Empire of Deception

Narrator Peter Berkrot adopts a tone reminiscent of Mickey Spillane in delivering this examination of a master swindler from Chicago in the early 1920s. The narration, combined with the author's somewhat breezy style, makes for an enjoyable account of a con game so brazen that it wouldn't be matched until Bernie Madoff's scheme came along. Leo Koretz duped investors out of $30 million ($400 million today) and led a mysterious double/triple life that came to light only after his nonexistent Panama timber-oil empire was exposed. Even his death--suicide by chocolate--was bizarre. Berkrot adopts a conversational style and eschews theatrics in his narration, preferring to let the story itself capture the listener. But he does add a tone of incredulity as details of the case emerge. R.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Starred review from June 15, 2015

Jobb (journalism, Univ. of King's Coll.; The Cajuns) here tells the incredible story of Leo Koretz and his scheme to bilk his family, friends, and associates out of millions of dollars. The story of Koretz is told in parallel with that of the man who eventually captured him, Chicago state's attorney Robert Crowe. Through his Bayano River Syndicate, Koretz sold stock in worthless Panamanian land that he did not even own, telling investors that it contained vast oil and lumber reserves. Koretz continually brought in new investors to pay the owed dividends to the original investors (a Ponzi scheme). After several years of deception, the scheme collapsed in 1923. Koretz disappeared from Chicago and moved to Nova Scotia to buy a hunting lodge. A strange set of events led to his capture in 1924. Narrator Peter Berkrot has a distinctive voice that matches the 1920s era perfectly. VERDICT This book is written so well and performed so flawlessly on audio that it should be purchased by all libraries. Fans of Erik Larson will love Jobb's latest true crime masterpiece. ["This lively, entertaining, and depressingly relevant history of a man and his con reads like a novel and will be enjoyed by fans of popular history as well as true crime": LJ 3/15/15 starred review of the Algonquin hc.]--Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI

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