Meet the Kellys - by Chris Enss (Hardcover)

About the Book

"How did a small-time, hip-pocket bootlegger become one of the most notorious gangsters in the country? For George 'Machine Gun' Kelly, the answer was simple: a woman. Her name was Kathryn Thorne, a charming, strong-minded beauty who had family connections in the crime world -- and big ambitions for the tall, handsome bootlegger. By the time she met Kelly, she was already an experienced criminal herself, divorced twice, and ready to marry a man who could give her the posh life she always dreamed of. With that in mind, she bought Kelly his first machine gun. And the rest is history... George Kelly wasn't a natural-born gangster and never carried a weapon bigger than a revolver. But Kathryn changed all that. Like a mobbed-up Lady Macbeth, she pushed her husband to commit greater crimes, introducing him to her friends in the underworld and convincing him to join in a series of bank robberies. Soon, the Kellys were living large, with a house in Texas, expensive jewelry, the works. But it wasn't enough, and eventually the couple hatched a daring plot to kidnap oil tycoon Charles Urschel. Their plan worked. They collected the ransom--and captured the attention of the nation, the world... and the FBI"--

Book Synopsis

Gangsters. Lovers. Legends. Meet the Kellys--the bootlegging, bank-robbing, husband-wife duo known as "Machine Gun" Kelly and Kathyrn Thorne--who masterminded one of the most infamous kidnappings in American crime . . .

How did a small-time, hip-pocket bootlegger become one of the most notorious gangsters in the country? For George "Machine Gun" Kelly, the answer was simple: a woman. Her name was Kathryn Thorne, a charming, strong-minded beauty who had family connections in the crime world--and big ambitions for the tall, handsome bootlegger. By the time she met Kelly, she was already an experienced criminal herself, divorced twice, and ready to marry a man who could give her the posh life she always dreamed of. With that in mind, she bought Kelly his first machine gun. And the rest is history . . .

George Kelly wasn't a natural-born gangster and never carried a weapon bigger than a revolver. But Kathryn changed all that. Like a mobbed-up Lady Macbeth, she pushed her husband to commit greater crimes, introducing him to her friends in the underworld and convincing him to join in a series of bank robberies. Soon, the Kellys were living large, with a house in Texas, expensive jewelry, the works. But it wasn't enough, and eventually the couple hatched a daring plot to kidnap oil tycoon Charles Urschel. Their plan worked. They collected the ransom--and captured the attention of the nation, the world . . . and the FBI.

A shocking story of ambition and greed, crime and punishment, Meet the Kellys offers a fascinating portrait of a reluctant gangster named after a machine gun and a scheming moll as driven as Bonnie Parker and Ma Barker. A must-read for true crime fans.

Review Quotes

Praise for Chris Enss

"Chris Enss delivers the goods on Machine Gun Kelly, who moved from the upper middle class and college to become an infamous Prohibition-era gangster with his moll, Kathryn Thorne. Thoroughly researched with exciting new details!" --Meyer Lansky II, grandson of Meyer Lansky and author of The Lansky Legacy: The Life and Letters of Meyer Lansky, on Meet the Kellys

"An unforgettable dive into the lives of mastermind Machine Gun Kelly and his wife Kathryn Thorne, a couple whose love burned as fiercely as their crimes. This thrilling ride grips you with daring heists, audacious kidnappings, and the relentless pursuit of justice--a tale of love, danger, and infamy that is impossible to resist. A must-read for true crime fans!" --Laurie Pozmantier, film and TV producer, on Meet the Kellys

"This masterful work of literary journalism brilliantly uncovers surprising new stories and many rich details of this legendary team of Machine Gun Kelly and his moll Kathryn Thorne and highlights the true story of their rise as one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, while stripping away the hype and legend to reveal the greed and ambition of both a small-time criminal and the woman who pressed him into the limelight because she wanted the finer things in life. Eye-opening and well-researched, Meet the Kellys is an excellent read, full of facts and information you've likely never seen about this infamous gangster and his moll." ―Reavis Z. Wortham, New York Times bestselling author

"Enss presents the true history of one of America's great criminal romances in this nonfiction work. . . . This propulsive and thoroughly researched true-crime account will especially please fans of Depression-era gangster stories as it helps to elevate George and Kathryn to the same iconic strata as Bonnie and Clyde. A pulpy true-crime account of one of America's most infamous kidnappings." --Kirkus Reviews on Meet the Kellys

"A meticulously documented history and biography that reads like an action/adventure novel from start to finish, Meet the Kellys: The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne will be of particular appeal to readers with an interest in the outlaws that made headlines during the Roaring Twenties era of the Great Depression, Prohibition bootlegging, and notorious bank robbers and kidnappers. An inherently fascinating and riveting read." --Midwest Book Review

"From the first page to the last, Enss takes the reader on the Wild West rise and fall of the Kellys in a new era of Western gangsterism." --True West Magazine on Meet the Kellys

"Cover to cover, Chris Enss's Meet the Kellys is crime biography at its finest. [Her] intriguing and insightful new crime biography . . . tells the fascinating story of an early 1930s crime couple who had strong connections to Fort Worth. Enss, a California writer who focuses on extraordinary women throughout history, has won multiple writing awards and is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 books. Her new work is expertly organized and drawn from an impressive array of research materials." --Lone Star Literary Life Review

"Historian Enss profiles in this colorful account 10 of the first female physicians on America's Western frontier. . . . insightful." ―Publishers Weekly on The Doctor Was a Woman

"A collection of tales about real superhero women and how they won respect." ―Library Journal on The Doctor Was a Woman

"In this detailed account of the star-crossed lovers, the author--who is known for her books on Western women--plumbs both Colorado and British resources. In Enss' hands, Bird is not a female oddity, but a woman of strength, courage and loyalty." ―The Denver Post on The Lady and the Mountain Man

"Entertaining." ―New York Journal of Books on The Doctor Was a Woman

"The rigor of the scholarly research on display here is quite simply astonishing, as the authors seem to leave no stone unturned." ―Kirkus Reviews on The Widowed Ones

"If countless books and movies are to be believed, America's Wild West was, at heart, a man's world. New York Times bestselling author Chris Enss, takes on this stereotype, telling the stories of seventeen courageous women who faced down schoolrooms full of children on the open prairies and in the cattle and mining towns of the Old West." ―The Union on Frontier Teachers

"A new perspective on an oft-overlooked facet of the Spirit of the West and its influence on the nation." ―HistoryNet on No Place for a Woman

About the Author

Chris Enss is a New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 books. Focusing on extraordinary women throughout history, her work has been honored with nine Will Rogers Medallion Awards, two Elmer Kelton Book Awards, an Oklahoma Center for the Book Award, three Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, the Laura Downing Journalism Award, and a Willa Cather Award from Women Writing the West for scholarly nonfiction. Her books include Meet the Kellys: The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne, Dillinger's Girls, The Doctor Was a Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier, An Open Secret: The Story of Deadwood's Most Notorious Bordellos, Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother, The Trials of Annie Oakley, and Straight Lady: The Life and Times of Margaret Dumont, "The Fifth Marx Brother." Visit her online at ChrisEnss.com.