Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt's bosses at the U.S. Attorney's office hired her right out of law school, assuming she'd pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintain with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It's a decision with deadly consequences: With Remus behind bars, Dodge and Imogene begin an affair and plot to ruin him, sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government--and that can only end in murder.
Combining deep historical research with novelistic flair, THE GHOSTS OF EDEN PARK is the unforgettable, stranger-than-fiction story of a rags-to-riches entrepreneur and a long-forgotten heroine, of the excesses and absurdities of the Jazz Age, and of the infinite human capacity to deceive.
PAT'S REVIEW
A book with really many different stories inside all dealing with prohibition. You have George Remus who first divorces his first wife, marries second wife Imogene. Because he has a pharmacist license, he was allowed to purchase liquor. This was for medical purposes but he saw a way to make money out of it and did he ever. Within a few years of their marriage, the two of them were living in a mansion, with the top of the line in everything. They would also have very elaborate parties that were over the top as well. This would go on until 1925 when he was finally sent to prison.
The person fighting him and the rest of the nation was Mabel Willebrandt. She was a U.S. Assistant Attorney General from 1921-1929. Her story was very fascinating, her working for the government was very frustrating. She got help in words only. She had to fight even when her office took someone to court. A judge dismissed a charge of tax evasion with evidence when just years later Capone would go to prison for the same charge.
Her real big trouble was agents working for her and the bootleggers. One turned out to flip himself after they put him in the prison as Remus who had not fallen for that trick until Franklin Dodge got the information he needed and instead of going back to his office he went to Imogene. Who then divorced Remus, or began to? She did sell the Fleishman distillery then gave her ex $100.00 dollars. That only pissed him off, for he knew how much he had and of the sell.
Miss. Willebrandt equally frustrated because she lost an agent and when a new president was elected thinking she would become Attorney General; she was passed over for a male.
Once Remus was out of prison he went after his soon to be ex and where the story takes a wicked turn, he chases her in a park with his car and shots her twice. She dies, when he goes to trial, he pleads insanity and goes to an institution therefore when he is thought not to be crazy cannot try him again or double jeopardy. He gets away with murder.
Of course, there is so much more to this story. How they evaded raids. Having tunnels built how he himself controlled 30% of the liquor that Americans were drinking up until 1925. That is amazing. Also, the story of Miss Willebrandt for me was very good and I don’t know if a book was ever written about her but she sounded like a powerful woman for that time. Overall an excellent story, very much worth the read. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us atwww.1rad-readerreviews.com
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