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Title: Lawman to Outlaw: Verne Miller and the Kansas City Massacre by Brad Smith ISBN: 0-9706725-5-1 Publisher: Jona Books Pub. Date: 30 December, 2002 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Comment: I wondered when I opened this book how well I would enjoy a true story about an underworld figure. I was not disappointed; this book held my attention from beginning to end.
"Lawman to Outlaw" is the story of Verne Miller, a known underworld figure, perhaps one whose life was filled with more mystery than any other. Mr. Miller was responsible for the slaughter that took place at the parking lot of Kansas City's Union Station, June 17,1933. Did you know that the FBI was actually formed because of this event and the outcry of the American people against crime. Interesting piece of information, I would say.
The author takes you through the life of Verne Miller; his childhood, his military days, his days as a well respected Sheriff and draws you into the mystery behind this man and his faithful companion Vi Mathis. What made a law abiding respected man turn into a cold blooded killer? Mr. Smith addresses this question and more.
I cannot even imagine the intense research that went into this work. Detailed information is revealed, events are replayed as the author walks you through the life of this notorious gangster and finally his death at the hands of his so called friends. Quite a story, quite a read!
Well done Mr. Smith, hats off to you! A recommended read for all those that are interested in our colorful past and those that painted it red!
Rating: 5
Summary: A starkly-detailed and riveting portrayal
Comment: Brad Smith works this biography in the same way that Verne Miller reputedly wielded a machine-gun: powerfully, controlled, and with surgical precision. Smith succeeds in exploring the motives and flaws within Miller, from his early exploits as a war hero and sheriff, to underworld hoodlum. The accounts are straightforward and laid bare, without yielding to hearsay or romanticism, and Smith even explores alternate scenarios in some of the more critical events in Miller's life.
Miller winds up - eventually - a desperado hunted by both law officials and the criminal world. His life is filled with paradoxes that only Smith has succeeded in conveying in written form. And Miller's enduring legacy with the Kansas City Massacre is also recognized as the driving force that sparked the formation of today's FBI. Had Miller been captured by J. Edgar Hoover's G-Men, his role in history may have rivaled those of Al Capone, John Dillinger, and "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Smith's work may bring Miller's significance to light, seventy years after his gruesome and unusual death.
As a storyteller, Smith never loses command of his subject matter, and weaves a tale of desperation, loyalty, love, and brutality unlike any other I've read yet. A definite must for those who enjoy reading about the Golden Age of Crime.
Rating: 5
Summary: Verne Gets His Due!
Comment: Depression era outlaws seem to have needed to meet certain requirements to register permanently in the American consciousness: a catchy name like Dillinger; a catchy nickname like "Pretty Boy" or "Baby Face" or "Machine Gun"; or to be gunned down by the law, especially the federal minions of publicity-seeking J. Edgar Hoover. Perhaps the most important of these Public Enemies was a man who didn't meet any of these criteria: just-plain Verne Miller--sounds like a guy who lives down the street. He had no colorful monicker and the law never caught up with him. Miller was killed ignominiously and hideously and dumped in a Detroit ditch by his underworld "friends." Why was Miller so important? He was responsible for the bloodbath that launched the nation's first "War on Crime" which transformed a little known investigative branch of the U.S. Justice Department into today's powerful FBI: the "Kansas City Massacre." Brad Smith has done an incredible job in researching a fascinating and largely forgotten figure of America's lawless past. Only the Prohibition era could have produced this murderous but interesting and contradictory man, who went from war hero to policeman to sheriff to bootlegger, bank robber and cold-blooded killer, and, quite fittingly, his lawman-to-outlaw career spanned and paralelled that era, from 1920 to 1933. Miller was the criminal who declared war on America and the epitome of a lawless decade and his life story, told here in marvelous and exciting detail, in itself defines that period.
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Title: Gangsters and Outlaws of the 1930's: Landmarks of the Public Enemy Era by Richard Owen, James Owen ISBN: 1572492759 Publisher: White Mane Publishing Co. Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Bonnie and Clyde: A Twenty-First-Century Update by James R. Knight, Jonathan Davis ISBN: 1571687947 Publisher: Eakin Press Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre: The Untold Story of the Gangland Bloodbath That Brought Down Al Capone by William J. Helmer, Arthur J. Bilek ISBN: 1581823290 Publisher: Cumberland House Pub. Date: January, 2004 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Baby Face Nelson: Portrait of a Public Enemy by Steven Nickel, William J. Helmer ISBN: 1581822723 Publisher: Cumberland House Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Guns and Roses: The Untold Story of Dean O'Banion, Chicago's Big Shot Before Al Capone by Rose Keefe ISBN: 1581823789 Publisher: Cumberland House Pub. Date: December, 2003 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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