Very much unlike the movie. A great history lesson.

The airbrushed story of federal agent Eliot Ness, whose squad brought down Al Capone's illegal alcohol empire in depression-era Chicago.

I really enjoyed the book. I don't love that it feels like Eliot is a little too high on himself, but still enjoyed it in spite of that. Different than the movie (saw the movie way earlier) and very enjoyable. Recommend it overall.

The best thing I've read in a while.

Although the story hard to put down and easy to follow, this book is an even more interesting analysis of the “unreliable narrator.” This is written by Elliot Ness (and an effective ghost writer) in the perspective of himself as main character. More than 30 years after the events of the story originally occurred. Whether this book can be called non-fiction is as dubious as calling the rest of Ness’ career glamorous.

I enjoyed the read, more for the story than for the truth. Coming in know that Elliot Ness has embellished the truth of the actual story and importance of the group, The Untouchables, made this far more interesting to analyze than read.

2/5 for a non-fiction, 3.5/5 for a fiction.

I bought this book because I thought it was about the Indian caste system.
However it's actually an account of the war against organised crime in prohibition era Chicago.
A good read, but a somewhat fictionalised account.

I have 1957 edition

3.50 ⭐️— A classics piece of nonfiction, that’s for sure!

It — somehow — took me over three years to fully complete this novel, due to a plethora of different reasons — IE moving, repetitive aspect in the writing and narrative & the biggie, due to the ridiculous way I read whereby my current reads shelf might be 30+ books at any given time —but none of them meant I’d lost context, due to seeing the movie & numerous documentaries on the era etc etc — so it made it seem as though I’d not taken that many pauses, when clearly I had!
The Untouchables tells the vaunted story of Investigative superstar, Elliot Ness & his team of all star detectives that took on the Chicago mob. Ness writes the some skill & and whilst there’s undoubtedly a tad too much moonlighting, perhaps not enough grit, likely due to the times of the books release. In the spirit of those times, I’ll attempt this in a 1920’s Chicago Tribune mindset & moniker.

Dateline: 1929, Chicago Tribune

In the midst of Prohibition-era Chicago, riddled with mob violence, corruption & desecration — Elliot Ness, an ambitious young lawman, took up the daunting task of tackling organized crime in "The Untouchables." A narrative that promises gritty intrigue and a raw exposé of the criminal underbelly, it falls just short of the mark, earning itself a three-star verdict.

Ness's accounts of his battle against the notorious Al Capone's syndicate do carry a certain charm, reminiscent of the era's hardboiled journalism. The narrative paints a vivid picture of the streets, rife with bootleggers, speakeasies, and corruption. Yet, despite the captivating backdrop, Ness's tale often falters due to its tendency toward self-aggrandizement.

Readers might yearn for deeper character development and a more nuanced exploration of the moral dilemmas that lawmen faced during this tumultuous period. While "The Untouchables" offers tantalizing glimpses into the world of Eliot Ness, it leaves one thirsting for a more profound connection with the characters and a richer exploration of their motivations.

In summary, "The Untouchables" is a valiant attempt at capturing a critical chapter in American history, but it leaves us craving a more substantial and well-rounded narrative. A three-star rating seems fitting for a tale that falls just short of being truly unforgettable.

That about sums it up, and it’s all the 1920’s stylings I can muster. Definitely worth a read for anyone whom adores the period or enjoys true crime, mafioso investigatory stories & alike. Rounded-down rather than up simply due to the epic amount of great, crime, gangster or era novels one can now partake! But back in the early 1990’s, this would’ve been a 4 ⭐️ with breezing ease.

Eliot Ness tells the story of how Justice finally caught up with Al Capone. Much better than the movie, Ness tells how he and his men really were untouchable by Capone or his gang. Though not acknowledged by Ness, it seemed clear that, for whatever reason, God's providential care was on this man.

Fictional? Enjoyable lite read.

I may be the only person in the Western Hemisphere to not have seen the movie, 'The Untouchables'. Even I'm surprised that I haven't seen more than a minute or two here and there. This type of story is right up my alley… why? Well, because it's a true story, real history

- it takes place (I'm sure you know) during the Depression and Prohibition in gangster riddled and control Chicago.

It was a great story. These men were exceptionally hard working and dedicated. What they accomplished was truly an amazing feat. I'm going to seek out more books in this.

3.5 stars. This highly sanitized (and, at times, fictionalized) account of Ness’ formation of The Untouchables was ghostwritten by journalist Oscar Fraley, who informs us in the Epilogue that he published the book after Ness died while the manuscript was in proofs. It reads like a 1950s detective police procedural -- the perfect source material for the Robert Stack tv series. It was pretty clear from the opening pages that the book wasn’t meant to be an objective look at Ness or his comrades, but rather a work to praise (and ultimately memorialize and mythologize) his time in Chicago. His personal failings and foibles, of which there were many, are not even acknowledged, much less glossed. The book ends with the imprisonment of Capone, so Ness’ patchy post-Untouchables life is not discussed, nor his equally rocky marriages. The most famous moments from the classic De Palma film, which is a much better work, are not in the book: the Union Station/Odessa steps homage shoot-out, Nitti being thrown off the roof (in the book he just goes to prison), and the cheesy “Let’s do some good!” line. In the case of the film, De Palma’s fictionalized mythologizing far exceeds that of the source material.

With all those many caveats, this is still an enjoyable read, much on the level of watching a tv series that captures your attention well enough to pass the time for a couple evenings. Not necessarily worth tracking down unless you enjoy true crime reads (although the level of “truth” here must be taken with a grain of salt) and perhaps have already read better secondary sources. A solid bedtime/airport/waiting room book for true crime readers.