The Untouchables

Rating:
Summary: Ness does tend to exaggerate a bit
Review: CHICAGO, 1929: A multi-million-dollar ring of vice, gambling and liquor, ruled by a scar-faced Mafia overlord named AI Capone. Pay-offs, mass murder, and the "kiss of death" were the daily routine-despite 3,000 police and 300 Federal agents. Then a 26-year-old agent, Eliot Ness, began a private war against the most notorious criminal genius who ever lived. This is the thrilling true story of how he did it, with a small group of hand-picked men who proved themselves beyond bribery or bullets-the story that inspired a landmark television series and now a major motion picture. But no one tells it with the stark, brutal details, the authentic, spellbinding force of the man who won his awesome battle against the Mob-the legendary Eliot Ness.

Rating:
Summary: How close can you get to the destruction of Capone's empire?
Review: How much closer can you get to the destruction of the Capone empire than through the eyes of the man that shut him down. Eliot Ness, and his team of 9 men taking down the king of Gangsters. That is the storyline of this book in one sentence. Told through the eyes of the man who lived it, this book adds an extra sense of realism to the mob era. Not many people can say that they remember that time in which gangs ruled the major towns of the US, and no other town was more famous than Chicago. I strongly recommend this book if you are interested in learning the truth about the mob era of prohibition Chicago.

Rating:
Summary: An incredible book!!
Review: I loved this book so much, I couldn't put it down and finished it in one afternoon. It's an exciting walk through the events and police actions during the Prohibition. The elect group of men, given the title and later widely known as the "Untouchables" wouldn't be bribed, bought, or stopped until Al Capone went down. Although many dangers surrounded them, they were persistent in their fight to see Chicago clean of illegal alcohol and Al Capone behind bars. I wish that everyone could read this book. This remarkable piece of history isn't appreciated nearly as much as it should be. Don't expect what you watched in the movie - it isn't cheesy at all. The movie, in a word, sucked. I expected the book to be just as hokey, and was definitely surprised to find it was way better! It's an awesome novel that is unfortunately hard to find now. The legend of Eliot Ness and his men and their incredible bravery is something that, I hope, will never be forgotten. Give this book a shot. I promise you will enjoy it much more than the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Ness does tend to exaggerate a bit
Review: I've read this book and I think that Elliot Ness did exaggerate a bit. Yes, he may have been in the team set out to capture Capone, he may even have been the group leader but in the book he does exaggerate his bravery and the risks he took. I would not recommend this book if you don't like reading lies.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time.....
Review: So much credit and legitimacy has been lauded this tale over the years that it has tended to be taken as truth.....and no further from the truth could it be. It was written very close to the end of Eliot Ness's life when he was little more than a boozy has-been who would "weave" his tales for anyone who would listen. Usually this was done in some tavern where Ness would corner some sucker for the free drinks that went with his storytelling. A writer by the name of Oscar Fraley saw the chance of big bucks and sure success by putting some of this into print and there you have the reason for this rag to even exist. The TRUE story of Al Capone and the Chicago mob of the prohibition era is MUCH better reading than this tale form some drunk's bleary imagination. Do yourself a favor.....get ahold of and READ the Capone biography by John Kobler. You will get the TRUE story of Capone's rise and fall(which has much more to do with the IRS than with Elliot Ness)and none of the "bologna" that makes up this tall tale. The true story is plenty TALL itself.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time.....
Review: This book is one of the few accounts we have of the '20s gangster era. The book recounts Eliot Ness's experiences as the leader of a team of nine men who were assigned the job of cutting off Al Capone's main sourse of income-illgeal booze. Ness and his team were part of a two pronged attact to get Capone. While agent Frank Wilson gathered evidence to convict Capone of tax evaison, Ness and his team raided stills and breweries that provided Capone with income to bribe police and newsmen. The book recounts the selection of the team and their early failures and successes. When Ness made a raid he often informed the media to show that some lawmen were honest and as a result he has been called a glory hound. The book tells of their many raids and some insight on the Chicago mob. The book has been accused of exaggerating but much in the book has be varified and Ness WAS celebrated as a hero in the New York Times when Capone was convicted. Ness died before this book was published and is not responsible for the Eliot Ness legend. When we needed lawmen to set the example Ness did the job he was called to do, and moved on.

Rating:
Summary: The right man for the time
Review: This book is one of the few accounts we have of the '20s gangster era. The book recounts Eliot Ness's experiences as the leader of a team of nine men who were assigned the job of cutting off Al Capone's main sourse of income-illgeal booze. Ness and his team were part of a two pronged attact to get Capone. While agent Frank Wilson gathered evidence to convict Capone of tax evaison, Ness and his team raided stills and breweries that provided Capone with income to bribe police and newsmen. The book recounts the selection of the team and their early failures and successes. When Ness made a raid he often informed the media to show that some lawmen were honest and as a result he has been called a glory hound. The book tells of their many raids and some insight on the Chicago mob. The book has been accused of exaggerating but much in the book has be varified and Ness WAS celebrated as a hero in the New York Times when Capone was convicted. Ness died before this book was published and is not responsible for the Eliot Ness legend. When we needed lawmen to set the example Ness did the job he was called to do, and moved on.