Stolen Away: A Novel of the Lindbergh Kidnapping [Hardcover]

Max Allan Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1991

When Charles Lindbergh's baby son is kidnapped, one man searches for the truth against an historical backdrop peopled with such figures as Al Capone, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, and Eliot Ness. Reprint.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Little did detective Nate Heller realize that following a suspicious-looking platinum blonde, baby-toting beauty through Chicago's LaSalle Street Station would lead him to solve the kidnapping of the son of a small-time bootlegger. He had hoped he might be solving the recent kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby. But he does land a detective's position at the Lindbergh estate on Featherbed Lane in New Jersey. In this novel largely based on fact, most characters appear with their true names. While Col. Schwarzkopf is in charge of the local police force working on the case, Heller pursues tips with a variety of cohorts ranging from Dr. John Condon, a professor at Fordham University, to Evalyn Walsh McLean, a Washington socialite. Heller finally ends up at an Illinois farmhouse where Mr. and Mrs. Carl Belliance live with their 6-year-old adopted son, who Heller believes is the Lindbergh child. A shoot-out ensues at the farmhouse, and the true identity of the boy is never learned. Veteran author Collins's ( True Detective ) reconstruction of the Lindbergh case is so believable, one forgets that this is fiction.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

March 1932. After the recently incarcerated Al Capone offers to negotiate the return of the kidnapped son of Charles Lindbergh, Nathan Heller of the Chicago P.D. is sent to Hopewell, New Jersey, as a police liaison. As a part of Lindbergh’s inner circle, Heller investigates crooks, cranks, socialites, and psychics in a frustrating, fruitless attempt to solve the case. Max Allan Collins makes the crime that captivated a nation the focal point of yet another fascinating and thoroughly spellbinding foray into his world of historical crime fiction. Four years later, in 1936, Heller—now a private detective, and considered an expert and insider on the Lindbergh case—is hired by the governor of New Jersey in an eleventh-hour quest to determine the guilt or innocence of Bruno Hauptmann, who sits on death row convicted of the murder and kidnapping of the Lindbergh child.

“A novel of the Lindbergh kidnapping by the master of ‘true-crime’ fiction...Don’t miss it!”—Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bantam (May 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553071335
• ISBN-13: 978-0553071337
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,502,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Max Allan Collins is a New York Times bestselling author of original mysteries, a Shamus award winner and an experienced author of movie adaptions and tie-in novels. His graphic novel ROAD TO PERDITION was made into a major motion picture by Tom Hank's production company, Playtone.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect blend of historical fiction and hard boiled mystery., July 17, 2002

By 

Steven R. Harbin (Southeastern USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stolen Away (Paperback)

This was the first of the "Nate Heller" detective series novels of Collins that I had read, and I must admit that I couldn't put it down. Not only is this tour de force a great mystery and suspense novel, it is also a wonderful historical novel; well researched and informative while grabbing and then not letting go of the reader's interest.

The story of how Chicago policeman Heller becomes involved in the case of the Lindbergh baby kidnapping is plausible enough. Once the wise cracking detective is admitted to the inner circle of the myriad investigators and con men (and women) involved in the infamous 1932 tragedy the excitement begins and continues without let-up. I was not that familiar with the details of the case until I started this novel, but Collins does a wonderful job of making each character (both those of historical record, and those who are fictional blendings of historical characters) belivable and memorable. One strong point of the book is that I finished it feeling that I knew more about the case that I did previously. Collins posts an afterword to the book that explains which parts are fictitious, conjecture, and historical. He also presents a detailed proposed reading list for those interested, along with his comments on the bias or worth of each author. I really appreciated this part of the book.

As for Heller himself, the Chicago lawman grows on you, even though Collins presents him as not always a shining knight, showing him "warts and all." The book is quite long, 593 pages in the paperback edition, including the afterword, but the complexities of the story make it a good read, well worth the time and effort.

A definite 5 stars, this one made me rush out and buy up other books in the Nate Heller series, as well as check out the facts of the historical case that inspired this story. My advice is for anyone who hasn't read this novel to do the same.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Collins' Best Work, May 2, 2001

By 

[e-mail] "Simon DelMonte" (Flushing, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stolen Away (Paperback)

This Nate Heller novel is the first to jump from Chicago mobsters to something more as Max Collins sends his PI to New Jersey to investigate the original Crime of the Century, the Lindbergh kidnapping. Along the way, Collins casts serious doubts on the man convicted of the crime, Bruno Haputmann, and offers a fictionalized but believable account of the investigation and the trial. Moreover, Collins also portrays Lindbergh with much less hero worship than the recent biography by Scott Berg. While this is not meant as a work of truth, Collins provides a necessary balance to such books with this novel.

Most of all, though, it's a great read, suspenseful even though the ending is a matter of historical fact. This is a must for Collins fans, and it's great to see it reissued at last.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Heller mystery yet, September 30, 2011

By 

Craig Clarke "Living After Midnight: Hard and... (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Stolen Away (Nathan Heller) (Paperback)

The fifth novel in Max Allan Collins's Nathan Heller series of historically accurate private-eye mysteries not only won the Shamus Award for best private-eye novel (the second in the series to win after True Detective), but is also, at 600 pages, the longest private-eye novel ever written.

But there's a lot of story to cover in Stolen Away, which focuses on the kidnapping of young Charles Lindbergh, Jr., "the Lindbergh baby," son of the famous pilot, "Lucky Lindy," who flew The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic, the first person to do it solo.

The story begins, however, with Heller, at this point still a cop on the Chicago force, following a suspicious-looking blonde, baby in tow, through the local train station. The Lindbergh kidnapping is only a few days old, and Heller thinks he might be on the trail toward solving it, which would do wonderful things for his career. He tails the woman all the way home, only to discover he's stumbled onto another kidnapping entirely. But this case catches the attention of Charles Lindbergh ("Slim" to his friends), who requests Heller's assistance in the investigation of his own child's disappearance.

Since Heller is still a cop throughout most of the book, Stolen Away technically crosses the line of being a true private-eye novel. It is only Heller's distance from his normal jurisdiction that, in the long run, makes it feasible -- that and its part in an already established series. Heller works alone, and I guess that's what counts. Having an elderly Heller writing his "memoirs" from his retirement complex in Coral Springs is a nice touch. It lends a realism that an actual person is recounting these events from memory (though he must have Archie Goodwin's memory for dialogue to be able to remember conversations as clearly as he does).

Collins' solution to the kidnapping is a little too clean for my taste, but Stolen Away as a whole is quite a gripping read with a surprisingly emotional conclusion. Fans of the series will tear through this, and I would especially recommend it to those interested in the Lindbergh kidnapping as history, given that Collins' usual exhaustive research is in high gear here. All the characters, except Heller, are either real people, "have real-life counterparts," or are composites of real people, and their actions and motives are taken from various articles and books about the case, mostly written by the participants.

That it all fits together so well is a testament to author Max Allan Collins' skill, especially since, in his "I Owe Them One" afterword (where he lists his sources), he cites the "conflicting source material" and the fact that "none of the books contemporary to the Lindbergh case proved entirely reliable." Nevertheless, Stolen Away is my favorite Heller mystery yet, and I have already stocked my bookshelf with others in the series for when I want to indulge my taste for a great historical whodunit.