The premise is a grind house fever dream ... The reality of this case is far more mundane and messy, and far more fascinating ... Both Ness and the Torso Killer are operating in Cleveland at the same time, but Stashower is admirably forthcoming about how these two threads barely intersect ... Stashower demonstrates an ear for the vivid poetry of the era’s tabloid journalism as he resurfaces the outlandish writing that came out of the press’s attempt to cover the Torso Killer ... American Demon is a winding, and sometimes confusing, jaunt.
There's no definitive solution to the murders in American Demon, but Stashower's portrait of Ness is layered and he vividly re-creates a broken system where a well greased cop often called ahead so gambling houses could tidy up before an imminent bust.
... grisly ... Stashower showcases several such scenes in gripping detail, when innocent folks turned a corner and suddenly saw something they could never unsee ... It sounds strange to say in a book with so many gruesome bits, but in some ways the killings are a MacGuffin — the mere catalyst for the unraveling and downfall of the protagonist Ness ... I walked away from American Demon somewhat frustrated. That’s no knock on Stashower, who provides shrewd analysis and paints each scene with vivid, macabre details. You’ll sweat reading it. But don’t expect the tidy ending of a mystery novel. As in a classic noir detective story, we watch Ness fall apart, but there’s no redemption here. Sad to say, Ness peaked in his 20s, and Prohibition’s star G-man never recovered from the intoxicating effects of fame. He wasn’t untouchable after all.
Stashhower, in his first section, writes about Ness’s growth as a lawman. To speak about the ones chasing the killer is usually problematic for nonfiction police procedurals. Since there is limited information about the serial killers themselves, writers tend to focus on the not-as-compelling narrative surrounding the killings. American Demon, however, is successful in making Ness an enthralling, flawed protagonist who got credit for Chicago’s infamous Al Capone’s incarceration, even though he did not have much to do with it ... Because Stashower knows Cuyahoga County, Cleveland and its surrounding areas, like Jackass Hill and Kingsbury Run (where two male corpses were found in 1935), he is able to bring out the area’s personality as well ... rich with public information while showing readers how America’s salacious media machine has since not changed ... objective in style and in content, and Ness is not always portrayed as the hero.
Stashower offers a clear-eyed view of Ness ... Stashower offers a meticulous account of the unproductive investigation, leaving no lead or body part unnoted. He draws extensively from Cleveland newspapers of the era ... However necessary, Stashower’s extensive quoting of newspaper reports sometimes grows wearisome ... Largely sympathetic to Ness, the author nonetheless details his ensuing years of decline ... Although Stashower is an accomplished storyteller, some readers may feel let down when the suspense of this bodies-galore account comes crashing to an unsatisfying end. We are left without an identified killer and with Ness’s storied career and personal life in tatters. Nicely crafted, the book will appeal to hard-core Ness fans and true-crime freaks.
Based on numerous sources, including Ness’ own papers, this account is a gripping true-crime thriller ... Stashower opens the book with a good recap of the Capone case, for readers who need some backstory. True-crime fans will want this one on their TBR lists.
Stashower approaches this material with a pit bull's tenacity, and he writes with the steeliness of an old-school journalist, suiting the book's place and time ... American Demon is a thrillingly bedeviling true crime story interlaced with a nuanced character study--not of the criminal but of his flawed pursuer.
Definitive ... The combination of a baffling unsolved crime with a nuanced portrayal of an American icon adds up to another winner for this talented author.
The author deftly sets Ness’ battles against institutional antagonists against an engagingly told, suspenseful account of the search for a notorious killer. Stashower is particularly incisive in his explorations of Ness’ lapses as an investigator and his portrait of the crime fighter’s personal and professional decline. Rather than a simple idealization of Ness’ often uncanny efficiency, we get a nuanced text about a deeply principled and exceptionally accomplished—though all-too-human—reformer ... A riveting and illuminating account of an iconic figure’s involvement in a notorious murder investigation.
