Ma Barker

by Chris Enss, Howard Kazanjian

Was Arizona Donnie Clark, AKA Kate "Ma" Barker the mastermind behind the Barker gang terrorizing the Midwest during the early years of the great Depression? Or was she a terrible mother who urged her sons to criminal behavior for her own financial gain? Or does the truth lie somewhere in between. This lively retelling of the legend of Ma Barker and her boys is full of action, intrigue, and the answers to mysteries that have lingered for more than 70 years.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Crime, Biography

240 pages, Paperback

Published October 5, 2016

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one puts a new spin on the phrase, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree". This was an interesting book about the criminals Ma Barker, her sons and their other partners in crime. Remorseless, self-entitled, manipulative, cold hearted are words that I'd use to describe Ma "Kate"Barker. She was the master mind and influence of the crimes her sons committed.
I received this book as a goodreads giveaway, in exchange for my review.
This was indeed...a good read!

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have stopped reading this story half way through because it was beginning to repeat itself, but this was a book club selection and I felt duty bound (and grateful that I did not pick it). This book had so much potential, but the authors decided to tell it in a circular way. The crimes described took place from the 1920s until 1935, but instead of a linear timeline, the authors chose to write about Ma Barker's 4 children in their own chapters, even repeating paragraphs word for word when two or more characters intersected. The book is heavily footnoted and chapters seem to be term papers. I really wanted to read and know this story about Ma Barker, but this did not teach me much at all. I hate giving one star reviews and the second star is for the authors' efforts.

[David Crow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris Enss is one of my all time favorite authors. She covers the part of history that men leave out, which is the great triumphs and sometimes evil of women. If you think women are the gentler sex you haven't read Chris's work. Women had to be tough to put up with the male worlds that tried trapping them. Meticuloulsy researched, beautifully written, and entertaining. These are the hallmarks of her work. I highly recommend you read this book of America's most dangerous mother.

[Devyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book from Goodreads.

Ma Barker: America's Most Wanted Mother is a detailed account of Arizona Barker and her son's numerous crimes and the pursuit to bring them to justice.
I learned a lot about Ma Barker and her four criminal offspring from this book. I was honestly surprised to learn about the suspected sexual relationship between Ma and two of her boys.
There is only one thing I would change about this book and that is the timeline. This book doesn't follow the regular layout, instead is gives information one by one by each person. This made following along with the book (date wise) hard. Say I was reading about Fred Barker, I couldn't tell you what point in life his other siblings died because of the individual layout.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy reading Chris Enss books and I really enjoyed the history in this book. To think that Ma Barker was like the original Bonnie is amazing. But that she raised her sons to be like her and they were they're own mob gang is crazy. This was a great read.

[Jami · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a 2.5 for me. I would give the book 2 stars but I rated this an extra half star because I felt like I learned some things. However, I didn’t care for the organization of the book; for example the chapter on Lloyd occurs fairly early on and talks about his death. I didn’t initially realize that this happened after Ma’s death as she was still very much alive in the prior chapter. There were some things that seemed repetitive and others I thought would have benefited from more in depth coverage.

[Tim Evanson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely awful. The number of errors in this book are mind-boggling.

They aren't minor matters, either. The errors are large, important to the story, and frequent.

Here's just one: Kazanjian and Enss claim that Ma Barker met with Al Capone in the summer of 1933, and he told them that if they hid kidnap victims in Chicago that he'd charge them "rent".

Thing is, Capone had been in jail since October 24, 1931. Although Frank Nitti was technically the new boss, the Outfit was in disarray in 1933 as various capos and high-ranking soldiers fought with one another for control. So who did they meet with? Or maybe they never met with anyone at all.

Just avoid this book. A few errors can be ignored. This book has lots of them.

The prose style is all right, and the narrative fairly clean. But wow... as history, it's wrong.

[Allen Beckner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy Chris Enss' writing. It was an excellent story of Ma Barker, but I think some of the comments about J Edgar Hoover needed more research. Overall though an excellent read.

[Nefertari · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, but an excellent look at the bloody history of the Barker gang.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting. Criminal family kinda gets lost in American gangster lore to the more notable names. Informative and enjoyable read.

[Kaydon_the_dino · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself a bit disappointed. You never really “get to know” the figures the book is about because it’s mostly a dry recitation of newspaper accounts.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arizona Donnie Clark was born in Missouri in 1873. Arizona went by a host of alias during her life of crime and is now most famously known as Ma Barker. Barker married George Barker in 1892. The couple had four sons: Herman, Lloyd, Arthur, and Fred. The family were considerably poor, with basically no education. They resorted to odd jobs and a life of crime to make ends meet. Barker would become known as the ruthless matriarch of the family, becoming involved in the Barker-Karpis Gang. This book outlines Barker's criminal activities, which were pretty wild for the 1920s and 1930s. I learned a great deal from this book.

I have the Audible version, but if you are interested in a physical copy, it is just under 300 pages. I thought the book was tremendously well researched and informative. If you are interested in the Public Enemies era of gangs, this book would be one that you would likely be interested in.

[Doreen Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an easy read. Once I started, I could not put the book down. The author has an extensive list of research and resources. I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in the gangster era. In fact, Ma Barker is an interesting character to read about.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched and very well written. Enjoyable to follow and would definitely recommend. Full history of Ma Barker and her family, as well as information on Alvin Karpis and other minor players in the Barker-Karpis gang.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Book

I had heard about Ma Barker and amber sons, but never knew many details. A tragedy they had to live the way they did.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fine book shows how Arizona Kate Barker was the master manipulator and real brains behind the Karpis-Barker gang. Dillinger and Bonnie+Clyde have received most of the outlaw scholarship, but this brings the Barkers and Creepy Alvin Karpis into the light.