The Ghosts of Eden Park

The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America

By: Karen Abbott

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro, Cassandra Campbell

New York Times best seller

The epic true crime story of the most successful bootlegger in American history and the murder that shocked the nation, from the New York Times best-selling author of Sin in the Second City and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy

"Gatsby-era noir at its best." (Erik Larson)

An ID Book Club Selection • Named one of the 10 Best History Books of the Year by Smithsonian

In the early days of Prohibition, long before Al Capone became a household name, a German immigrant named George Remus quits practicing law and starts trafficking whiskey. Within two years he's a multi-millionaire. The press calls him "King of the Bootleggers", writing breathless stories about the Gatsby-esque events he and his glamorous second wife, Imogene, host at their Cincinnati mansion, with party favors ranging from diamond jewelry for the men to brand-new cars for the women. By the summer of 1921, Remus owns 35 percent of all the liquor in the United States.

Pioneering prosecutor Mabel Walker Willebrandt is determined to bring him down. Willebrandt's bosses at the Justice Department hired her right out of law school, assuming she'd pose no real threat to the cozy relationship they maintain with Remus. Eager to prove them wrong, she dispatches her best investigator, Franklin Dodge, to look into his empire. It's a decision with deadly consequences. With the fledgling FBI on the case, Remus is quickly imprisoned for violating the Volstead Act. Her husband behind bars, Imogene begins an affair with Dodge. Together, they plot to ruin Remus, sparking a bitter feud that soon reaches the highest levels of government - and that can only end in murder.

Combining deep historical research with novelistic flair, The Ghosts of Eden Park is the unforgettable, stranger-than-fiction story of a rags-to-riches entrepreneur and a long-forgotten heroine, of the excesses and absurdities of the Jazz Age, and of the infinite human capacity to deceive.

Praise for The Ghosts of Eden Park

"An exhaustively researched, hugely entertaining work of popular history that...exhumes a colorful crew of once-celebrated characters and restores them to full-blooded life.... [Abbott’s] métier is narrative nonfiction and - as this vibrant, enormously readable book makes clear - she is one of the masters of the art." (The Wall Street Journal)

"Satisfyingly sensational and thoroughly researched." (The Columbus Dispatch)

"Absorbing...a Prohibition-era page-turner." (Chicago Tribune)

©2019 Karen Abbott (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Few authors write as colorfully and compellingly about the past as Karen Abbott, particularly when bad behavior is involved. In The Ghosts of Eden Park, we meet the audacious, larger-than-life ‘King of the Bootleggers,’ George Remus, and the equally fascinating women who will seal his fate. Sex and greed, corruption and revenge, oceans of illegal booze - Abbott’s action-packed, riveting tale has it all." (Paula McLain, New York Times best-selling author of The Paris Wife and Love and Ruin)

"Karen Abbott has long shown a formidable talent for rescuing Gothic stories from the noirish margins of American history. In The Ghosts of Eden Park, she's done it once again. Here is a high-proof narrative from the Age of Excess, populated with real-life gangsters and flapper girls, but also with plenty of surprising characters who cut against type. This Prohibition-era tale of trapdoors and false bottoms, of wicked pleasures and brilliant deceptions, springs to life on the page - and has Hollywood written all over it." (Hampton Sides, New York Times best-selling author of In the Kingdom of Ice)

"A gripping true-crime narrative...[Abbott’s] research is exemplary, and she lays out the details with a novelist’s deft touch. [F. Scott Fitzgerald] would undoubtedly have appreciated this heady cocktail of murder, intrigue and Jazz Age excess." (The Washington Post)

Good but gaspy

Book is very well constructed, giving a novel like feel to the narrative while apparently only using dialogue taken from court transcripts and things but making it flo very naturally. The only negative for me was that I kept being distracted by Cassandra Campbell's performance because she gasps really loudly every time she takes a breath.

Really great story.

I'm just wondering why no one has made a movie based on this book. it's too bad there is not a historical tour of the area. really enjoyed the intersection of all the characters and the accuracy of the history.

Great Story, well tolf

I first learned on George Remus from "Boadwalk Empire." This book does a good job of telling his story. Very enjoyable.

Disappointed

The book had a lot of promise going into it and the story was certainly intriguing, but it just didn’t deliver. It took me some time to trudge through it. Perhaps it was using two narrators or maybe the flow of the story was a bit off, but I found it very difficult to get into the book.

Outstanding!

They could not have picked a better narration team for this book! And although it's based entirely on the historical records, it flows as a story. Loved it.

interesting

very interesting story that I didn't know anything about prior to reading! it was a bit hard to keep all the various characters straight, and some were so minor they probably didn't need to be introduced, but enjoyed this book nonetheless.

Pronunciation Goof

It is LY- ma. Ohio, not LEE-ma. Took me a minute to figure out where he was hospitalized.

Great read!

Loved this book and appreciate the research Abbott did to share the King of Bootlegging’s story!

King of the Bootleggers

Wow! This was really eye opening - the only name I knew about during prohibition was Al Capone. George Remus was even more outrageous than 'Big Al'. This includes his thoughts, those of people that knew him, and court testimony. Did his wife deserve to die? You get to decide.

Terrific Story and Performance

The Ghosts of Eden Park is a true and terrific tale! What a marvelous story teller is Karen Abbot, I look forward to reading and listening to her other books (well researched and the story moves seamlessly). And Rob Shapiro is a wonderful narrator!!! (which means so much) Absolutely terrific. I have listened to this audio twice. Most enjoyable. Kudos to all.