One Monday morning in September 1953, Bobby Greenlease, the six-year-old son of a wealthy automobile dealer, was abducted from his exclusive elementary school in Kansas City. The kidnappers were Carl Austin Hall and Bonnie Heady, a dysfunctional pair of alcoholics. Just nine hours after Bobby was taken, a letter arrived at the Greenlease home, demanding the largest-ever ransom in American histroy at that time: $600,000 - the equivalent of around ten million today. But unbeknown to his frantic parents, Bobby was already dead. The abduction sparked an incredible tale of betrayal, corruption and murder that rocked the world. In this riveting account, John Heidenry crafts a haunting narrative, in the traditions of Capote's In Cold Blood, of one of the most fascinating cases of the twentieth century.

With "The Gashouse Gang," John Heidenry delivers the definitive account of one the greatest and most colorful baseball teams of all times, the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals, filled with larger-than-life baseball personalities like Branch Rickey, Leo Durocher, Pepper Martin, Casey Stengel, Satchel Paige, Frankie Frisch, and--especially-- the eccentric good ol' boy and great pitcher Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul.

The year 1934 marked the lowest point of the Great Depression, when the U.S. went off the gold standard, banks collapsed by the score, and millions of Americans were out of work. Epic baseball feats offered welcome relief from the hardships of daily life. The Gashouse Gang, the brilliant culmination of a dream by its general manager, Branch Rickey, the first to envision a farm system that would acquire and "educate" young players in the art of baseball, was adored by the nation, who saw itself--scruffy, proud, and unbeatable--in the Gang.

Based on original research and told in entertaining narrative style, "The Gashouse Gang" brings a bygone era and a cast full of vivid personalities to life and unearths a treasure trove of baseball lore that will delight any fan of the great American pastime.

Hailed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review as a "hugely detailed, engagingly written history", this is the first behind-the-scenes account of one of the greatest American success stories of this century. Front page reviews in major publications.