"Robust Facial Recognition" and "Beginning Visual C++" are two terms I thought I'd never hear in the same sentence.
I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful. I'd search the net for articles on facial recognition software and techniques. You'll probably need a lot more than just a Beginning VC++ book -- learning about AI and neural networks will also probably be invaluable.
All in all, this is a very complicated task, and one that teams of engineers have worked long hours on solving. Some leading facial recognition software packages cost $30k or so for a license.
Best of luck!
Take care,
Nik
http://www.bigaction.org/