About this item
"It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Speakeasies thrived, gang war shootings announced Al Capone's rise to underworld domination, Chicago's corrupt political leaders fraternized with gangsters, and yellow journalism only contributed to the excesses. The frenzy of stock market gambling was rampant. Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people (who should have known better) to invest as much as $30 million--upwards of $400 million today--in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama, close to the new Canal Zone. When Leo's scheme finally collapsed in 1923, he vanished, and the Chicago state's attorney, a man whose lust for power equaled Leo's own lust for money, began an international manhunt that lasted almost a year. When finally apprehended, Leo was living a life of luxury in Nova Scotia under the assumed identity of a book dealer and literary critic. His mysterious death in a Chicago prison topped anything in his almost-too-bizarre-to-believe life. Empire of Deception is not only an incredibly rich and detailed account of a man and an era; it's a fascinating look at the methods of swindlers throughout history. Leo Koretz was the Bernie Madoff of his day, and Dean Jobb shows us that the dream of easy wealth is a timeless commodity"--Provided by publisher.
About the Author
"Jobb's true crime stories are not to be missed" - CrimeReadsI specialize in true crime and I'm drawn to stories that have been overlooked or forgotten - hidden gems tucked away in the attics of history. My latest book, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream, recreates Scotland Yard's hunt for a Victorian Era serial killer who murdered as many as 10 people in Britain, the U.S. and Canada. I discovered the subject of my previous book, Empire of Deception - Leo Koretz and his amazing oil swindle in 1920s Chicago - by chance, while doing other research. I spotted a reference to his arrest in Nova Scotia and I knew instantly it was a great story. Empire of Deception won the Crime Writers of Canada award for best true crime book of 2015, was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, and was named the Chicago Writers Association's Book of the Year. I'm also the author of two collections of Nova Scotia true crime stories - Daring, Devious & Deadly (2020) and Madness, Mayhem & Murder (2021) .I write a monthly true crime column for Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and my features and book reviews appear in CrimeReads, The Irish Times, the Washington Independent Review of Books, Canada's History magazine and other major publications. I teach in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction program at the University of King's College in Halifax. Website: www.deanjobb.com Twitter: @DeanJobb
