Love & Murder: The Lives and Crimes of Bonnie and Clyde

by David Kennedy

When it comes to America's most famous and notorious criminals, no legend has been larger than real life than that of the robber duo Bonnie and Clyde. The murderous lovers found each other in the slums of Depression-era Dallas and embarked on a wild crime and killing spree - so why is it their love that sustains their legend? Over a two-year period from 1932-34, during the height of the Great Depression in America, Bonnie & Clyde evolved from petty thieves to nationally known bank robbers and murderers. Their robbery of banks and store owners, in a rural America ravaged by farm foreclosures and bankruptcies, led to their exploits and relationship being romanticized by the press and even some modern day book authors. In an effort to make money off the story of the duo; portray them as a latter-day Romeo and Juliet against a background of bank robbing and spectacular getaways. In reality, at the time of their death, their gang was believed to be responsible for at least 13 murders, including two policemen, several robberies and burglaries and assorted kidnappings. Over the years the stories of Bonnie and Clyde had become more fairytales than facts. We are going to sort the facts from fiction and tell the true story of Bonnie and Clyde.

322 pages, Paperback

Published June 16, 2017

About the author

Dave is a guidebook writer/publisher turned novelist. He began rock climbing around 1984, which was a “logical” extension of hiking, camping and backpacking since boyhood. After his first article on climbing in San Diego’s back-country was published in Rock & Ice magazine, he created the San Diego County Climbing Guide, which proved extremely popular. Next came San Diego Adventures: Classic hiking, mountain biking and rock climbing. In 2007 he completed and published a second edition of the climbing guide, which vividly detailed over 2,000 routes.

Subsequently, he embarked on a fiction-writing odyssey, producing sci-fi novels and short stories “rather unsuccessfully” in terms of publication. He finally found his proper voice in 2017 when he wrote Ricochet, an intense modern-day thriller about a young female vigilante. Upon its completion, he learned about Acorn Publishing while attending the 2018 Southern California Writers’ Conference and was signed by them shortly thereafter.

David is also an accomplished horticulturist. He became interested in tropical plants called Bromeliads in 2010, which quickly turned into a passion. He is an active member of the San Diego Bromeliad Society, and has won “Best of Show” awards in their annual show multiple times. His Tillandsia collection is considered one of the best in the region. For many years he and his wife Debbie have been chief volunteer caretakers of the San Diego Zoo’s Kent Bromeliad Garden.

Becoming a novelist is the realization of a lifelong dream. David loves the process of storytelling, of waking up each day well before dawn and diving into the art of making words come together in a way that appeals.

Reviews

[Mike Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a disappointment to me. It contains many typos and poor usage of grammar. A lot of stories are told, then at the end of the story a caveat is added saying this probably never happened. Taken as a whole, I’m glad I read the book as a primer but I suspect more factual books exist.