Book #19 Completed! "Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness" by William Bernhardt

Cleveland, Ohio
1935

The United States is in the grips of the worst economic downturn since, well...since you went forward in time and saw the economy of 2010. Unemployment is rampant (around 20%) and all one can see is the poor and disenchanted...Oh wait, that might just be a "Cleveland" thing because it is always like that there. Anyway, things suck. One of the outcroppings of the great depression is the rise of shanty towns in large metropolitan areas - usually near or around rail depots where people come in and out of towns (via boxcars) looking for a better life. While they seek gainful employment, many of these individuals live in cardboard boxes or rudimentary shacks, clustered together for support and - well that is just what bums do I guess. Cleveland has their own shanty town at this time full of the downtrodden and poor in spirit. Not helping matters is the "torso killer". This unknown serial killer is kidnapping these poor people and beheading them with a fireman's axe, then cutting off their limbs and disposing of the bodies in the various water ways in and around Cleveland. The city is in shock and turmoil. They turn to the only man they think that can save them, Eliot Ness.

Yes, that Eliot Ness. After Al Capone was put in jail for tax evasion, Ness continued his crusading ways enforcing the Volstead Act (Prohibition for the rest of you). When the Volstead Act was repealed in 1933 by the Blaine Act - Ness was then sent to work on cases involving the illegal importation of alcohol from Canada and moonshine/bathtub gin - all of which was avoiding the control and taxation of the federal government. What Ness really wanted to do was join the FBI however J. Edgar Hoover blocked his application from proceeding due in large part to the fact that Hoover did not want anyone who would get more or better press coverage than he did. So Ness languished in his post in the Cleveland field office until the mayor, trying to garner some positive political cache, offers Ness the position of safety coordinator - a position that is essentially in charge of the police, fire, and public works departments. Ness sees this as an opportunity to shine and takes the job. Problem is, his first big challenge is the torso murderer and this is something completely out of his realm. He is used to knowing who the bad guy is and trying to find ways to catch them when they slip up. He is clueless when it comes to finding the unsub (unknown suspect).

The torso murderer toys with Ness and the rest of the police for the better part of two years. Over that time, he kills at least 12 people. Public excitement for the hiring of Ness slowly turns into public outcry and rage and the seemingly lack of progress in catching the killer. I say seemingly because Ness and his detectives do find a viable suspect who does turn out to be the serial killer except he is already committed to a institution for the insane and his cousin happens to be a congressman who has had many run in's with Ness over the last few years. Needless to say, Ness is frustrated and beaten down by this experience and unlike Capone, the killer never does really face justice for his crimes.

After the torso murderer is transferred to a more secure crazy hospital, Ness's life falls apart. His wife, who was so loving and understanding in the movie with Kevin Costner, is quite fed up with his being gone all the time stuff and kicks him to the curb. He gets a special appointment with the army and goes around for several years teaching soldiers about the dangers of VD (what a job!). By the end of his life, he is on to his third wife - a penniless shell of the man he once was.

This book is historical fiction I would guess. The torso murderer was a true story and so was Ness's involvement with the case. In real life records, the torso murderer was never caught however the author did a great deal of research on this book and based on information that was gathered - it was quite plausible that Ness did know who the killer was but could not put him behind bars because of the killer's political connections.

It is quite a good book if you like mass murderers, history, or you just hate Cleveland. As such, I give this book:

Vroom, Vroom, Vroom, Vro (3 1/2 "Vroom's" on the motorcycle scale of awesomeness)