We are a veteran mystery novelist (Max Allan Collins) and a young historian (A. Brad Schwartz) who teamed up to write a biography of "Scarface" Al Capone and "the Untouchable" Eliot Ness. AMA!

[u/MACandABS]

Intro: We are Max Allan Collins (a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, author of Road to Perdition, Quarry, the Nathan Heller series, and more) and A. Brad Schwartz (author of Broadcast Hysteria: Orson Welles's War of the Worlds and the Art of Fake News, and a doctoral student at Princeton University). Since our respective childhoods, we've been fascinated with the mythic struggle between Chicago gangster Al Capone and his nemesis, Prohibition agent Eliot Ness. Five years ago, we decided to pool our talents and write the definitive biography of both men, which debuted on Tuesday as Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago: http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062441942/scarface-and-the-untouchable/

To get this story right, we scoured archives in a dozen states and Washington, DC, toured Capone's Miami mansion, pored over Ness's yellowing scrapbooks, even test-fired a Tommy gun! Together, we uncovered the real men behind the myths and discovered a thrilling story that's never been fully told, with surprising relevance to our own times. For an hour beginning at 1pm EST on August 16, we'll be here to answer your questions. Ask us anything!

Proof:

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[u/Chtorrr]

What kind of research did you do for this book? Did you find any interesting facts?

[u/MACandABS → u/Chtorrr]

MAC here. The research began literally in the early '80s for my Nathan Heller novel, TRUE DETECTIVE, which became a long-running series. Eliot Ness is my PI Nate Heller's police contact, essentially. He's been in and out of the series, and appears in the next one, DO NO HARM, in (choke) 2020. From the Heller novels came a series of books about Eliot Ness in his Cleveland years...I'd been interested in Ness since childhood, watching the Robert Stack show. My research for those novels led me to Cleveland, in particularly the Case Western Reserve library, where Ness's massive personal scrapbooks were kept. I had no idea these scrapbooks existed! So a lot of research was done for my fiction, and eventually led to a play, ELIOT NESS: AN UNTOUCHABLE LIFE. That brought Brad and me together -- and he needs to talk about the research we (largely he) did for the new non-fiction book.

[u/AuthorMattRass]

I read the non-fiction Torso years ago. Can you comment on the case's effect on Ness?

[u/MACandABS → u/AuthorMattRass]

We had originally intended to cover the lives of Capone and Ness from cradle to grave in this book, but the Chicago story was so epic in itself that we decided to save Ness's later life (and the Torso case) for a sequel.

Ness appears to have been dragged into this case somewhat against his will, as nothing in his career prepared him to hunt for a serial killer (not yet a known phenomenon at that time). But the best evidence suggests that, not only did he sincerely believe he identified the killer (and could never tell anyone), but he was also probably right. The frustration of that seems to have weighed heavily on him, and certainly tarnished his reputation in Cleveland.

For the full story, you'll have to wait until 2020 for the next book.

[u/SausageMcWonderpants]

Do you ever buy a case of whiskey and drive over the border between Canada and the US for research purposes?

[u/Chtorrr]

What were some of your favorite books as a kid?

[u/MACandABS → u/Chtorrr]

MAC here: My mom read me Tarzan novels, and my first reading memory is Sherlock Holmes quickly followed by Dick Tracy comic books. I also read The Mark of Zorro very early on. First adult read (at 11) was The Maltese Falcon.

[u/[deleted]]

What is the biggest difference between Eliot Ness the man and the myth?

[u/[deleted]]

Is it true that Eliot Ness never carried a gun?

[u/Chtorrr]

What is the very best dessert?