The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice [Paperback]

A 2020New York Timesnotable book | One of theChicago Tribune's best nonfiction books of 2020

Complex, turbulent, as haunting as a pedal steel solo Jonathan Miles,The New York Times Book Review(Editors' Choice)

One of 21 books we can't wait to read in 2020 Thrillist|ANew York Times Book Reviewsummer reading pick | AGQbest book of 2020 |Named one of the 10 best July books byTheWashington PostandThe Christian Science Monitor |AKirkus Reviewshottest summer read | APublishers Weeklysummer reads staff pick

The incredible true story of America's originaland forgottencapital of vice

Back in the days before Vegas was big, when the Mob was at its peak and neon lights were but a glimmer on the horizon, a little Southern town styled itself as a premier destination for the American leisure class. Hot Springs, Arkansas was home to healing waters, Art Deco splendor, and Americas original national parkas well as horse racing, nearly a dozen illegal casinos, countless backrooms and brothels, and some of the countrys most bald-faced criminals.

Gangsters, gamblers, and gamines: all once flocked to Americas forgotten capital of vice, a place where small-town hustlers and bigtime high-rollers could make their fortunes, and hide from the law.The Vaporsis the extraordinary story of three individualsspanning the golden decades of Hot Springs, from the 1930s through the 1960sand the lavish casino whose spectacular rise and fall would bring them together before blowing them apart.

Hazel Hill was still a young girl when legendary mobster Owney Madden rolled into town in his convertible, fresh off a crime spree in New York. He quickly established himself as the gentleman Godfather of Hot Springs, cutting barroom deals and buying stakes in the clubs at which Hazel made her livingand drankl#­