Little Bit of Fiction with a Whole Lot of Reality
Review by Kim Cantrell
About a month ago, I was excited to review A Storm In the Blood by Jon Stephen Fink, which was a fictional novel based on real life events.
Now I’m excited to tell you about another book that uses historical crimes to create gripping, action-packed fiction.
Infamous by Ace Atkins is set in Depression-era 1933; a time of much despair, hunger, and poverty in America. It is also the year Oklahoma oil baron Charles Urschel was kidnapped by (until then) small time bank robber George “Machine Gun” Kelly at the urging of his wife Kathryn Kelly. They would make the largest ransom demand in U.S. history, for that time – but they would also be one of the first prosecuted under the Federal Kidnapping Act of 1932, also known as The Lindbergh Act.
Enter Gus T. Jones, an old school G-man who’ll follow every lead and won’t rest until George and Kathryn are locked up tight.
Blending historical true crime (obviously painstakingly researched) and extremely descriptive narratives to create vivid imagary, Atkins tells a spelling-binding story of a low rung gangster who was more interested in looking sharp than committing crimes, and his pushy, money-hungry, manipultive wife who was the root of all his troubles.
Once I started Infamous, I didn’t want to stop. I am loving these historical crime fiction novels (as a second to my first love of true crime, of course) and so pleased to see these cases being resurrected with such flair and creativity without losing important historical facts.
If you’re like me and sometimes dabble in fiction but like it to be laced with a lot of reality, then Infamous by Ace Atkins fits that bill right nicely.
I loved this book so much, I’m itching to get my hands on some of his previous works. So be sure to check back for more reviews!
To learn more about this book, author Ace Atkins, and his other books, visit his website at www.aceatkins.com.
Ready to read Infamous by Ace Atkins? Here’s where you can buy it:
