Las Vegas is a land where dreams come true-and sometimes where they go to die. Neon-spangled some days, rough-hewn on others, the city's history isn't long, but it is colorful. In this, the first anthology produced by the Historical Novel Society North America, historical writers celebrate the many faces of Las Vegas in stories from wistful to cynical. Suzanne Uttaro Samuels and Sally Milliken remember when Las Vegas was little more than a dusty patch of desert. In "Doorway to the Desert," Samuels recounts how Helen Stewart, later considered the "first lady of Las Vegas," chose to stay on her land after her husband's murder. Milliken brings to life the story of Stewart's sons, who can't forget their father's murder, in "Cowboy Justice." "One of Our Own" by Leah Moyes takes readers to 1920s Vegas, when neon was bright and new and cruel men lurking in dark corners could be dangerous. Laura Mace's haunting "Lady Luck" takes readers to the construction of the Hoover Dam, as seen through the eyes of a skilled and fearless Native American laborer. A greasy spoon is the setting of Sally Bays' "A Hot Vegas," where a mobster's girl takes refuge in the arms of the guy behind the counter. In her dual timeline tale "The Last Frontier," Deborah Grochau recalls when singer Josephine Baker faced down racism in a 1952 nightclub-a moment that changed another woman's life. In the 1950s, atom bomb tests were both a serious Cold War reality and a source of late-night entertainment. B.K. Froman recounts the determination of a Civil Defense official in the face of mounting opposition to the tests in "Up and Atom." Julianne Douglas takes readers inside a bar for a front-seat look at a mushroom cloud-with a cocktail and maybe a spy-in "A Flash in the Pan." In "Millie & Loretta at the Desert Oasis," Ana Brazil tells the story of a disillusioned wife who meets a sympathetic woman to help her find freedom. The night the Beatles performed in Las Vegas is recalled in a darkly humorous noir story, "A Hard-Boiled Day's Night" by Kurt Larsen, about a cynical journalist and a dame who may or may not be called Nancy, whom somebody wants to kill. Larsen's story was named the grand-prize winner in the HNSNA anthology contest. And what would Vegas be without Elvis? Lisa Ard's "Fools Fall in Love" recounts the story of a young fan aiming to stop his wedding to Priscilla in 1967. In "Twenty Minutes to Showtime," Linda Saether takes readers backstage with Elvis near the end of his Las Vegas reign.