True Crime (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Nate Heller survived his confrontations with Al Capone, only to find himself facing Ma Barker, Baby Face Nelson, and perhaps the biggest and most dangerous question in his life: Who was the man shot down in the alley next to the Biograph Theater, the man the FBI had confidently identified as John Dillinger? Heller's search for the answer leads him into a confrontation with J. Edgar Hoover, and into a much more comfortable meeting with Sally Rand...but not before the streets of Chicago run red with blood.

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 has been made into a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks and directed by Sam Mendes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: I Books (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743459008
• ISBN-13: 978-0743459006
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #157,427 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best of the Heller Novels, December 6, 1999

By	wEEpy (Garden State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: True Crime (Hardcover)

I have read all of the Nate Heller mysteries, and True Crime is the best of them. One of the most interesting touches to the series are the historical photographs showing the characters that Nate interacts with. True Crime is a good straightfoward read which draws you into the criminal world of Dillinger, Floyd, Barker, Karpis and others. The historical research appears to be excellent, (I'm no expert) and Collins fleshes out all of the characters satisfactorily. If you can, read True Detective first as it gives a good background to Nate Heller (and is a very good book as well).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If only the history books in school were this fun to read!, April 21, 2004

By	Michael Morris (Muskegon, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love to read...but only fiction. I have never liked reading things about true to life people. But I loved reading about Nate Heller in this book as well as the book before this, True Detective. Mr. Collins has done an excellent job of telling the story of some of the nastiest criminals of the 30s but also by doing something others have failed to do. He has made the likes of Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Frank Nitti and the Barkers human. Although never once sugarcoating the fact that they were killers and whatnot, he gives us an idea of what they were in real life.
Nate Heller is the perfect picture of the detectives of the era, tough, hard-boiled and not the kind to back down from a fight. But he is also a caring person and that is as evident as all of the other traits he shows.
This book grabbed me from the beginning and held on to the end. Much better than just well written, it moves seemlessly from one event to another. Although crammed full with descriptions of actual happenings, buildings, people and more, Collins has integrated all of it together to where it is just as exciting to hear about Chicago's Loop district as it was to hear about John Dillinger's "death" outside the Biograph theater.
Thank you Mr. Collins! I have loved these two and will be searching all of the rest of this series in the near future. If they are half as good as this one is, I am in for many hours of totally wonderful reading enjoyment!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nate Heller meets John Dillinger, October 9, 2005

By	JoeV "Reader" (Arlington Hts, IL) - See all my reviews

In this, the second installment of Collins' Nitti trilogy, ex-Chicago cop, tough guy PI Nate Heller first finds himself on the periphery of the FBI hunt for Dillinger and then involved in a kidnapping plot with the Karpis gang in mid 1930's Chicago. The reader meets Purvis, Cowley and Hoover from the fledgling FBI, crooked East Chicago cop Martin Zarkovich, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker and her boys and the infamous Lady In "Red" Anna Sage, as well as Dillinger and Frank Nitti. Although the book meanders off track briefly towards the middle, Collins captures the perfect blend of history, supposition and fiction to bring these figures to life and provides enough mystery with Heller's clients to make True Crime a highly entertaining read.