7, 000 clams Book

The Roaring 20's- Mobsters, Bootleggers, Tommy Guns, Flappers, Rich Socialites, Romance, Sociopaths...

If you're a history buff and you love the Roaring 20's, you'll enjoy reading 7000 CLAMS written by LEE IRBY. Al Capone and Babe Ruth are prominent secondary characters. They both have a lot in common, full of themselves and practically indestructible. The main characters, Frank, Irene and Ginger are well-developed and always seem to be right in the mix. Irene and Ginger won't take no for an answer but Frank is always there ready to help if he can, despite the many obstacles thrown in his way.

IRBY, a history professor, picked an exciting time to write about even if much of it is fiction. Imagine the hustle and bustle of Chicago during the 20's with those new-fangled Model T's; shoot-outs between the coppers and the mob; Prohibition vs. bootleggers and rum runners. The action shifts to Florida during the land boom of the 20's with hustlers and shysters at every corner eagerly waiting to take the next passer-by's dough in exchange for a fake deed or a useless bit of swamp land. Bullets are whizzing thru the air and innocent people are dropping like flies while the Chicago mob is out to get the stoolie come Hell of high water.


The editing could have been better but it was quite good: I have yet to read a book with zero errors. I did have trouble believing one small segment. Vecchio, an older hit man, gets shot at close range by a younger off-the-handle mobster while parked across the street from a crime scene loaded with coppers and no one hears the shot?

This was a real enjoyable fast-paced read. I read it in a few days while camping. I came across the book in our library, what a find. I see that Irby has written two other books and I'd sure like to read them.