Nemesis

The Final Case of Eliot Ness

By: William Bernhardt

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

In his best-selling legal thrillers, William Bernhardt has explored the dark side of contemporary politics, power, and the law. Now Bernhardt turns back the clock to the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in the fall of 1935. Based on true events and new discoveries about Eliot Ness, Nemesis is a brilliantly told story featuring this legendary lawman’s fateful duel with a terrifyingly new kind of criminal: America’s first serial killer.

In Chicago, Eliot Ness had created “The Untouchables”, the fabled team of federal agents who were beyond corruption and who finally put Al Capone behind bars. The headline-grabbing Ness has now been moved to Cleveland, where a new mayor desperately needs some positive publicity. The heroic, squeaky-clean Fed is the perfect man to become the city’s director of public safety, but by the time Ness starts his new job, a killer has started a career of his own. And this man is as obsessed with blood and mayhem as Eliot Ness is obsessed with justice.

Though it’s not his turf, Ness is forced to cross bureaucratic boundaries and take over the case, working with a dogged, street-smart detective and making enemies every step of the way. The more energy Ness pours into the investigation, the more it takes over his life, his marriage, even his untouchable reputation. Because in Cleveland, there is only one true untouchable: A killer who has the perfect hiding place and the perfect plan for destroying Eliot Ness.

©2009 William Bernhardt (P)2009 Random House Audio

A Good Read

An interesting departure for Bernhardt's (fellow Okie) normal stories - but good. Elliot Ness does not seem to be the "bigger than life" character as he is often represented in this story but entertaining none the less. Definitely recommended for Bernhardt's fans or Elliot Ness fans.

That voice, that voice

This book has an interesting concept bringing real events, Elliott Ness and serial murder together in one read. This might even be a good book. But who can tell given how awful the reader is. Can't stand the emotionless voice that sounds flat and bored. Would love to hear this book with a different narrator at the helm.

An opportunity missed

Oh, dear, what comes first? A narrator who can't pronounce Cuyahoga or an author who has characters looking for the missing Amelia Earhart a year before the final takeoff or being treated according to Alcoholics Anonymous principles roughly 30 years before AA was formed? This is a good story but the total treatment seems like a movie of the week. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, all according to stereotypes--and Eliot Ness is conflicted. Gee! Sorry I spent money on this one.