Whoremaster: A biography

Wendy Cole does a wonderful job telling the sad and sordid story of Walter Plankinton, who opened one of the most recognized brothels in America, "The Chicken Ranch" in Nye County, Nevada. Many people will read the very detailed account of his life and feel sorry for how the prostitutes that he fell in love with and married used and abused him breaking his heart each time. Others will learn of the deep corruption in Nye county where government officials live off illegal payoffs and wage war with the brothel owner who refuses to pay them off. So who IS the real Whoremaster? Was it Walter who loved the fallen ladies that sold their bodies? The hookers who controlled Walter with their false pledge of love and marrage only to run off with his money? Or the corrupt Nye county government officials who sold their souls and the people trust with corruption?What you may realize after reading this well written book is that the real whoremaster is not the honest owner of a legal brothel, but those who abuse the a trust, public or private, to become drunk on power and greed. No one in this book comes away with clean hands. Real life is so much more complex then any ficton story.

Wendy captured the essence of the man and the business he ran. You understand the innermost workings of both the brothel and the man who started one of the most famous or should I say infamous "whorehouses" in the world. Could not put it down.