Litercurious Book Review

Title	American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper
Author	Daniel Stashower
Publisher	Minotaur Books (September 6, 2022)
Format	Kindle, Hardback, Audiobook
Pages	352
Genre	True Crime, Serial Killers True Accounts
Language	English
ISBN #	978-1250041166

Quote:

It could equally have been called the Beast of Kingsbury Run, Cleveland. AKA Cleveland’s Torso Killer Quote: “Slays in the same manner as Jack the Ripper.”  Loc 57. Page number in this book unavailable.

AUTHOR

Daniel Stashower is an acclaimed biographer and narrative historian and winner of the Edgar, Agatha, and Anthony awards, as well as the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine. 

Excerpt taken from Amazon.

SYNOPSIS

American Demon is written by the highly regarded biographer and historian Daniel Stashower. In this his most recent publication Stashower documents the life, times, and cases of the eponymous Detective Eliot Ness. American Demon focuses on Ness’ most notable cases: The Cleveland Torso Killer, Al Capone and one that got away; the aptly labeled, American Demon.

Daniel used a diverse range of research resources that included: Eliot Ness’ original Manuscripts and the Library of Congress Manuscript Division; as well as books, magazines and journals. Written in a biographical style, Stashower catalogues Ness’ meteoric rise from his humble beginnings as the youngest son of an immigrant family, through his education in law enforcement and to his involvement with some of America’s most ignominious and memorable cases. 

CONCLUSION

American Demon by Daniel Stashower, is an interesting historical account of the trials, successes, and tribulations of Eliot Ness’ many high profile criminal investigations. 

Stashower’s narrative is easy to read, informative, expertly researched and concise. It was not the monograph I was expecting, but a compendium of Ness’ cases across his career. It was remarkably interesting learning about his various cases; some of which I was unacquainted with. 

There is much to discover in this notable work. If you find the accounts discussed in this tome worthy of further research, Stashower  provides an extensive bibliography for your reference.

I highly recommend American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Daniel Stashower, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to review American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper.

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