All alone in the world, Nomi Malone, making her way to Las Vegas, is determined to make a name as a dancer while putting her unspoken past behind her. Her tough, streetwise veneer is not as infallible as she would like, and as she arrives in Vegas she becomes more cautious about approaching strangers who seem willing to help her purely out of the goodness of their hearts. Her talent and connections in combination are only able to get her a job at the Cheetah Club, a strip joint. Her first true friend in Vegas, Molly Abrams, works as the costumer for Goddess, the topless production at the Stardust. It is through Molly that Nomi catches the eye of Goddess' headliner, Cristal Connors. Nomi has a love/hate feeling toward Cristal: she doesn't much like her but wants to become her. Being at the Stardust, Nomi also catches the eye of Cristal's boyfriend, Zack Carey, Stardust's entertainment director. Through these contacts, Nomi is presented opportunity after opportunity to be part of the Stardust/Goddess family. She has to decide how far she will go to achieve her dream. James Smith, a struggling dancer/choreographer who works whatever odd jobs he can get and who is also attracted to Nomi largely for her natural albeit very raw talent, doesn't see Nomi's chosen path as the one she should pursue as he considers Goddess illegitimate: while the Cheetah is what it appears on the surface, Goddess is the Cheetah hiding behind its big name. Through it all, Nomi discovers the good, the bad, and the very bad about Vegas life, especially among the rich and beautiful.