A review by redhead_reader
American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper by Daniel Stashower

Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.

I’m unfortunately not finishing this book after slogging through 1/3 of it. 

I was drawn to the book because Brian De Palma’s 1987 film the Untouchables is one of my favorites so I was aware of Ness’ notoriety and I’m a pretty big True Crime buff, so the mad butcher aspect seemed like this book would be a win-win for me. 

However, the book reads more like a biography on Ness than anything else. 

At 1/3 of the way through the book, Ness hasn’t even gotten involved in the mad butcher case yet. There’s only been mention of 4 bodies found in the Cleveland area that (I assume) will go on to be associated with the butcher. 

Based on the synopsis, I expected more content about the true crime, unsolved mystery, and less about Eliot Ness and his background in Chicago and then Cleveland before the mad butcher. 

The book isn’t bad. The author does a great job presenting information about Eliot Ness and his background. For me, the book didn’t seem to match the title or the synopsis, the key aspects that drew me to the book, and for that I didn’t finish it. 

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review.