The Trees

The Trees is an exciting historical novel told in “Godfather” style about a handful of guys and girls who make it out of the slums of Brooklyn after World War II and arrive in Las Vegas in time to participate in the transitions is taking place—from the introduction and subsequent demise of Howard Hughes up to the emergence of Macao as a potent force in the world of gambling. Spanning a fifty-year period that begins in 1947, the novel traces the stories of Lawrence “Mongoose” Cohen and his boyhood friends—“Ringo,” “Solly,” “Mo,” “Charlie the Man,” and “Scumbag”—from the old neighborhood until their lives converge in Las Vegas. Ultimately Mongoose—who runs the gambling and gaming activities for the erstwhile last holdouts of the mob at the plush Desert Winds Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas—reunites with Eunice, who has become a successful showgirl working under the name of Venus. At first she ignores him, but softens after he is almost killed in a car bombing. Although the relationship develops, Mongoose continues to be haunted by her prior relationship with Tommy DiMeglio, with whom he must deal—but not before he “makes his bones” against the person responsible for the car bombing. The novel concludes by focusing on the partnership forged between the Desert Winds and Stanley Ho, the richest man in Asia, to establish the Pacific Winds in Macao. After his acceptance as a “made man,” Mongoose and Venus prepare to celebrate the opening in Macao in time for the new millennium in the Year of the Dragon.