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Pinkerton #14
The Burglar's Fate and The Detectives (Annotated): From the Founder of World's First Detective Agency
**This paperback version •Re-formatted and added clear table of content.•Checked for errors to bring you the best reading experience.•Added detailed author biography.In the pages which follow I have narrated a story of actual occurrence. No touch of fiction obscures the truthful recital. The crime which is here detailed was actually committed, and under the circumstances which I have related. The four young men, whose real names are clothed with the charitable mantle of fiction, deliberately perpetrated the deed for which they suffered, and to-day are inmates of a prison. No tint or coloring of the imagination has given a deeper touch to the action of the story, and the process of detection is detailed with all the frankness and truthfulness of an active participant.
187 pages, Paperback
First published May 9, 1884
28 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Allan Pinkerton
169 books15 followersNotorious agency of Scottish-American detective Allan Pinkerton broke strikes and disrupted labor efforts to unionize.
People best know this spy for creating the national agency. In 1849, people in Chicago first appointed Pinkerton. In the 1850s, he partnered with Chicago attorney Edward Rucker in forming the northwestern police agency, later known nationally and still in existence today as Pinkerton consulting and investigations, a subsidiary of Securitas Aktiebolag.
Business insignia of Pinkerton included a wide open eye with the caption, "We never sleep."
People posthumously published exploits of his agents, perhaps some ghostwritten for promotion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_P...
People best know this spy for creating the national agency. In 1849, people in Chicago first appointed Pinkerton. In the 1850s, he partnered with Chicago attorney Edward Rucker in forming the northwestern police agency, later known nationally and still in existence today as Pinkerton consulting and investigations, a subsidiary of Securitas Aktiebolag.
Business insignia of Pinkerton included a wide open eye with the caption, "We never sleep."
People posthumously published exploits of his agents, perhaps some ghostwritten for promotion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_P...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 1, 2013
Images at http://aneyespy.blogspot.ca/2013/05/i...
Text at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17762
True story of a bank robbery in small western town of Geneva. Details go beyond a simple factual report, lend atmosphere with good effect: "dilapidated wash-stand", "uninviting quarters", "couch which rattled and creaked under him like old bones". The language, Dickensian alliteration, draws us into the hot dusty air: "somnolent", rousing alarm "imagining.. the porter had eloped with the silverware", "breakfast is waitin' ..laconic message", "muttered malediction".
After closing, August 18-, assistant cashier Pearson sends fellow worker Miss Patton to answer the locked outer door. Two ruffians hit her, bind and gag both, and lock them in the bank vault, emptied of "$20K in gold, silver, and currency". Pearson frees himself, unscrews the bolts with a dime, rouses Patton from her swoon, and runs out for help, too late.
Pinkerton sends John Manning, who finds that a coin cannot be used on properly tightened screws, and starts suspecting Pearson of inside aid. More steady footwork than rousing gun or fist-fights, fascinating rather than thrilling, but I would like more true Pinkerton.
Typos:
ch1 p2 builded (may be archaic past tense where we use built today)
Text at http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17762
True story of a bank robbery in small western town of Geneva. Details go beyond a simple factual report, lend atmosphere with good effect: "dilapidated wash-stand", "uninviting quarters", "couch which rattled and creaked under him like old bones". The language, Dickensian alliteration, draws us into the hot dusty air: "somnolent", rousing alarm "imagining.. the porter had eloped with the silverware", "breakfast is waitin' ..laconic message", "muttered malediction".
After closing, August 18-, assistant cashier Pearson sends fellow worker Miss Patton to answer the locked outer door. Two ruffians hit her, bind and gag both, and lock them in the bank vault, emptied of "$20K in gold, silver, and currency". Pearson frees himself, unscrews the bolts with a dime, rouses Patton from her swoon, and runs out for help, too late.
Pinkerton sends John Manning, who finds that a coin cannot be used on properly tightened screws, and starts suspecting Pearson of inside aid. More steady footwork than rousing gun or fist-fights, fascinating rather than thrilling, but I would like more true Pinkerton.
Typos:
ch1 p2 builded (may be archaic past tense where we use built today)
June 17, 2012
I didn't care for it at first, but i got pass the first 10 or so pages of the author babbling about the area, and then the book got good..
So just either skip then first 10 pages or read through them, the book does get better..
So just either skip then first 10 pages or read through them, the book does get better..
August 18, 2019
A great tale of 19th century detectives hunting down a band of bank robbers across several western states. The subplot regarding some missing money is also quite interesting.
July 8, 2017
Great read!
This book is like a mystery but better-ya can't make this stuff up! I encourage all mystery or history readers to read this book. Allan Pinkerton is fantastic
This book is like a mystery but better-ya can't make this stuff up! I encourage all mystery or history readers to read this book. Allan Pinkerton is fantastic
December 12, 2015
Another more-than-a-century-old book I've read this month, and this time, it is a true story. Written by supposedly the first detective/spy of America, this one is the story of a bank robbery and the catching of the burglars. It is neatly written, with detailed description of the places and the detective work. I had fun reading it.
December 15, 2013
Couldn't get into this story
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews