The catacombs of ancient Rome served as houses of worship for Christians. When surveyed in the early 1800s, the sewers of Paris yielded gold, jewels, and relics of the revolution. And thousands of people lived in the subway and train tunnels of New York City in the 1980s and '90s. What secrets do the Las Vegas storm drains keep? What discoveries wait in the dark? What's beneath the neon? Armed with a flashlight, tape recorder, and expandable baton, Las Vegas CityLife writer-editor Matthew O'Brien explored the Las Vegas flood-control system for more than four years. Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas chronicles O'Brien's adventures in subterranean Vegas. He follows the footsteps of a psycho killer. He braces against a flood. He parties with naked crack-heads. He learns how to make meth, that art is most beautiful where it's least expected, and that there are no pots of gold under the neon rainbow. While Beneath the Neon is an often saddening and sometimes disturbing book, it's also an incredibly important one. O'Brien gives those who have been circumscribed, silenced, and removed from the brightly lit streets of Las Vegas a voice, something that few authors in the city have ever attempted before, and the result is breathtaking...it's the most important, incredible, and moving title to be published on the city to date. It almost goes without saying that Beneath the Neon should not be missed. --CasinoOnline.co.uk [O'Brien] takes you on a dizzying trip through the various drains to meet the people that live, party, and sometimes die in the tunnels. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever broken into an abandoned building, explored dirty sewers, hopped freights across the country, or enjoys a late night stroll into the unknown. More than just a documentation of one's experience in the storm drains, Beneath the Neon is equal parts Las Vegas history book, drunken biography, and psychological thriller where your worst enemy may just be your imagination. --Beautiful Decay Blog From retracing a murder's escape route and learning how to make meth from a tunnel dweller to partying naked with crackheads and dancing under the MGM Grand, this photo-filled account proves that the only place more surreal than the Vegas Strip is beneath it. --Wired Magazine [O'Brien] takes you on a dizzying trip through the various drains to meet the people that live, party, and sometimes die in the tunnels. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever broken into an abandoned building, explored dirty sewers, hopped freights across the country, or enjoys a late night stroll into the unknown. More than just a documentation of one's experience in the storm drains, Beneath the Neon is equal parts Las Vegas history book, drunken biography, and psychological thriller where your worst enemy may just be your imagination. --Beautiful Decay Blog From retracing a murder's escape route and learning how to make meth from a tunnel dweller to partying naked with crackheads and dancing under the MGM Grand, this photo-filled account proves that the only place more surreal than the Vegas Strip is beneath it. --Wired Magazine Matthew O'Brien is an author and journalist who's lived in Las Vegas since 1997. His first book, Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas , chronicles his adventures in the city's underground flood channels, which he explored for more than four years with a flashlight, tape recorder, and expandable baton for protection. My Week at the Blue Angel: And Other Stories from the Storm Drains, Strip Clubs, and Trailer Parks of Las Vegas is his second book. Danny Mollohan moved to Las Vegas in 2000 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional photographer. With $300 in his pocket and a Lieca M3 in hand, he made his mark working for several weekly newspapers, showing in local galleries, moonlighting in nightclubs, and roaming the countryside. offers rare and compelling insights into the true dark underside of Las Vegas has timeless social and human-interest appeal that resonates far beyond Las Vegas many of the stories of desperation and homelessness are nonetheless uplifting and hopeful high-caliber journalistic and literary prose is complemented by haunting B&W photography that brings an added dimension