Interesting story set against the backdrop of Chicago in the Roaring 20’s, but it dragged on for far too long.

This was an Interesting book about a man who swindled so many people with claims of fake mortgages and oil claims. We all heard of Ponzi. Why haven’t we heard about this guy? It was a good book with lots of information but was overwhelming.

3.5 stars

This is why I love my book club! Not a book I would choose on my own, but so happy someone did. Thoroughly engrossing and well researched. An engaging story of fact and history that kept me reading until the very last word on the book flap!

captivating.

A classic American tale: a master swindler bilks wealthy friends and family out of millions only to inevitably fall from grace. Jobb spins the tale beautifully. It reads like a novel and is captivating from the start. The parallels with Bernie Madoff paint a disconcerting picture: Americans and their justice system hate it when the rich get swindled, but corporate giants preying on the poor in very much the same manner....we're ok with it.

Jobb has taken an extremely well-researched and historically factual tale and pulled it into a tight narrative that reads like any good crime caper.

Admittedly, the time period and the setting are of special interest to me, so the background information on the city and the immigrant communities (main character is Jewish, main foil is Irish) is probably what took this from four stars to five.

Interesting read

Very interesting read about a Ponzi-like con man. I started this expecting something along the lines of "Devil in the White City", and on that expectation found it a little dry and disappointing.