Infamous
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4.0 • 17 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Quinn Colson series comes a fast, funny, violent noir novel based on the crimes of George “Machine Gun” Kelly.
In July 1933, a gangster staged the kidnapping-for-ransom of an Oklahoma oilman. He would live to regret it. What started clean soon turns messy as two of “Machine Gun” Kelly's partners cut themselves into the action, a determined former Texas Ranger makes tracking Kelly his mission, and his wife, ever alert to her own self-interest, starts playing both sides...
Set in the first days of the modern FBI, Infamous is a passionate blend of historical novel and crime story featuring an unexpected hero, some of the most colorful supporting characters in recent crime fiction, and unforgettable femme fatale Kathryn Kelly—the Lady Macbeth of Depression-era crime.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1933, Atkins's winning fourth history-based novel focuses on two figures who, as the author explains in an introduction, have been undeservedly lost in the shuffle of Depression-era gangsters : George Kelly, who ironically gets saddled with the nickname Machine Gun, and his wife, Kathryn. The fast-moving narrative spans a three-month period, starting with a fatal ambush in a parking lot outside Kansas City's Union Station in which hoods gun down several lawmen and the prisoner they were about to drive to Leavenworth. This massacre leads to the FBI obtaining the authority to make arrests and carry weapons. The bulk of the action concerns the Kellys' kidnapping of Charles Urschel, a wealthy Oklahoma oilman, and its aftermath. Atkins (Devil's Garden) brings to vivid life the henpecked George and the bloodthirsty Kathryn as he convincingly conjures up a past era. Not just for crime fans, this should appeal to a wide readership.
