Scarface and the Untouchable – At Large! Chicago Signings

August 14th, 2018 by Max Allan Collins

Yes, at long last Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago by A. Brad Schwartz and myself is hitting the bookstores the very day this update first appears.

Brad and I (and Barb) will be appearing at two major Chicago bookstores and another at the bookstore in Dick Tracy’s hometown – Woodstock, Illinois, starting with the latter.

Saturday August 18:
Read Between the Lynes (Website)
From 4PM till…?
111 E. Van Buren St
Woodstock, IL 60098 (Map)

Sunday August 19:
Centuries & Sleuths (Website)
2:00PM till…?
19 Madison St
Forest Park, IL 60130 (Map)

Monday August 20:
Anderson’s Bookshop (Website)
7 PM till…?
123 W Jefferson Ave
Naperville, IL 60540 (Map)

This mini-tour will be the only joint event by Brad and me in support of the book during its opening weeks. Brad heads back to Princeton in his unending crusade to diminish me by making me call him “Dr. Schwartz” (who, let’s face it, sounds like a dermatologist). We’ll be doing some solo events thereafter, and if the media wises up and books us on a national TV show, we’ll likely do that together.

We are also set to appear on the WGN Morning News on Monday morning, but exactly when I can’t say (we arrive at 8:30 AM).

We’ll also be doing a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) on r/books this Thursday at 1PM EST. Keep an eye on my facebook page for a link.

The Centuries and Sleuths signing will include Barb, as “Barbara Allan”-bylined novels (Antiques Wanted in particular) will be available. This is the first joint signing Barb and I have done in some time.

Centuries and Sleuths is where Brad and I first met, when he came to a signing after seeing “Untouchable Life” live in Des Moines. By the way, work progresses on the Blu-ray of the film version. You can order it here.

In the meantime, come and see us (Mike Doran – I’m talking to you) (but no questions requiring a photographic memory of the entire run of TV Guide to answer).


Hardcover:
E-Book: Amazon Google Play Nook Kobo iTunes
Digital Audiobook: Amazon Google Play Kobo

The reviews thus far have been stellar, including the Chicago Tribune, where Rick Koganwhere Rick Kogan – a well-known writer and TV personality in Chicago – loved the book but hated my introduction. Why? Because I (with Brad’s help) singled out the authors (and one screenwriter) whose offenses had much to do with us feeling another book about Capone and Ness needed writing. We were very specific about what we were correcting, but Mr. Kogan found my intro “unseemly.”

Here’s what he wrote, along with links to other favorable reviews (the Kogan link is mid-page).

Now, just for fun, read what I wrote that offended Mr. Kogan, available thanks to the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine blog.

Others reviewing the book in the days just ahead of publication include USA Today, which makes us one of the top books of the week that they recommend. (Omarosa’s Trump memoir gets the top spot, though.)

Here’s a really nice review courtesy of Mystery People.

This one isn’t a review, but uses our book as a sort of tour guide to track Capone’s real-life hangouts.

* * *

Now in non-Scarface and the Untouchable news, here’s another San Diego Comic Con interview with me, on the new Mike Hammer serialized graphic novel from Hard Case Crime. It’s one of the better interviews, I think.

Finally, Gaping Blackbird continues to review the early Quarry novels, and very intelligently.

M.A.C.

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5 Responses to “Scarface and the Untouchable – At Large! Chicago Signings”

  1. Paul.Griffith says:

    Max,
    Wow! Received mine today from Amazon. 700 pages including the index and source notes! Really enjoyed the San Diego Comic Con interview. Looking forward to engrossing myself in SCARFACE AND THE UNTOUCHABLE. Thanks for the summer reading!

  2. Brian Drake says:

    Well I’m sold. I thought I knew the Ness/Capone story all the way through (we should have a “Scarface Mob” watch party someday–I have the VHS somewhere), but between your intro and Kogan’s review, I’m going to splurge on this book for sure.

    I didn’t see anything wrong with your introduction (we have the same frustrations, re Mamet, even though I love the movie) but I also didn’t see anything wrong with Kogan’s remarks. Your regular readers know you don’t pull punches, Max, so it’s no surprise you went into the detail you provided in the intro. But I have a feeling that if somebody told Kogan a fire was destroying his office building, he’d find a way to rephrase the news so as not to make the fire look bad because fires have feelings too.

    Either way, it sounds like you and Brad have a winner, and congratulations on the book.

  3. Sean Kelly says:

    Well I was just in Chicago and managed to get to the wonderful Anderson’s for Ibtihaj Muhammad’s book signing, but I needed to get back to work in Japan. Maybe I can convince my mom to come out for the Centuries and Sleuths signing again. She’s met you many times on my behalf. Or maybe I’ll see if Kinokuniya has (or can get) a copy here.

  4. Thanks for these lovely comments.

  5. Thanks for these great comments!