Infamous
Authors: Ace Atkins
Infamous
Ace Atkins
Putnam Adult (2010)
Tags: Mystery Detective, Fiction, Suspense, Historical, Fiction - General, Crime, United States, Thrillers, American Mystery Suspense Fiction, American Historical Fiction, Historical - General, Biographical, Biographical Fiction, Criminals, Kelly, Machine Gun, 1897-1954
Mystery Detectivettt Fictionttt Suspensettt Historicalttt Fiction - Generalttt Crimettt United Statesttt Thrillersttt American Mystery Suspense Fictionttt American Historical Fictionttt Historical - Generalttt Biographicalttt Biographical Fictionttt Criminalsttt Kellyttt Machine Gunttt 1897-1954ttt
EDITORIAL REVIEW: ** From "one of the best crime writers at work today" (Michael Connelly) comes a fast,f unny, violent new noir crime classic-a Coen Brothers movie come to life. ** He has been compared to Lehane, Ellroy, and Pelecanos, but Ace Atkins's rich, raucous, passionate blend of historical novel and crime story is all his own and never more so than in *Infamous*. In July 1933, the gangster known as George "Machine Gun" Kelly staged the kidnapping-for-ransom of an Oklahoma oilman. He would live to regret it. Kelly was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, and what started clean soon became messy, as two of his partners cut themselves into the action; a determined former Texas Ranger makes tracking Kelly his mission; and Kelly's wife, ever alert to her own self-interest, starts playing both ends against the middle. The result is a mesmerizing tale set in the first days of the modern FBI, featuring one of the best femmes fatales in history-the Lady Macbeth of Depression-era crime-a great unexpected hero, and some of the most colorful supporting characters in recent crime fiction. EDITORIAL REVIEW: ** From "one of the best crime writers at work today" (Michael Connelly) comes a fast,f unny, violent new noir crime classic-a Coen Brothers movie come to life. ** He has been compared to Lehane, Ellroy, and Pelecanos, but Ace Atkins's rich, raucous, passionate blend of historical novel and crime story is all his own and never more so than in *Infamous*. In July 1933, the gangster known as George "Machine Gun" Kelly staged the kidnapping-for-ransom of an Oklahoma oilman. He would live to regret it. Kelly was never the sharpest knife in the drawer, and what started clean soon became messy, as two of his partners cut themselves into the action; a determined former Texas Ranger makes tracking Kelly his mission; and Kelly's wife, ever alert to her own self-interest, starts playing both ends against the middle. The result is a mesmerizing tale set in the first days of the modern FBI, featuring one of the best femmes fatales in history-the Lady Macbeth of Depression-era crime-a great unexpected hero, and some of the most colorful supporting characters in recent crime fiction.
Table of Contents
ALSO BY ACE ATKINS
CROSSROAD BLUES
LEAVIN TRUNK BLUES
DARK END OF THE STREET
DIRTY SOUTH
WHITE SHADOW
WICKED CITY
DEVILS GARDEN
G. P. PUTNAMS SONS
Publishers Since 1838
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Copyright Š 2010 by Ace Atkins
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Published simultaneously in Canada
The author gratefully acknowledges permission to quote from My Forgotten Man, words and music by
Harry Warren and Al Dubin, Š 1933 (Renewed) WB Music Corp. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Atkins, Ace.
Infamous / Ace Atkins.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-18685-5
1. Kelly, Machine Gun, 1897-1954Fiction. 2. CriminalsUnited StatesFiction. I. Title.
PS3551.T
813.54dc22
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product
of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses
at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for
changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does
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This book is for
DORIS ATKINS and CHARLIE WELCH
Im leading a trail that is crooked,
My foes lurk round every bend;
I know someday they will get me,
I dread to think of the end.
GENE AUTRY, GANGSTERS WARNING
Everything is funny as long as it is
happening to someone else.
WILL ROGERS
1
Saturday, June 17, 1933
T
heyd barely made it out of Arkansas alive after nabbing Frank Jelly Nash inside the White Front Café, a known hangout for grifters, thieves, and assorted hoodlums vacationing in Hot Springs. At first, Nash had made a real show of how they had it all wrong and that his name was really Marshall, and for a second it seemed plausible until old Otto Reedthe sheriff theyd brought alongripped the toupee off Nashs bald head and then started for the mustache. Thats mine. Thats mine, Nash had said. Theyd ditched the plan to drive to Joplin after almost losing Nash at a roadblock of crooked cops. And now the old bank robber was seated across from them, riding the Missouri Pacific all-nighter out of Fort Smith, wearing a shit-eating grin, confident his hoodlum buddies would spring him.