Starring... John Dillinger

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Pub Date 11 Nov 2021 | Archive Date 28 Feb 2022
William Walker | DeLarge Books

Description

Everyone’s out to get him. When he hits it big on the silver screen, will it make him immortal… or a bigger target?

Chicago, 1934. John Dillinger is weary of life as an outlaw. So when the FBI surrounds him at the Biograph Theater, the notorious thief surprises everyone and surrenders. And desperate to prove to the world he’s gone straight, he makes a newsreel film from prison encouraging youngsters not to choose crime. John Dillinger in front of a camera proves as deadly as a Thompson submachine gun. Handsome and charismatic, Dillinger lights up the screen, and his little newsreel catapults him to stardom.

Pardoned due to the success of the picture, Dillinger finds himself deep in the cutthroat world of Hollywood. And with J. Edgar Hoover furious and actors like Clark Gable jealous, the criminal-turned-movie-star may find Tinseltown deadlier than robbing banks.

Can Dillinger survive his newfound fame, or will he die on the cutting room floor?

Starring… John Dillinger is a wild and light-hearted alternative history novel. If you like guns, girls and gangsters, all mixed in a potent cocktail of wicked humor and imaginative what-if’s, then you’ll love Walker and Anthony’s speculative story.


Everyone’s out to get him. When he hits it big on the silver screen, will it make him immortal… or a bigger target?

Chicago, 1934. John Dillinger is weary of life as an outlaw. So when the FBI...


A Note From the Publisher

Foreword by DAVID MAMET

Foreword by DAVID MAMET


Advance Praise

"Starring... John Dillinger is as tasty as a hot beef sandwich!" —David Mamet

“Starring... John Dillinger... A pure escapist delight and a Valentine to Hollywood.” ­­ —The Booklife Prize

"Bill Walker is a hell of a writer!" —Harlan Ellison

“Bill Walker is a consummate storyteller. Always inventive and always entertaining. You will have a great time with anything he writes.” —Richard Chizmar, Bestselling author of Gwendy's Magic Feather

"Starring... John Dillinger is as tasty as a hot beef sandwich!" —David Mamet

“Starring... John Dillinger... A pure escapist delight and a Valentine to Hollywood.” ­­ —The Booklife Prize

"Bill Walker...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781735879642
PRICE $17.95 (USD)

Available on NetGalley

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Average rating from 3 members


Featured Reviews

In 1934, John Dillinger was the FBI’s public enemy number one. There wasn’t a bank 🏦 he couldn’t rob and not a cell which could hold him. They finally caught up with him one night in front of the Biograph Theater 🎭 in Chicago, ending his short but colorful life.

But what if things had worked out differently? What if Dillinger took a chance and surrendered to the FBI? And more importantly to our narrative, what if Jack Warner saw something special in the charismatic bank robber and pleaded with FDR to pardon him? What if the red carpet were rolled out and Dillinger with his Cary Grant mustache became the latest star of silver screen making more in a month than he ever got from the banks?

Capturing the grandeur of old Hollywood with Dillinger dining with Jean Harlow and William Powell at the Brown Derby, fist fighting with James Cagney, having affairs with the top stars of his day, this narrative really feels authentic — as if it really happened this way.

Of course, J. Edgar wouldn’t have just let Dillinger go no matter how much dirt was on him and the spying and surveillance of the movie star Dillinger rings true.

The narrative is best for the first two thirds , but tails off a bit as the story draws to a close. All in all, though, a unique and exciting glimpse of history as it could’ve been.

M

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