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Eliot Ness #3
Bullet Proof
Former Untouchable Eliot Ness attacks Mafia union corruption in his adopted city of Cleveland, and becomes the target of assassins
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Max Allan Collins
820 books1,342 followersReceived the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) in 2006.
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
He has also published under the name Patrick Culhane. He and his wife, Barbara Collins, have written several books together. Some of them are published under the name Barbara Allan.
Book Awards
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1984) : True Detective
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : Stolen Away
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : Carnal Hours
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) : Damned in Paradise
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1999) : Flying Blind: A Novel about Amelia Earhart
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (2002) : Angel in Black
Japanese: マックス・アラン・コリンズ
or マックス・アラン コリンズ
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 6, 2018
Well written and entertaining book. Based on real life characters and events. I enjoyed it.
April 4, 2026
This is the third of Max Allan Collins' excellent hard-boiled series set in the 1930s and featuring Eliot Ness. It's set after Ness's Untouchable days, when he worked as Safety Director in Cleveland, running both police and fire departments.
Collins' novels are fictionalized versions of cases Ness actually worked. In this case, he's looking into labor trouble. A couple of smart racketeers are entrenched in important union positions, using this to extort money out of local business owners.
Ness' problem is getting enough of the victims to testify, since doing so could be dangerous to their health. In the meantime, Ness recruits an old friend who is involved in the unions to help gather evidence. The friend is an old union hand, but recognizes that the racketeers aren't doing the working class any favors.
Eventually, the situation escalates from vandalism and extortion to murder. There's an attempt to hit Ness as well, but the top cop comes up with a clever plan to gather supposedly lost ballistics evidence and soon finds himself stalking a killer through a warehouse filled with plate glass.
It is yet another great entry in this great series. The story progresses logically and Collins presents Ness as a strong, smart protagonist. Characterizations of both good guys and bad guys are excellent.
Collins' novels are fictionalized versions of cases Ness actually worked. In this case, he's looking into labor trouble. A couple of smart racketeers are entrenched in important union positions, using this to extort money out of local business owners.
Ness' problem is getting enough of the victims to testify, since doing so could be dangerous to their health. In the meantime, Ness recruits an old friend who is involved in the unions to help gather evidence. The friend is an old union hand, but recognizes that the racketeers aren't doing the working class any favors.
Eventually, the situation escalates from vandalism and extortion to murder. There's an attempt to hit Ness as well, but the top cop comes up with a clever plan to gather supposedly lost ballistics evidence and soon finds himself stalking a killer through a warehouse filled with plate glass.
It is yet another great entry in this great series. The story progresses logically and Collins presents Ness as a strong, smart protagonist. Characterizations of both good guys and bad guys are excellent.
June 3, 2023
Bullet Proof, Max Allan Collins [Wolfpack Press, 2020 (revised)].
The third installment in a historical fiction/crime saga chronicling Eliot Ness’s post-Untouchables career. Working as public safety commissioner in Cleveland, Ness investigates a ring of racketeers who have infiltrated organized labor and are extorting local businessmen, as well as the assassination of a union organizer. A briskly, paced adventure.
***
Max Allan Collins is one of America’s most lauded writers of hard boiled fiction. A former Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster and 25X recipient of the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, Collins is perhaps best known for the classic graphic novel Road to Perdition, the basis of a feature film by Sam Mendes [2003].
The third installment in a historical fiction/crime saga chronicling Eliot Ness’s post-Untouchables career. Working as public safety commissioner in Cleveland, Ness investigates a ring of racketeers who have infiltrated organized labor and are extorting local businessmen, as well as the assassination of a union organizer. A briskly, paced adventure.
***
Max Allan Collins is one of America’s most lauded writers of hard boiled fiction. A former Mystery Writers of America Grandmaster and 25X recipient of the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, Collins is perhaps best known for the classic graphic novel Road to Perdition, the basis of a feature film by Sam Mendes [2003].
May 1, 2025
Good but, a little repetitive.
November 2, 2021
Collins returns to Eliot Ness with a fight against crooked labor leaders. The book starts during the "Little Steel" strike of 1937. Ness is trying to prevent a repeat of the 1937 Memorial Day massacre in Chicago. While attempting to keep peace between the union and Republic Steel (and the police), Ness investigates racketeering in a couple of other unions, including one for glaziers.
Collins does a good job, and has Ness do a good job, of walking the line between union and business. Ness is pretty clearly pulled by the business interests in Cleveland to act as a de facto strike-breaker. Ness sets out a course to prevent violence from both sides. Collins also walks a decent line with regard to the investigation in to union corruption. It's clear that there were corrupt unions at the time. It's also clear there were unions that weren't corrupt but that were targeted by management and law enforcement anyway.
A nice entry in to the Ness series and a good entry point to look at an era of labor relations that has probably been forgotten by the public at large.
Collins does a good job, and has Ness do a good job, of walking the line between union and business. Ness is pretty clearly pulled by the business interests in Cleveland to act as a de facto strike-breaker. Ness sets out a course to prevent violence from both sides. Collins also walks a decent line with regard to the investigation in to union corruption. It's clear that there were corrupt unions at the time. It's also clear there were unions that weren't corrupt but that were targeted by management and law enforcement anyway.
A nice entry in to the Ness series and a good entry point to look at an era of labor relations that has probably been forgotten by the public at large.
December 30, 2008
Interesting take on Eliot Ness' time as Public Saftey Director of Cleveland after his more famous time in Chicago.
The action moves quickly, but some may be put off by the dialogue and descriptions which harkin back to the pulp era.
The action moves quickly, but some may be put off by the dialogue and descriptions which harkin back to the pulp era.
February 25, 2019
Ness stories at their finest
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews