10 books set in Nevada to add to your TBR pile

For a well-rounded retrospective of some of the state’s many stories, read these 10 books set in Nevada.

From gold mining to gambling for jackpots, Nevada is a state with many stories to tell.

Some of those stories, like Mark Twain’s “Roughing It,” have captivated readers since the 19th century. Others, like “The Distant Dead” by Heather Young (2020), are far more contemporary. 

Books set in Nevada include exaggerated, drug-addled, and tragic autobiographies, heartwrenching horror stories, and startling sci-fi thrillers. All are set within the dramatic landscape of the Silver State, whether in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere or inside glitzy hotels on the legendary Las Vegas Strip.

For a well-rounded retrospective of some of the state’s many stories, read these 10 books set in Nevada.

1. Roughing It

By Mark Twain
1872

Once called the “father of American literature,” Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) not only lived in Nevada but adopted his famous pen name here. In his semi-autobiographical tale “Roughing It,” Twain amusingly chronicles his adventures in the American West from 1861 to 1867, including stints as a silver miner and newspaper reporter in the Silver State. Dedicated to his mining companion Calvin H. Higbie, the book humorously captures and critiques the culture of the times. It has been widely referenced in popular culture.

2. The Ox-Bow Incident 

By Walter Van Tilburg
1940

Mob rule leads to a violent lynching in Walter Van Tilburg Clark’s heartwrenching Western novel about the consequences of vigilante justice. Set in Bridger’s Wells, Nevada, the story demonstrates the manipulative nature of corrupt leaders and the importance of a fair trial. Three years later, Clark’s first published novel was adapted into a film directed by William A. Wellman. The film starred Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan.

3. Diamonds are Forever 

By Ian Fleming
1956

“Bond. James Bond.” In his fourth novel about fictional British Secret Service Agent and notorious womanizer James Bond, author Ian Fleming focuses on a diamond-smuggling operation running from the mines of Sierra Leone to Las Vegas. In this story, 007 falls for a smuggler, Tiffany Case. He woes her to his side, of course, and busts the whole operation wide open. There’s action, adventure, helicopters, death, and diamonds. In 1971, the book was adapted into a film, the seventh in the Bond spy film series.

4. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream

By Hunter S. Thompson
1971 & 1972

Much like Mark Twain’s slice of life 100 years earlier, Hunter S. Thompson captures and critiques his time on a quest for the American Dream. In “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” however, the story is told through a drug-addled haze.

Thompson’s loosely told tale of two men “tripping out” on a trip to Las Vegas popularized his first-person style of storytelling, known as gonzo journalism. It both captures and critiques the 1960s counter-culture.

“Fear and Loathing” ran in “Rolling Stone” before its publication as a book, which was adapted into a 1998 film directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro. A mural in downtown Las Vegas by Spanish artist Rueben Sanchez pays tribute to Thompson’s continuing influence on the world.

5. Strangers 

By Dean Koontz
1986

This award-nominated horror novel by New York Times best-selling author Dean Koontz takes place at a remote motel in the northeast Nevada desert, 30 miles west of Elko. In the story, six strangers are drawn to the fictional Tranquility Motel under peculiar and frightening circumstances related to forgotten memories. The characters come together to uncover their past, culminating in a twist ending.

There was talk of an adaptation by “Criminal Minds” and “Teen Wolf” creator Jeff Davis with Fox in 2018, but nothing has come to fruition thus far.

6. Leaving Las Vegas

By John O’Brien

1990

A tragic story with a tragic real-life ending, “Leaving Las Vegas” is a semi-autobiographical tale of addiction, love, and loss, in which the main character forms a connection with a prostitute and drinks himself to death in Las Vegas. Only weeks after signing away the film rights, the novel’s author, John O’Brien, died by suicide. The 1995 film, starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue, went on to win Academy Awards.

7. Desperation

By Stephen King
1996

The horror novel “Desperation” and its mirror novel “The Regulators” hit bookshelves simultaneously, though the latter was released under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman. The former book is set along the officially designated Lonliest Road in America, a stretch of U.S. Highway 50 in Nevada. It’s an abduction story inspired by King’s own cross-country journey, which landed him in the seemingly dead town of Ruth, Nevada.

The book was adapted for a television film starring Ron Perlman, Tom Skerritt, and Steven Weber on ABC in 2006. 

8. Prey 

By Michael Crichton
2002

Prey is a cautionary tale about developments in nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence, all of which were still fairly new when the book was published. It is set in the Nevada desert, where an experiment goes awry. It touches on early 21st-century advances and topics in computing and science like artificial life, genetic algorithms, and host-parasite coevolution.

20th Century Fox paid millions for film rights but has yet to make a movie.

9. All the Beautiful Girls

By Elizabeth J. Church
2018

In her second novel, “All the Beautiful Girls,” New Mexico-based author Elizabeth J. Church writes about a small-town girl from Kansas who follows her dream to be a dancer in Rat Pack-era Las Vegas. She ends up coming of age and searching for love as a glitzy and glamorous showgirl in iconic shows on the Las Vegas Strip, like Les Folies Bergere at the former Tropicana and the former Stardust’s Lido de Paris.

Critics say Church’s female main character is nuanced, and her story masterfully captures the 1960s, a classic era for Sin City.

10. The Distant Dead

by Heather Young
2020

Named a People Magazine and Parade Best Book of Summer, “The Distant Dead” is a thriller about a murder in a small town in Nevada. After a seemingly innocuous middle school math teacher is murdered in Lovelock, another teacher looks for answers about his death and the events leading up to it. She uncovers stories of frustration, loss, and the struggle with the fragility of life.

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.