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Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

Kathryn Kelly was reclining on an oversize sofa at the Texas home she shared with her husband. It was the fall of 1932. Magazines and newspapers were scattered about the coffee table in front of her and music from a Philco cabinet radio filled the room. She sang along with the tune “Everything I Have Is Yours” by Art Jarrett while circling items of interest found in issues of the Fort Worth Star- Telegram. The story she highlighted in the October 18, 1932, edition of the publication was about the marriage of widow Berenice Slick to widower Charles F. Urschel. Both were reported to be prominent, wealthy oil personalities.

According to the article, the couple planned to leave immediately for an extended tour in Europe, then return to the mansion they purchased in Oklahoma on December 15. The article circled in the October 21, 1932, edition of the newspaper pertained to the appraisal of the estate of Berenice’s late husband, wildcatter Thomas B. Slick. His Oklahoma holdings alone were worth more than six million dollars. Throughout November and December, Kathryn collected every newspaper article she could find on the Urschels. She read about the newlyweds’ time in France and Italy and sailing to New York after their honeymoon. She learned the exact day they were to arrive in the States and the address of their home in Oklahoma City, 326 NW 18th Street, the names of their teenage children and where they attended school, and the bridge club luncheon scheduled to be held at the Urschel home in early December.

The December 15, 1932, edition of the Oklahoma News, featured a story inviting readers to visit the Urschel’s residence to see the beautiful table settings the bride and groom possessed. “I want to suggest to you that you drive by the Charles F. Urschel home at 18th Street and Hudson Avenue some night and take a look at the window of the dining room that faces on Hud son,” the article read. “Mrs. Urschel has a passion for beautiful china and glass and in this window are shelves upon which stand glasses of various sizes, all in the ruby Venetian glass, through which the lamps of the dining room shine warmly out to the street at night and through which the setting sun pours gorgeous hues into the dining room, near the close of day.”

Kathryn discussed the Urschels with her husband George Kelly over the holidays and into the new year and suggested they kidnap Charles. She estimated they could ask for a $250,000 ransom and get it.

Meet the Kellys

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To learn more about the kidnapping of Charles Urschel read

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne.

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Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

“Enss presents the true history of one of America’s great criminal romances in this nonfiction work. . . . This propulsive and thoroughly researched true-crime account will especially please fans of Depression-era gangster stories as it helps to elevate George and Kathryn to the same iconic strata as Bonnie and Clyde. A pulpy true-crime account of one of America’s most infamous kidnappings.” —Kirkus Reviews on Meet the Kellys

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

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Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

It’s 1933 and Prohibition has given rise to the American gangster. Bank robberies at gunpoint are commonplace and kidnapping for ransom is the scourge of a lawless nation. With local cops unauthorized to cross state lines in pursuit and no national police force, safety for kidnappers is just a short trip on back roads they know well from their bootlegging days. Gangster George “Machine Gun” Kelly and his wife, Kathryn, are the most celebrated criminal husband-and-wife team of the Great Depression. With gin-running operations facing extinction and bank vaults with dwindling stores of cash, Kathryn persuades Kelly to set his sights on the easy-money racket of kidnapping. His target: rich oilman, Charles Urschel.

Enter J. Edgar Hoover, a desperate Justice Department bureaucrat who badly needs a successful prosecution to impress the new administration and save his job. Hoover’s agents are given the sole authority to chase kidnappers across state lines and when Kelly bungles the snatch job, Hoover senses his big opportunity. The Kellys abduct a young girl to help them avoid capture. What follows is a thrilling 20,000 mile chase over the back roads of Depression-era America, crossing 16 state lines, and generating headlines across America along the way.

The Kellys’ crimes and subsequent arrests marked a number of significant firsts for the American justice system. The Kellys were the first to be tried after the Lindburgh Law was approved by Congress. The Kellys were the first gangsters to be transported by plane to the location of their trial and their trial was the first to be filmed. The FBI National Emergency Phoneline created to manage the increased number of high-profile abductions was first used by the victims of the Kellys’ kidnapping escapade. The ransom the Kellys received in the kidnapping was the largest ransom ever paid in the nation.

To learn more about the criminal duo read

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne.

The Doctor Was A Woman:

Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier is

Foreword Review Indie

2024 SILVER Winner for Women’s Studies

Enter now to win a copy of

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

“Going to see Bonnie and Clyde at a local drive-in was the start of my interest in the Great Depression and that era’s gangsters. Bonnie and Clyde. Pretty Boy Floyd. John Dillinger. Ma Barker. Bugs Moran. I’m not quite sure why I found these gangsters to be so fascinating. I didn’t think they were romantic. I certainly didn’t want to emulate them. I think it probably had something to do with how people reacted to and survived the Great Depression. So, it’s no wonder that when I heard about Meet the Kellys that I wanted to read it.

I was familiar with other books written by Chris Enss, so I was expecting a well-researched history of Kelly and Thorne. That’s exactly what I got. Kathryn Thorne saw the potential in small-time bootlegger George Kelly to give her the lifestyle she had always craved. And with her gift of a machine gun to Kelly, history was made. The couple’s endless road trips not only had me hearing some of the music from Bonnie and Clyde, but they almost made me carsick.

I learned quite a bit from this book. I’d forgotten how kidnapping had taken center stage for several of these gangsters, so much so that the government passed the Federal Kidnapping Act in an attempt to put an end to it. In true diva style, when everything disintegrated, Kathryn Thorne tried her best to keep herself and her parents out of jail. She was definitely what my family would refer to as a “piece of work.” If you have any interest at all in this time period, Meet the Kellys is well worth a read.” Net Galley Reviewer

Meet the Kellys

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Enter now to win a copy of

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

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Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

“Meet the Kellys: The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne by Christopher Enss was an interesting read. I’d heard of Machine Gun Kelly, but didn’t know much about him and I’d never heard of Kathryn Moll. I enjoy books that both entertain and inform me and this book did it.”

Apart from referring to me as “Christopher”, I appreciate the review.

Enter now to win a copy of

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne.

Enter now to win a copy of

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

“Going to see Bonnie and Clyde at a local drive-in was the start of my interest in the Great Depression and that era’s gangsters. Bonnie and Clyde. Pretty Boy Floyd. John Dillinger. Ma Barker. Bugs Moran. I’m not quite sure why I found these gangsters to be so fascinating. I didn’t think they were romantic. I certainly didn’t want to emulate them. I think it probably had something to do with how people reacted to and survived the Great Depression. So, it’s no wonder that when I heard about Meet the Kellys that I wanted to read it.

I was familiar with other books written by Chris Enss, so I was expecting a well-researched history of Kelly and Thorne. That’s exactly what I got. Kathryn Thorne saw the potential in small-time bootlegger George Kelly to give her the lifestyle she had always craved. And with her gift of a machine gun to Kelly, history was made. The couple’s endless road trips not only had me hearing some of the music from Bonnie and Clyde, but they almost made me carsick.

I learned quite a bit from this book. I’d forgotten how kidnapping had taken center stage for several of these gangsters, so much so that the government passed the Federal Kidnapping Act in an attempt to put an end to it. In true diva style, when everything disintegrated, Kathryn Thorne tried her best to keep herself and her parents out of jail. She was definitely what my family would refer to as a “piece of work.” If you have any interest at all in this time period, Meet the Kellys is well worth a read.” Kittling Book Reviews

Meet the Kellys

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Enter to win a copy of

Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

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Meet the Kellys:

The True Story of Machine Gun Kelly and His Moll Kathryn Thorne

American gangster George Kelly Barnes (1895 – 1954), aka Machine Gun Kelly, with his wife Kathryn at their trial for the kidnapping of businessman Charles F. Urschel, at the Federal Court in Oklahoma City, 9th October 1933. Kelly has a bump on his head after being hit with a pistol butt during an altercation on his arrival at court. Kelly and his wife pleaded guilty and were sentenced to life imprisonment. 

“Enss presents the true history of one of America’s great criminal romances in this nonfiction work. . . This propulsive and thoroughly researched true-crime account will especially please fans of Depression-era gangster stories as it helps to elevate George and Kathryn to the same iconic strata as Bonnie and Clyde. A pulpy true-crime account of one of America’s most infamous kidnappings.” —Kirkus Reviews on Meet the Kellys

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The Kellys are coming May 27.

Hide your valuables.

Coming February 2025!