About this item
ldquoA rollicking tale that is one part The Sting one part The Great Gatsby and one part The Devil in the White Cityrdquo mdashKaren Abbott author of Liar Temptress Soldier Spy In a time of unregulated madness nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties It was the perfect place for a slick smooth-talking charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz to entice hundreds of people to invest as much as million--upwards of million today--in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama It was an ingenious deceit one that out-Ponzied Charles Ponzi himself In this rip-roaring tale of greed financial corruption dirty politics over-the-top and under-the-radar deceit illicit sex and a brilliant and wildly charming con man on the town and then on the lam Empire of Deception proves that the American dream of easy wealth is truly a timeless commodity ldquoCaptivating Dean Jobb tells the story of Leo Koretz a legendary con artist of Madoffian audacity with terrific energy and narrative briordquo mdashGary Krist author of Empire of Sin ldquoA brilliantly researched tale of greed ambition and our desperate need to believe in magic itrsquos history that captures America as it really was--and always will be A great readrdquo mdashDouglas Perry author of Eliot Ness ldquoReads like a Gatsby-Ponzi mashup Kudos to Jobb for unearthing this overlooked story and bringing to life a charming witty naughty iconic American crookrdquo mdashNeal Thompson author of A Curious Man ldquoThe granddaddy of all con men Leo Koretz gives Jobb the opportunity to exhibit his impressive research and storytelling skills A highly readable entertaining storyrdquo mdashKirkus Reviews.
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
