Cleveland. 1934. The Depression. A famous investigator pits his wits and skills against a serial killer. 12 dismembered bodies. A panicked public. The American Ripper case....The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

After listening to the audio version of this book, I had two main questions. Number one -- how had I never heard of this case before?? In all my true crime reading and listening, before this book I had never once come across this case. A serial killer who dismembered 12 people over 4 years and was never caught -- even by the legendary Eliot Ness. And number two -- how have I never read a book by this author before?

This is an excellent book. It tells the story of the brutal killing of 12 people on the fringes of society in a rough time in American history. Stashower obviously did copious amounts of research into this case and presents the facts in an interesting way. The story kept my attention from start to finish. The fact this killer was never caught is chilling and disturbing.

At times, the book does seem to be more about Eliot Ness and less about the murders, but any case involving Ness is going to have that problem. He's almost a larger-than-life character. In this case, it didn't matter how famous he was or how skilled an investigator. The killer was never officially caught, although there were several suspects. The appalling conditions in Kingsbury Run, the impoverished victims targeted by the killer, and the brutal tactics used by law enforcement (including burning down Kingsbury run, a shanty town inhabited by addicts, the homeless, prostitutes and the poor) made this a rough book to listen to. It was a brutal era. And the killer may have easily moved on to another area of the country to continue his killing spree....it was easy to hop a train or just fade into a crowd back then. Many murders like this -- the Villisca Axe Murders for example -- went unsolved.

The audio book is just a bit over 12 hours long and is narrated by Will Damron. Damron does an excellent job of narration. He has a pleasant voice and reads at a nice, steady pace. Very interesting listen...although the subject and brutality of the killings makes this a rough one.

I will definitely be reading more by this author.

**I voluntarily listened to a review copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

For true crime readers, this is a must. If you're not used to true crime books you might find this a little too detailed and be aware! some parts are quite gruesome!

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an advanced Audiobook copy of American Demon by Daniel Stashower. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an ARC to review.

This book was fascinating and well-researched. I appreciated how the author intertwined the history of Elliot Ness's career and the emergence of a serial killer in Cleveland. The different techniques in trying to apprehend a serial killer before the term serial killer was even in the world's vernacular. I thought Will Damron did a good job as the narrator. I give American Demon 4/5 stars and would read future books written by this author.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review American Demon.

Author: Daniel Stashower
Published: 09/06/22
Narrator: Will Damron
Genre: True Crime

The identity of the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run remains a mystery. The author has dedicated a lot of his life researching crimes, that appeared in part in 1934 and such, wanting to identify The Butcher. Parts of human beings began appearing around Cleveland. There are several chapters on body parts showing up on banks and floating in the river. The synopsis does let you know some of the victims were beheaded while alive. If you can reasonably handle these images, American Demon is an interesting read.

The narrator is perfect for me. His voice is friendly. He is able to convey emotion beautifully. I cannot imagine anyone better for the performance. His calming and credible demeanor aid in hearing about the harsh realities of The Butcher. He reads matter of factly.

Enter Elliot Ness who is brought in to find The Butcher and clean up the police corruption in Cleveland. Ness gained notoriety with his gang known as The Untouchables in Chicago working with/against Capone. This period of his life is touched on.

Ness' life ended young, and I found his latter years really sad. Alcohol played a big role in the time period for Ness. The author does round out his life. While Capone drank, it is suspected that unprotected sex was his end-all.

It is just amazing how corrupt officials are, and is it any wonder that Jimmy Hoffa was never found? I'm just saying.

3.5 stars, on audio. This is part biography of Ness and part true crime narrative about the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run".

Ness was somewhat interesting guy, terribly flawed and lauded far more than he ever should have been (and kind of a jerk and philanderer). He didn't have much more than peripheral role in the investigation of the Kingsbury Run torso killer. He had a suspect and that suspect taunted him for a long time, but that's about it (more than likely because of his high profile from his work in Chicago).

Other than the first chapter, I don't really feel there's anything new in this one. I think it could have been tightened up a bit, especially Ness's work in Cleveland that wasn't related to the Kingsbury Run case. All it really shows is that Ness's effectiveness was limited to his Chicago work during prohibition.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Wow, I had no idea about this story. I knew about Eliot Ness, well as much as you can from Tupac mentioning him in California Love but had no idea what a trailblazer he was. I went into this book thinking it was going to be just about the brutal torso murders but found myself going down the Eliot Ness rabbit hole. Stashower wove the gruesome murder tale with the rise of Eliot Ness. I also found myself Googling Al Capone. I love when books tell more than just one story.

Great read. Highly recommend it if you are a lover of true crime. 3.5 Stars

Follow Eliot Ness and his team as they hunt a brutal serial killer in the early 20th Century. In Cleveland, the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run is leaving dismembered corpses around the city, and government officials— amidst their efforts to stomp out police corruption— are on the case.

The similarities to “Devil in the White City” don’t stop at the cover aesthetic: if you appreciated the tone of Eric Larson’s book, you’ll probably like this one as well. It’s a conversational style of history, not dissimilar to a true crime podcast.

However, this book primarily follows the detectives search for the killer rather than building a narrative around the killer’s history and psyche in opposition to the police. The book candidly chronicles infighting between government offices, missteps in the investigation, and the tinge of classism.

It was fairly interesting and I learned a lot about Eliot Ness. The book is more about Ness than the specific case (it includes plenty of info on the case but more info on Ness’s career and life than just the case). I would have liked the book to have some more narritive voice. It was a bit dry even though it was discussing grisly murders.

American Demon is a book in the vein of Public Enemies by Bryan Burroughs, much more about the development of the icon of Eliot Ness and his role in American society than about the Butcher of Kingsbury Run.

I first came across the story of the Butcher of Kingsbury Run in an episode of the Last Podcast on the Left and was surprised as an avid true crime reader and the grandchild of a Cleveland native that I was completely unfamiliar with the story. It really is one of the more intriguing unsolved serial killings in American history. When it comes to the details of those killings, Stashower provides more or less what's available on the wiki about this subject, but the really interesting information comes towards the ends of the murders when Stashower details the theories regarding the murderer's identity and the information held back by all of Ness' associates even into their old age.

I find the development of Ness' persona and how he came to be part of the American vernacular less interesting, but still well researched and written about. All together an interesting read but much more about Ness than the murders.

Whoever wrote the description for this book clearly did not read this book. It is described as being about how Eliot Ness solved a serial killer case in Cleveland in the 1930s-40s. It is not. It is a poorly executed term paper on the life of Eliot Ness. The entire first ¼ of the book has absolutely nothing to do with the serial killer. It is about EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. who ever met Eliot Ness, crossed paths with him or possibly whoever heard of him throughout his pursuit of Al Capone.

After that first 25% of the book, it begins to mention the serial killer – well not the killer, actually, but the discovery of some of his victims. Stashower then proceeds to tell you in minute detail every aspect of the lives of every person who knew someone who knew someone who either found a victim, was on the police force at the time, or read about it at some moment in their past.

That part of the book is intertwined with the minutiae of Ness’s life. This is likely because there is nothing to tell. Ness did not catch the killer. There is no point in the book. It rambles and stumbles along never going anywhere or accomplishing anything beyond being incredibly boring. Watching the slides from your childhood BFF’s grandparents’ trip to the Grand Canyon would be more stimulating.

Tedious, pointless, and boring.

⚫️Book Review⚫️

It’s #thrillerthursday but, I’m here to share this true crime book that I WISH was a fictional thriller. Let’s start by my saying thank you to @netgalley and @minotaur_books and @macmillan.audio for the eARC and ALC for American Demon.

Did you know that America had its own Jack the Ripper? I sure didn’t!

Most of us have heard of Eliot Ness, in passing at the minimum. He was the head of The Untouchables, the crew that worked to bring down Al Capone. After that whole shebang ended Eliot Ness went on with his life as the untouchable public figure he was and took on the role of director of public safety for Cleveland.

Eliot Ness then came face to face with the hardest case of his life. Bodies started showing up in Cleveland…and I’m not going to get into detail here because the book does that in depth. It’s brutal and awful.

I think this book was well written and I highly enjoyed learning about Eliot Ness, including much about his personal life. This murderer was just 🤢 though. There were a few parts that dragged for me, but overall I thought this book was good. Not my most favorite true crime/nonfiction book, but I would still recommend it to true crime enthusiasts!

Who knew Eliot Ness helped to catch America’s Jack the Ripper? I love true crime novels and this one does not disappoint. You’ll hear all about Al Capone but the real,story is the “the torso killer.” Great novel.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and.Minotaur Books for this audio e-arc.*

1. I had no idea that there was a serial killer that taunted Cleveland in the 30's and 40's.

2. I had no idea what happened to Eliot Ness after Chicago. I was shocked to learn he came to Cleveland. As someone who lived in a suburb of Cleveland in the 70's and went to school there, I am surprised it was never talked about. <spoiler>Perhaps it is because the killer was never caught and Eliot Ness basically resigned in disgrace is the reason why</spoiler>.

3. I remember the Flats and how we were always told how dangerous they were and how they still caught on fire. It wasn't until I was in my late 20's that they finally cleaned that area up and now it is a thriving area of music and arts and the such. It was a surprise, but very welcome for the Cleveland community.

4. My father lived for a time in Bay Village [where Eliot Ness had a house]. It was one of the swankiest neighborhoods that I had ever seen at that time [I was young and impressionable. ;-) ]. I can see Mr. Ness and his family living there.

5. I love this author and would read anything he writes. Thankfully, IMO, he writes really well and writes excellent, thought-provoking books. This is no exception. This book will stay with the reader for a long time.

6. There is no happy ending here. There are moments of frustration because of this. I feel deeply for the families that are left wondering, even all these years later.

7. It is rough when one idolizes a public figure and then you find out they are just as fallible as the rest of us. That was the case here for me. I knew next to nothing about Mr. Ness except what I "learned" from the movies about him [and some historical fiction I had read that had him in it].

Again, this is a really good read. Both entertaining and, well, gross. Serial killers and their prey are never pretty and the author doesn't shy away from details, but doesn't cross that line into turning one off from reading, which is a real talent IMO. If you love true crime and want to know more about Eliot Ness and his life after Chicago and you appreciate really great writing that comes from excellent research, then this book is for you!

I was also lucky enough to get an audiobook ARC for this book and it was exceptional. Will Damron is one of my [new] favorite narrators and he does an excellent job in telling this story and really makes that time come alive. I am always glad when I can get an audiobook for an nonfiction books and even more so when it is a narrator that I love. I highly recommend listening to this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Daniel Stashower, Will Damron - Narrator, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing this ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While this book is definitely Nonfiction and true-crime this book definitely did not read like your average true-crime novel. This read like a thriller with me on the edge of my seat several times and for that, I have to say that this is my favorite Nonfiction read of the year!
Elliot Ness was the leader of a group called "The Untouchables" and they won the fight against Al Capone, leading him to his prison sentence. Then, after that adventure, he took the job in Cleveland as the Safety Director for the city. Boy, oh boy did he make a splash there. He tried to clear out the corruption and find the serial killer that was dismembering his victims. I really appreciate how Stashower wrote about Ness, he showed the man as a man with weaknesses and that he was not perfect. I appreciated that it showed that one person can make a difference. Terrific historical true crime, although the book touched on his Chicago career it did not go as in-depth about his career and the chase as it did on the Cleveland side.
I really enjoyed this audiobook provided by Netgalley and Macmillan Audio, the narrarator was perfect for the book and still kept me on the edge of my seat! If you are a true crime lover then this is definitely the book for you and the audiobook was AMAZING! This should be your next read!

This book was presented as Elliot Ness's hunt for a serial killer. What it really was, instead, was a brief biography of Eliot Ness. I find Elliot Ness to be a fascinating person and I want to know the fact over the fiction. The stories of The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run came in here and there. I often lost the rhythm when the book went back to Eliot Ness. This was one of the serial killers that was new to me, so I had far more interest in it than in the life of Ness. Still, I enjoyed the read.

American Demon tells the story of the hunt for the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run in Cleveland Ohio in the 30"s while also telling about the life and career of Eliot Ness. I had never heard of the Mad Butcher and I didn't know anything about Eliot Ness besides what is reported in The Untouchables movie. If you would like to keep the image of 'The Untouchables" Eliot Ness you might not want to read this book. Don't meet your heroes. This book is also an interesting look at the mechanics behind an infamous case that time forgot, and how politics and ego ran amuck during this period.
I think this is definitely something that a true crime fan needs to read to know the real history of the genre.

Happy Publication Day, Sept. 6, 2022!

If you love true crime but aren’t familiar with the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, Daniel Stashower’s American Demon: Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America's Jack the Ripper is an excellent but disturbing introduction. However this book is a two-for-one deal, and while the chapters on the “torso killer” are not for the squeamish, the chapters on Eliot Ness require patience and a grain of salt. Not to imply that Stashower hasn’t done his homework here (quite the contrary) but the figure of Eliot Ness, the “untouchable” lawman sent to clean up Cleveland, is so wrapped in legend that it is impossible to separate fact from fiction on all accounts.

After years of pursuing Al Capone in the 1930s for his bootlegging and other illegal activity during Prohibition, Ness moved from Chicago to Cleveland, where he became safety director during a time when the city was plagued by corrupt cops and a serial killer who gruesomely dismembered his victims and disposed of them in places where they would be found. While the main goal of Ness as safety director was to clean up the police department, he eventually became involved in the pursuit of the Mad Butcher, or Torso Killer, or America’s Jack the Ripper (your choice). This unsub concentrated his efforts in the Kingsbury Run area, a place with homeless encampments, frequented by prostitutes and other unsavory types. Over eight years, he committed 12 known murders, all dismembered and left to be discovered. Teams of police and investigators, including Ness, would search doggedly for this criminal mastermind who could hide in plain sight.

Alongside the story of this mad man is the story of Ness. Most are familiar with his role in taking down Al Capone on tax evasion, but this account gives a full picture of his personal and professional life. While interesting, I found myself a little surprised at the extent that the book focused on Ness. And, if you aren’t familiar with the account, you may find the ending a little dissatisfying, but such is life.

Overall, I think this book is well researched and well worth the read. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Will Damron and found his deft execution of the text enhanced the experience. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the chance to listen to this twisted tale in exchange for my honest review.

“Boston had its Strangler. California had the Zodiac Killer. And in the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland had the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run.”

Can a book leave you both completely satiated AND wholly unsatisfied?

I’m not, generally speaking, much of a true crime enthusiast. I love history, and I love a good whodunit, but I tend to get anxious when confronted to things that happened once, could happen again, and could happen to me.

That said, I liked this deep dive into this near mythical figure.

The good. The bad. The dirty-lying-alcoholic cheat.

7.5/10

Much thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this engrossing ARC.

Lawman and Prohibition hero Eliot Ness, with his "Untouchables", has been lionized for his early Chicago police work, most notably his role in bringing down the notorious Al Capone. But what did he do after leaving Chicago? Turns out that he moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became the youngest Director of Public Safety in American history, continuing his work to create safer communities. In the mid 1930's, Cleveland was beset by the so-called Torso Killer, a disturbingly Jack-The-Ripper-esque murderer who left body parts, but no clues. Who was the murderer who killed at least a dozen Ohioans and did Ness manage to identify and prosecute them, even as his personal life began to fall apart?

Stashower delivers a terrific and gripping book with "American Demon", a title that while overtly is about the Torso Killer, also seems to be a subtle nod to how the modern press has excoriated Ness more than praised his tireless work in law enforcement. And make no mistake, this book is at least as much about Eliot Ness, with whom the author's family has a slight, passing association, as it is about the Cleveland area murderer. Quite interesting overall. Recommended.

I think I’m in my Jack the Ripper curiosity phase, so I couldn’t pass it when this book promised to tell me all about America’s Jack the Ripper. I’m a big true crime fan and recently I listened multiple episodes on OG Ripper and this one. Those episodes gave me a good idea about crimes but this one also provides a good deal of information about the city during these events along with guys who meant to catch this butcher. This book is a political and diabolical game.

I liked how the author weaved in personal bits into factual parts about men who tried to catch the butcher. It made it less of a research project. Anyone who like true crime will enjoy this book.