Type of bind: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: February 01, 2005
Sale Popularity Level: 1531828
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They were die-hard and deadly partners who made national headlines with their daring bank holdups and gun battles -- and they had a lot of laughs while they were at it. They were known as the Dillinger Gang, but at its heart was 'Handsome Harry' Pierpont -- tough, fearless, intelligent, and sworn to live by no law but his own.
Presented as his intimate 'confessions,' Harry's story takes us from his teenage days as a small-time crook to the pinnacle of his notoriety to his final hours in the penitentiary death house.
In prison, young Harry meets equally young John Dillinger, and they form an unassailable friendship. After John is paroled he helps Harry pull off one of the most infamous prison escapes in U.S. history. Then John is jailed and Harry must in turn liberate him; but the jailbreak comes at a tragic cost and ultimately seals Harry's fate.
In four blazing months of freedom before he meets that fate, Harry and John and their three steadfast partners -- Red, Russell, and Fat Charley -- establish themselves as the most legendary outlaw gang of the twentieth century. They rob banks. Shoot it out with police and federal agents and rival gangs. Make harrowing getaways. And all the while -- from the Midwest to Florida to Arizona, and in the company of their bold and memorable women -- they have a grand time of it.
Crafted in James Carlos Blake's signature style of fast-paced violence, sizzling sex, and darkly raucous humor, Handsome Harry brings to life a thrilling chapter from the chronicles of American crime.
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Rated by buyers 
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Reading a work of James Carlos Blake is like being invited to a gourmet banquet for the mind and Handsome Harry is no exception. He is one of the few authors where I read and savor every word. The characters, scenes and the plot come alive. He writes so that you can easily create his world in your mind and what a trip it is. Be advised that for all of his beautiful writing, Blake is also graphic. Still, I have yet to put down a Blake novel before enjoying every morsel is read.
Rated by buyers 
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I found the book absolutely fascinating.
It started me scurrying round the internet to Lori Hyde's wonderful sites on John Dillinger and Pierpont. I got all the films on Dillinger. Read the FBI reports from Melvin Purvis which are now in the public domain and on the net. Read all the books available about the Dillinger gang. Particularly recommeneded is Ellen Poulsen's Don't Call us Molls - all about the women of the Dillinger gang.
There is a picture there of Mary Kinder (Pierpont's girlfriend) by Pierpont's open casket after he was executed.
I am a singer songwriter and I made the title track of my subsequent album St Peter and John Dillinger. Because of course, as the other reviewers point out - its hard to imagine a world where the likes of Harry Pierpont could be integrated as a useful member of the community. That is fascinating. What a paradox that God should plant such anti social people amongst us to do us harm - and then take none of the blame on himself.
Harry is not untalented, good looking, personable - but in this book he is also a vicious man, uncontrollable and flawed beyond even the desire for redemption.
I'm not sure it is totally accurate. When you read the actual histories of the Dillinger gang - most of them are fairly hapless and more than a bit pathetic. They spent much of their ill gotten gains on decent dentistry - something far beyond the purse of working folk in those days. The women had low self esteem and figured that a gangster was the only sort of chap they were worthy of.
Pierpont himself was executed for shooting a sheriff, and whilst shooting him didn't do the sheriff much good, it was his panicking comrade Mackley who killed the lawman by coshing him afterwards.
One time I taught in an inner city school and some of the kids were involved in a robbery where an old shop keeper got killed. It was evil enough what they did, but the real problem was that the kids were too dim to realise the consequences of their actions. I'm willing to bet the real Harry Pierpont was like that, rather than the Faustian character in Blakes excellent book.
This book is great entertainment though - great fun!!!
What a writer!
Rated by buyers -
Mr. Blake has brought to life the "Forgotten Bank Robber". This novel is fiction but is probably as close to reality as the story of Harry Pierpont, could be told. The auhtor's research is commendable, especially, with so little available historical data to draw from. Mr. Blake has literally re-created Harry Pierpont into a very interesting and readable story. Harry Pierpont would be proud of this novel!
Rated by buyers 
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I'm sorry but I just couldn't even finish the book. It reminds me of erotica I used to write when I was a teenager. The story isn't compelling, the characters are transparent and everything is highly boring. And I'm not a prude. I love sex drugs and rock and roll...and bank robbers make for a great story. But this isn't one of them.
Rated by buyers 
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For a long time friends of mine recommended books by James Carlos Blake, but this is the very first book by him that I got around to reading. It was well written, in a straightforward and fast paced style. I was somewhat disturbed by the content of the book. It was not the fact that it contained a great deal of explicit sex and violence, as such, that bothered me (although potential readers should be aware that it does contain quite graphic passages). The narrator of the book is "Handsome Harry" Pierpoint, a member of the John Dillinger bank robbery gang of the Depression era. The book does a very good job of capturing the attitudes and way of thinking and behaving of a violent sociopath who cares for nothing except his own immediate gratification. (One minor flaw: would half-educated high school dropouts really know enough to make jokes about Socrates and Oedipus?) The realistic depiction of the mind of a criminal is what bothered me about the book. Once I started reading it, I went right through it and I enjoyed reading it. But afterwards, it left me with a bad feeling. Was reading the thoughts of an essentially two-bit criminal worth two hours of my life and ten dollars of my money? I don't know. It is this doubt that leads me to give the book four stars instead of five. I hope that the author uses his excellent writing ability on a more worthy subject.
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