"Shot All to Hell" by Mark Lee Gardner (2013)

Hang on to your hats for this wild and crazy, true ride back into the days of the James-Younger gang as they stage their last bank robbery in Northfield, Missouri in 1876. Most people assume that the James- Younger gang were all killed sometime in the late 1800”s, as the days of the truly Wild West came to a close. I know I did. But the truth is much more interesting. And this book is loaded with it.

The Northfield Raid; in which the James-Younger gang robbed the First National Bank  on September 7, 1876; serves as the starting point for this well written and compelling saga of their last robbery, and subsequent capture. And what a saga it is, as the two bands of brothers take off on a breakneck escape from a robbery where everything went wrong, only to find themselves in the same predicament while trying to escape.

Nothing goes as planned as the gang gallops off, wounded and confused. The whole town heard the commotion of the robbery and quickly armed themselves from the town’s 2 hardware stores, posing a deadly obstacle to what should have been a clean getaway.

With the whole county pursuing the wounded outlaws, it is only a matter of a few days before the gang elects to split up, with Younger Brothers moving more slowly due to the extent f their injuries. The James Brothers began their long ride toward captivity, traveling hundreds of miles from where they left the Youngers.

When the Youngers are captured, they refuse to acknowledge that it was the James Brothers with them in Northfield. But that is little matter to the posses who are chasing them. The reward money has really piled up, and coupled with the past outrages by the James Brothers, it is further incentive to take them dead or alive.

As the trial of the Younger Brothers gets underway, the James Brothers have gone into hiding as “farmers”. They are also big spenders, owning race horses and were always in need of more money. Their brief retirement after the Northfield Raid lasted only about 5 years before Jesse got the urge to begin robbing trains agai. But this time he did not have the aid of the Youngers, or even his brother Frank; all of whom had seen service as Confederates in the bloody border wars with Quantrill’s raiders.

Unlike those former Confederates, the new gang which Jesse assembled felt no allegiance to anyone beyond the amount of the next score. By 1882 Frank had rejoined his brother and the two fell in with the Ford Brothers. The rest, as they say, is history.

Cole Younger and Frank James both lived to be old men; Cole being paroled from prison sometime in the late 1890’s, and Frank James gaining an acquittal around the same time. This is a fascinating and well written account of the most infamous gang of robbers to come out of the old West.

With their mixture of good manners, coupled with a penchant for violence when necessary, the two sets of brothers managed to evoke a sort of sympathy from the general public. As I read this book I could not help but think that if these boys were alive today they would have a Facebook page with about 10 million “friends.” 

Don't be surprised if you find yourself shaking off the dust of the trail as; with a keen eye to history and detail; the author has penned a fascinating and lively book. It is well worth the time it takes to read.

"Flypaper" with Ashley Judd and Patrick Dempsey (2011)

Get ready for an unusual comedy-drama with this unlikely tale of one bank being robbed simultaneously by two very different sets of criminals. From the high tech, to the low brow, two gangs of would be bank robbers attempt to pull off a heist at the same time, and what happens after they confront one another is likely to be anyone’s guess.

The low rednecks just want the ATM machines for some quick money. With their tattoos and lack of any disguise, they are sure to be caught. The other set of robbers are high tech; using computers to gain entry to the vaults, where the real valuables are kept. They all have masks on and act professionally, with careful co-ordination. That is, until everything goes wrong. And I mean really wrong.

Are there two sets of bank robbers? Or are they really one team of patsies being used by someone higher up to accomplish something else? Added to the mix is a man, played by Patrick Dempsey, who tries to protect the teller, played by Ashley Judd,  with whom he's secretly in love. She is engaged to someone very wealthy and is initially repulsed by this odd character inserting herself into her life through an ordinary bank transaction. Or is it?

Twists and turns make this movie a very unusual, and highly unbelievable, tale of love and larceny with a surprise ending. Great acting by veteran character actors Tim Blake Nelson and Pruitt Taylor Vince as the redneck bandits who call themselves “Peanut Butter” and “Jelly” because they go together so well. A great script by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, along with careful direction by Rob Minkoff, make this film work well as a comedy drama that you will enjoy from the very opening scene until the last credits roll.

"Skills Like This" with Spencer Bergen and Brian D. Phelan

When would be plawright Max's grandfather suffers a stroke at the premeir of Max's play, he decides that a career change might be in order. On a whim he robs a bank without any planning or premeditation. Realizing that he has at last found something he can do well, he sets out to make his mark in this newly chosen profession.

He is accompanied willingly by one of his two friends Tommy (Brian D. Phelan), while his sanity is seriously questioned by the other, Fred (Gabriel Tigerman). This provides for some hilarious adventure and fun as the trio try to make sense of what is happening to them. Throw in sexy and sympathetic bank teller Lucy (Kerry Knuppe) and the adventure only gets better.

Directed in a quick but quite coherent way adds to the charm of this film. The music is representative of todays alternative music scene in Denver, which I found very listenable. This movie is worth your time to watch.

King of Heists by J. North Conway

This is one of those books that reads like fiction. I can compare it to "American Lightning" which I reviewed earlier this year in both its' scope and flow. It reads like good fiction ought to.

George Leslie, the main focus of the book, is a ne'er do well son of an aristocratic family from Ohio. His father buys George out of military service in the Civil War. This makes him an undesireable person in the years following the war. By this time he has become an architect of some renown. But upon the death of his parents in the late 1860's he turns to New York City where he hopes to re-invent himself.

Upon his arrival in New York in 1869 he begins to do just that. He starts with dinner at the old Delmonico's, then the most extravagant dining establishment in the world. Here he meets Jim Fisk who introduces Mr. Leslie to the likes of Jay Gould, William "Boss" Tweed, and most fascinating of all, Marm Mandelbaum.

Ms. Mandelbaum's claim to fame is that she was the biggest "fence" in New York for the last half of the 19th Century. She held sway over all of the 5 Points Gangs that picked pockets, stole from stores, robbed homes and killed people. She paid 10 cents on the dollar for anything of value. She ran a school for young pickpockets that served as a model for Charles Dickens character Fagin in "Oliver Twist". Dickens had visited New York in the 1850's and met her.

The following day Leslies' pocket is picked. The money and papers that go missing are trivial compared with what he has hidden in that wallet.

Mr. Leslie had been at work on an invention that would soon revoltionize bank robberies. No more explosives, drilling or safecracking. George Leslies' "Little Joker" was a small metal plate that fit beneath the combination knob on the front of a safe. When the safe was opened it left small marks on the metal plate indicating the numbers that had been used. Now all that needed to be done was try the various combinations and you were in!

When his wallet is stolen Leslie makes contact with the Police as well as his friends Jay Gould and Jim Fisk. Within a day his wallet is returned through the connection of Marm Mandelbaum. She knows of the device in his wallet and a criminal alliance is formed.

With the Gilded Age as a backdrop, Leslie and his gang set up an elaborate fake bank in a warehouse in Brooklyn. There they practice the robbery over and over until they have it down to a science. His first trial run at the Ocean Savings Bank nets him $800,0000. It was a record.

With his little "Joker" and the gang he has assembled with the help of Marm Mandelbaum he goes on a 9 year spree of robberies, culminating in the 1878 robbery of the Manhattan Savings Institution for $3 million dollars.(over $50 million today)

What brings this man down from the highest of criminal enterprises will surprise you. His roving eye and ego are two of the things that form his Achilles heel.

Set against the backdrop of Black Friday and the Gold Scandal of 1869,the book traces the scandal from Jim Fisk and Jay Gould all the way to the White House and President Grant. This is a book that is filled with things about history that are not taught in school. Some of the lessons of financial manipulation in the Stock Market apparently have gone unheeeded over these last 140 years.

The book is a great look at the seamier side of New York during the Gilded Age. Written with great style and energy this is a very enjoyable and thought provoking read.