The Untouchables

"One thing was certain: someone had declared open season on Elliot Ness, and it was a damned uncomfortable feeling."-Elliot Ness The sale or consumption of alcohol was not really the problem. The Sicilian mafia landed on American shores sometime around 1899. One of their most notorious progeny was "Scarface" Al Capone with whom Elliot Ness did battle from 1929-1931. Elliot Ness had nearly finished this true story before he died of a heart attack at age 54 in 1957. This book is not a biography of Ness's life, just an account of the two and one half years during which time he and his ten or so hand-picked federal men finally succeeded in stopping Capone in his murderous tracks. The story is mostly about raid after countless raid of breweries by Ness's "untouchables" in the Chicago area during Prohibition and the Depression years. While millions of Americans were starving, shoeless and jobless, Capone and Co. were living the high life and living it as if they were above the law itself. Or so they thought... Ness chose his men carefully like Gideon in Judges 7; they had to be beyond reproach, content to live on a $2800/year salary and strong enough to resist the temptation of Capone's thugs constantly flaunting thousand dollar bills and diamond-studded fat, fleshy fingers under their noses. Money is powerful in its effects, yet more powerful were those like Ness and co. who, under the law were content to live by it, and who with the law put a lot of rotten, murderous apples behind federal bars. The chief problem with Capone was not just flat out lawlessness or the profligacy his rackets engendered, but corruption which had seeped into all areas of the judicial system, police force, federal agents, judges, lawyers, and other court officials; Capone had lots of money to throw around from the profits of his liquor selling illegal enterprise, and because he never somehow had to pay income taxes. That was the reason why Ness was so careful in selecting his men and also the main reason for their success in finally undoing Capone's vast network of criminals. Once, one of his men working undercover took money from one of Capone's gang, and admitted it to Ness. Ness told him to find the same man and give him back the exact dollar amount he had been given. Elliot Ness was the coolest fed that ever lived (in my opinion). One had to be tough dealing with the mafia; they stopped at nothing to preserve their domineering hold in their cities. I think that just because Ness did not suffer physical harm from Capone and co. may lead some to think that Capone was not so bad, Ness's life was not so threatened. However, I think it just proves that he really had his wits about him and was sober to every aspect of the circumstances surrounding himself and his men; the threat and evidences of the mafia's revenge such as bullets in their enemies' heads and body parts mutilated is evidence enough to me that Elliot Ness and his "untouchables" were in a deadly

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.

Some have complained that this book is fiction. I am ashamed of the people who said that Eliot Ness was an old drunk who captured a few beer stills. They obviously didn't read the book. Eliot Ness told sportswriter Oscar Fraley that he didn't want any fiction but Fraley convinced Ness that fiction was needed. This describes the life of Eliot Ness in Chicago. One must look at this through an eye of skeptiscm. But this is truly excellent reading. Most of it is true but the estimates that Ness and Fraley made are somewhat exagerrated. But otherwise this is a story which will entice your senses and will make you so thankful you weren't a mobster in the 30's

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.

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.