Wicked Northern Illinois: The Dark Side of the Prairie State

by Troy Taylor

From the secrets of Joliet Penitentiary to the ferocious gunfights between the Ku Klux Klan and the Shelton Gang, Troy Taylor takes the measure of the dishonest sweat and innocent blood poured into the prairies of Northern Illinois. Meet the "fallen angels" of Decatur's red-light district, the Springfield counterfeiters who bungled stealing Lincoln's bones and the Aurora man who propped up his porch with the heads of his wife and brother-in-law. And if you dare, eavesdrop on the chilling confession of a man who left a dancer's corpse to the mercy of the railroad tracks: "So, I pat them on the cheek, call them sweet names, and kill them."

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2010

Reviews

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few random, sensational stories of crime.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Troy Taylor says in various places that he doesn't think of himself as a writer. I'd agree with that -- his style is more functional than literary. But that said, he does readers the favor of gathering up Illinois stories and getting them published so others can read them, which is a thing worth doing. Another reviewer noted that the stories aren't strictly confined to northern Illinois and so the title's a bit of a misnomer, and that's also true. It's not entirely clear how he defined the content he chose for this book -- perhaps partly it was trying to gather up some content not discussed in his other titles (of which there are many). The content interested me as a native Illinoisan, but I would wish for a more comprehensive (and indexed) collection overall.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of local history, so I picked up Wicked Northern Illinois: THE DARK SIDE OF THE PRAIRIE STATE looking for some interesting stories, and that is mostly what I got. Maybe Troy Taylor shouldn't have limited his title to Northern Illinois because much of the book takes place in Central Illinois (near St. Louis and Peoria), and I think I even saw mention of locales further south. There are stories of the plot to steal Lincoln's body and a man with severed heads supporting his porch. Where the book was a little soft for me was the ongoing chapter about the KKK and gangsters in Central Illinois. I know this was a complex chain of events with multiple players, but it either needed fleshed into something bigger and more entertaining or broken down and split up with possibly less names included unless characters were really important.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading, although it was a bit disjointed. The Shelton gang was well-covered.

[Chanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, just not a whole lot of stories. Mainly focused on gangsters, but doesn't touch many other incidents.

[Walt · Rating 2 out of 5]

leaning towards the more sensational than reporting, the book is a quick read with minor errors. Taylor is something like a yellow journalist and as such some facts are omitted. One of the last chapters pertains to the downstate gangsters which makes it odd for a book supposedly looking at Northern Illinois. One example of these omissions is clear in the death of Carl Shelton. Taylor makes a very fanciful description of the murder scene. However, he does not report that the Sheltons kidnapped someone they believed involved in the murder...a kidnapping that ended with them releasing their terrorized hostage whose testimony led to indictments against them and a newspaper reporter who allegedly delivered the man to the rival gangsters. Maybe in terms of page length, Taylor had to keep things extremely small. There is a bibliography at the end; but it would help if he used references to allow readers to follow his sources. For those readers who are mildly curious about the subject of crime in rural Illinois, this is a good read. For those more interested in the details, or those who already have a superficial knowledge on the subject, should consult the books in his bibliography.

[Riccol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neither here nor there. Struck me as just a random collection of crime stories from Illinois history. The longest segment covers the Shelton gang and Charlie Birger, taking us from Chicago down to Southern Illinois and East St. Louis during Prohibition and back up to their final turf in Peoria. Though I'd never heard of them before I found it a bit interesting, only because I was familiar with those areas. A quick read so not a waste of time, and not an all bad read either, just not totally recommendable.