Review of Machine Guns & Typewriters

[Chris Alex Powell]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Machine Guns & Typewriters" by Robert W. Wallace.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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“Machine Guns & Typewriters” by Robert W. Wallace is a novel based on the true events following the crimes of the Miller-Faber gang. It traces real-life events of the crime that follows the introduction of the submachine gun, “The Thompson,” into the gangster streets of America. In the background are respected and reputable journalists Joseph Francis Dinneen and his colleague Goldberg as they chase after the story that seems to have been publicly resolved by the false arraignment and prosecution of two innocent hustling taxi drivers. Murt Miller, Irving Miller, and Abe Faber are one hell of a gang who learn from scratch, making mistakes and perfecting their act until the gruesome theft at the Needham Trust Company, where they leave two law enforcement officers dead and make away with a lot of money. This heat is also trailed by the consequences of their past crimes, which have left a policeman dead, a civilian dead, and several others injured. To top this crime wave off, they have burgled the weapons of the police and were on a rampage with military weapons. The story is further propelled forward by a series of political upheavals seeking the unification of the enforcement forces. This is a fierce novel that decrypts the mastermind game of a bunch of psychotic criminals through the smartness of a bunch of detectives, newsmen, and ordinary people. 

There are several positives to the book. The author sets the pace with an intriguing introduction to the weapon of interest. Not only does this set the pace for the story, but it also introduces the theme and world, which I was engulfed in in the next couple of days. The author also showed so much openmindedness to the story as he told it from the perspectives of the detectives, policemen, and criminals responsible for the act. As a thriller novel, Robert Wallace did a good job fine-tuning the historical details of the book and capturing it in such a way that it makes a very intriguing read. Another perfect job was done with the backstories of the characters within the novel. This shed much insight into their perspectives and beliefs. Robert Wallace also adopted a good narrative style by going back and forth between these back stories and his present narrative. The author infused so much creative effort into telling this narrative that it felt like the portal between creativity and realism had been breached. Because of these, I would give the book five out of five stars, having found nothing I would consider my least favorite thing. Also, I found no errors in this book.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of thrillers, detective crime stories, and non-fictional and historical narratives. People who enjoy journalistic diaries would also find this book very fulfilling.

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Machine Guns & Typewriters
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[NetMassimo]

I confess I didn't know of the Miller-Faber gang, so this mix of historical fiction and pure fiction could be interesting, also considering that it's well constructed with a good balance between facts and fiction. Thank you for your great review!