn't put it down because the action was so intense. By the time your through reading it, you might want to quit your job, leave your family, and move to Las Vegas in hopes of becoming a professional card player.
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