Infamous

From 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. (Apr.) Copyright В© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist With the 1933 kidnapping of Oklahoma oil baron Charles Urschel, small-time bank robber George Kelly became “Machine Gun” Kelly. AtkinsвЂTM latest historical novel based on a real crime (following DevilвЂTMs Garden, 2009, about the Fatty Arbuckle scandal) makes it clear that KellyвЂTMs wife, Kathryn, was the driving force behind his ascendance. George is shown to be an affable mug, a feckless dandy more interested in two-toned shoes and 16-cylinder Cadillacs than crime and machine guns, a crook who was dismissed as a lightweight by other gangsters. Kathryn, however, is a force of nature, a preening, determined-not-to-be-poor-again shopaholic, a celebrity-obsessed Lady Macbeth. But itвЂTMs AtkinsвЂTM prodigious research that makes this novel a compelling road trip through Depression-era America. He vividly portrays the Dust Bowl, foreclosures, the grinding poverty, gnawing hunger, desperation, and the rage at bankers (most of which resonate in todayвЂTMs America); and he captures the imminent end of the gangstersвЂTM heyday. Like many fine historical crime novels, Infamous offers a window on society, then and now. --Thomas Gaughan 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. "Compelling ... (Atkins) captures the imminent end of the gangster heyday."--Booklist In July 1933, the gangster known as George "Machine Gun" Kelly staged the kidnapping-forransom of an Oklahoma oilman. He would live to regret it. Once again Ace Atkins transforms real-life events into riveting, thrilling fiction. Infamous is a passionate blend of historical novel and crime story-set in the first days of the modern FBI, featuring an unexpected hero, some of the most colorful supporting characters in recent crime fiction, and the unforgettable Kathryn Kelly (George Kelly's wife), the Lady Macbeth of Depression-era crime A seemingly straightforward kidnapping-for-ransom scheme by 1930s gangster "Machine Gun" Kelly is thrown into near-whimsical chaos by the greed of two partners, a determined former Texas Ranger, and Kelly's two-faced wife