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The Snatch Racket: The Kidnapping Epidemic That Terrorized 1930s America


Author: Carolyn Cox

Started: Jan. 20, 2021

Finished: Jan. 31, 2021


Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the opportunity to read and review this title.


The 1930s brought about kidnappings in safe Midwestern towns that had never seen such criminality. J. Edgar Hoover is the new head of the Bureau of Investigation looking to make sure they are seen as the department in charge of taking care of the gangsters. Beginning with the kidnapping of the son of Charles Lindbergh, the history of the era of kidnapping, and the introduction of the FBI as we know it now.


The story is done in a clear timeline fashion and tells the story of several kidnappings and the ways in which the kidnapped were returned home. The stories of several prominent gangsters including Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly are also told and we come to understand how they were captured and the roles they played in these kidnappings. At times, the book reads like a textbook which slowed my interest in reading. If you are interested in stories of well-known gangsters or the crimes which they committed then you will truly enjoy this book.

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