Crooked
A Crime Novel
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A page-turning crime tale based on a true story
Notorious outlaws Alvin Karpis and Fred Barker meet the old-fashioned way: serving time in Kansas State Prison. After their release in 1931, the two reconnect and form the infamous Barker-Karpis Gang and begin a spree of robberies that leave a wake of terror in their path, including two dead cops. Now hunted in several states, the gang settles into hiding in St. Paul, Minnesota, where they thrive under the protection of a crooked police chief, who happily turns a blind eye to their activities — so long as they commit crimes outside of his jurisdiction. With increased security at banks, the Barker-Karpis Gang switches to kidnapping, catching the attention of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI and landing them at the top of the most-wanted list. How long can these wily men evade capture? Who can they trust? Where will they run when the entire country is hunting them, dead or alive?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Real-life gangsters Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis anchor Kalteis's entertaining latest Depression-era crime saga (after Under an Outlaw Moon). Upon their release from prison, Fred and Alvin form the Barker-Karpis gang with Fred's mother, Kate "Ma" Barker, and embark on a multistate spree of audacious—and eventually, deadly—bank robberies. Meanwhile, J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI become alarmed when the public starts to view the Barker-Karpis gang and their contemporaries, John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde, as folk heroes. When Fred, Alvin, and Ma raise the stakes by turning to kidnapping, Hoover places them at the top of the nation's most-wanted list. In the months that follow, the law starts closing in on the gang, driving them to increasingly extreme means of escape. Eventually, they end up in Minnesota, carrying out violent deeds for a crooked cop in exchange for his protection. Kalteis vividly evokes the spirit of the times, and paints multidimensional portraits of his central characters. Though readers well-versed in the era's history will know how the story ends, the action is tightly coiled enough to keep them flipping pages and rooting for the rogues. It's another winner from Kalteis.
