I was really excited for this book. My thoughts going into it were a lot different than what it was. I didn’t realize it just followed certain people. I thought it was Vegas as a whole.

A very insightful docu-book on such an important topic - prostitution within the seedy world of Las Vegas.

This book surprised me in a few ways. Despite what I thought I 'knew' about prostitution, I actually didnt really know or understand a lot of the intricacies and business element. This book is quite educational in a real-life explanation of behind the scenes in prostitution. The fact that girls have a sort of agreement and choose their pimps was a surprise to me, although their treatment of sex workers was not. I now understand the appeal to having a pimp a bit more though - I hadn't realised the luxuries and high class living pimps could offer for working girls, although I'm not naiive enough to not realise that isn't the case for all workers. The violence and the theft of earnings however, was not a surprise to learn.

This book is written in almost 3 parts - the first is a first hand account from an ex sex-worker/victim of sex trafficking, Angela. Her story is quite enlightening and exposes the culture of high end prostitutes working in Vegas and the surrounding state. This focuses in the end on a notorious pimp called Mally Mall who i was shocked to realise id heard of through lyrics in rap and hip hop songs. Surely these rappers couldn't be rapping about and glamorising this same guy... Right?!

The second part is more of a resume/life story of the author and how the book came about after he ended up researching sex trafficking victims within Vegas during his journalism career. It combines his knowledge of notorious pimps including Mally Mall with the accounts of Angela, and explores the legal and federal investigations into him, and the possibility of corruption and cover ups within Vice and Metro as a whole. I found this bit a bit jumpy around in timeline and content and at times a bit disorganised to read. The author does write from his own experiences some of which have been emotional - being fired eventually from his job with the Paper he was working for due to disagreements on the research of this topic, amd that does filter heavily through into the writing rather than being an objective approach. However, the legal details are fascinating and do tell their own story. As does some of the names involved in trying to clear Malls name. There are some really interesting points rasied by the author about thr glamorisation of 'pimps and hos' within popular music and with really famous artists that I absolutely love and have always loved liatening to. Artists that have been proven to be involved in pimping (and openly speak about it in their lyrics) and all of a sudden these lyrics make me extremely uncomfortable. When you step back and look at the actual legal cases involving these people, all of a sudden these lyrics are actually not funny anymore and are quite harrowing. Snoop being a prime example. Sadly as I realllly love snoop.

The third part is all notes, footnotes and references. I think these would have been better embedded in the main body of text and are quite difficult to read as an endnote.

Overall a very poignant read especially in the light of all the recent P Diddy exposes, and I think a very interesting topic that deserves to be heard. A little chaotically peiced together maybe but im glad i read.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

No little girl dreams of being a prostitute!

When I type in the name Mally Mall into the google search bar, this is what comes up first;

Born and raised in Northern California, commonly known as the Bay Area, Mally Mall's love for music evolved at an early age, heavily influenced by Bay Area legendary producers Ant Banks and Rick Rock. His career began with music and remains to be his true passion and motivation.

What the internet fails to tell me until I change the search bar caption or dig a little deeper, who Mally Mall really is, and that is a sex trafficker under the guise of the title Pimp!

As Brian Joseph puts it perfectly in his book Vegas Concierge: Pimps are sex traffickers. Don’t let the widespread acceptance of the word or their presence in music videos or on awards shows fool you. Pimps are cold-blooded slave masters, men as cruel and evil as Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein.

I love Vegas. I have traveled there from Australia three times to date and I will be the first to put my hand up and say it is hard not to view the place through rose coloured glasses… and I am not sure if that is due to all the glitz and glamour the place provides.

My first trip to Vegas I vividly remember the flickers… the men standing on each corner shoving business cards into the hands of anyone that walks by. Business cards offering escort services.

It is only now, especially after reading this book, that I fully understand the meaning of those cards. At the time, they just added to the tag line “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”

Vegas Concierge by Brian Joseph centres around Las Vegas, and what has been labelled the epicentre of sex trafficking in the United States. It also focuses on how Mally Mall built himself into a national, hip-hop brand, largely on the backs of women.

Brian has done an amazing job IMO highlighting the real issues when it comes to prostitution. What drives it, what protects it and most importantly is there a solution to help these working girls, because after all no little girl dreams of being a prostitute!

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own.

Vegas Concierge is a thorough look at the sex trafficking 'rings" in Vegas from all angles. It's a very interesting read and eye opining. There are so many gears used to make it work and the predictors have oiling it down to a science .

This was quite an interesting read and educated me on a topic I know very little about. I liked how the story transitioned between the issue at hand (sex trafficking), the way Las Vegas policing has changed regarding this issue, and the author’s personal journey to capture the story. I was absolutely shocked that one of the main subjects is a well known hip hop/rap music producer! If you listen to today’s top hits you’re probably consuming some of his work.. I would have liked to hear a bit more about the after-life of some of the other women from these stories which would have made this a five star read for me. Nevertheless, great read that I finished in two days.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for an advanced copy!

Not usually the type of book I choose to read, investigative journalism. This book piqued my interest possible because I have a Public Health background. It is about sex trafficking, the prostitutes, the traffickers and law enforcement. For those of you who remember the day of "pimps and ho's," THAT is sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is not just young girls that are lured in. It includes so much more. Law enforcement is fighting an uphill battle--prostitutes, call girls, hookers have been around forever--and that won't change. Truly awful is the young girls tricked into it and unable to find a way out. No family support to lean on. Nowhere else to go and stay. The fear of being found. The inability to quit doing drugs that the sex traffickers got them started on. This book was well-written, informative and eye-opening. I was honored to receive a digital ARC from NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This review was not coerced in anyway. This opinion is my own.

This book was very interesting and also very sad. I feel awful for the women who are trafficked and the lifestyle they are forced into. This was very eye opening and I hope this book reaches a lot of people.

What a fascinating and interesting book. Whilst you know that cities have a hidden side to them it's only when reading a book of this nature that you realised how interlinked so many of these things are.

Unlike some books of this nature, I found this one relatively easy to read and it kept me hooked from early on.

Due to the publishers price it's unlikely to be one that I'd purchase brand new but will definitely keep my eyes open for a second hand copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I've been interested in human trafficking for years so this book really caught my radar. This is a very well researched and written book. Don and Angela are truly amazing for helping the author with information. The resources at the end of the book will hopefully be useful to any victims. This book is so important. The general public needs to be educated in how these women get sucked into this life and the courage and strength it takes for them to get away from their traffickers.

4 stars

Fascinating. Being a local this is not at all surprising unfortunately. Well written and researched.