News & Updates
NY Journal of Books Review Sonny Liston
Author Shaun Assael wades into Liston’s world with a hawk’s eye and the nose of bloodhound. The Murder of Sonny Liston is many things: a biography, a story of sixties Las Vegas, and an investigation into a suspicious death that was never conducted.
Despite being nonfiction, The Murder of Sonny Liston tells a good story. It reads like an exemplary bit of hard-boiled crime fiction at times, keeping you glued to the pages. Shaun doesn’t sugarcoat. He’s writing in a heavyweight class and hits hard. You feel thumped by some of this book, grim realities and seedy fantasies coming together in a revelation of Las Vegas that is as ugly as it is glamorous.
Read more of J. Kent Messum’s review at www.nyjournalofbooks.com »
Hang Up and Listen to this podcast with Stefan Fatsis
Josh Levin, Stefan Fatsis, and Mike Pesca discuss the first five games of the World Series. They also interview Shaun Assael about The Murder of Sonny Liston and talk about the Kabaddi World Cup with writer Jemayel Khawaja and Team USA’s Kevin Hustle.
Episode air date: October 31, 2016
Sunday Times Crime Club Star Pick: “Well researched and as gripping as the best noir fiction.”
★ STAR PICK ★ NON-FICTION The Murder of Sonny Liston by Shaun Assael
Boxer Sonny Liston dealt drugs in Las Vegas before his wife found him dead, apparently from an overdose, in early 1971. Assael paints a vivid picture of the lawless desert town blooming into a gambling and entertainment mecca as he delves into Liston’s own complicated life there — among drug lords, mobsters, promoters, hoteliers and an aggrieved black community. Well researched and as gripping as the best noir fiction.
See more November star picks here.
Tom Joyner Morning Show: Shaun Assael’s New Book Proves That Boxing Legend Sonny Liston Was Murdered
Shaun Assael, Senior Writer, ESPN Magazine, and a member of ESPN’s Investigations Group is the author of The Murder Of Sonny Liston: Las Vegas, Heroin & Heavyweights. He talks to the Tom Joyner Morning Show about who he thinks killed the boxing hero and much more!
“I believe that the preponderance of evidence shows that he was murdered. I found out that there was a contract out on Sonny’s life from a local drug dealer that thought he ratted him out. That contract alone should’ve opened up an investigation. He was also in the middle of a drug sting. That would’ve been enough to do Sonny,” Assael said.
Click the link here to hear the entire interview at blackamericaweb.com.