On The Run with Bonnie & Clyde

I have read several of his books and this was not my favorite but I will say I am glad the myth of Hollywood version was busted. The road they traveled was not a life of luxury. Living in a car on the run and constantly looking over their shoulders was well conveyed. I was surprised they were not the big physical people that Hollywood portrayed. Faye Dunaway must have looked like a giant next to the real Bonnie. I wished he would have included a bit more about Blanche.

Even if you have read other books about Bonnie and Clyde, you will learn things you never knew about them in this book. Personally, I love it when books have a lot of pictures....and there are LOTS of pictures throughout this book. Pictures that you have probably never seen before. When reading, you are drawn into their personal lives and relationship. Life constantly on the run is intense. I highly recommend this book...you won't be disappointed...guaranteed!!Life during the depression is described in a way I never knew or envisioned before. The entire country was starving, losing their jobs and their homes. Destitution was common. Under the circumstanses back then, it is more understandable how Clyde Barrow and his brothers started their lives of crime. Once, when he was in prison, Clyde went through the most horrible treatment immaginable...you will be shocked when you read what happened to him and the extreme length he went through to try to get out. It is evident and quite clear why he vowed to never go back to prison. Completely understandable.The love that Bonnie Parker had for Clyde Barrow was unstoppable. They were devoted to one another. They had so many close calls ... it is amazing how many times they escaped with the law breathing down their necks! I ended up with a new respect for all they suffered and endured. They weren't bad people.

I have to admit, my first real exposure to Parker and Barrow was the Warren Beatty movie. So, when I learned of the real scope of their rampage through the midwest, I was eager to learn more of the details.Hence, my eager purchase of Mr. Gilmore's book and, regrettably, my great disappointment.The author started with apparently careful research of their personal lives and subsequent crime spree and then wrapped it multiple pages of ersatz b-movie pillow talk and other dialogue. For example, they are hiding in the woods and Blanch complains endlessly about bird droppings or, after their car breaks down, how smart a stolen mule is because he knows enough to walk back home in the rain.More egregious than this are the the huge swaths of material he leaves out.Photographs are included showing the capture of the fatally wounded Buck Barrow and his wife, Blanche, but then they are abruptly dropped from from the narrative. It was my understanding that Buck died in the field, but the photo clearly shows him being walked to a car. Where did he actually die? What became of Blanche?The shootout and escape at Eastham Farms is particularly frustrating. Throughout the book, Clyde makes repeated threats to raid the camp but the actual event is just a raw bones outline of the events. Pistols smuggled into the camp, one guard killed, Clyde fires a burst from a machine gun, and that is just about it.The actual killing of Bonnie and Clyde, is also only briefly covered. There is no development of Frank Hamer. Other primary characters, particularly the local Sheriff, are not even mentioned. Mr. Gilmore states in the introduction that Bonnie and Clyde were "ambushed and murdered" and, in one photograph, shows and identifies the lawmen as the "Judge, jury and executioners." Obviously, the author's opinion and not an unbiased narrative.There is no significant coverage of the "after life" for surviving participants. For example, what happened to Marshall Hamer? William D. Jones is on almost every page, but how did he live the rest of his life? The author mentions in his introduction an interview with Jones, but no details of his life. If you are interested in outcome and not just gore, you have to do your own research.Finally a personal comment. Mr. Gilmore includes several blocks of excellent photographs of the characters, including autopsy and casket pictures of both Bonnie and Clyde. Regrettably, one of these is a partially nude picture of bloody Bonnie on a morgue table. Perhaps I am a prude, but its inclusion was totally inappropriate and could have been easily avoided.

Just finished this amazing book and feel like I've been on a journey! John Gilmore truly takes you directly into the world of Bonnie and Clyde and makes them real people. Just as he did with "Inside Marilyn Monroe", Gilmore's spin is different, more reality than legend. The real Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was a beautiful woman, portrayed here not as a gangster, but a victim of love. I never knew before that Clyde and Bonnie were so small in stature...then again, it seems most outlaws turn out to be smaller than we would have thought. Gilmore takes Bonnie and Clyde off the big screen, down to the level of "just folks" who took a wrong turn in life. This book takes you back in time, along for the ride that was the lives of these two lovers.I have been looking forward to seeing the pictures in this book and I was not disappointed. Gilmore is known for providing the gory death shots, just as he did in "Severed" with Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, and the Wonderland murder victims in "L.A. Despair". He did not disappoint me, there are a LOT of pictures in this book and several death shots.Overall, a great read. Gilmore will go down in history as one of the great writers of our time.

i was very pleased the authors style and i've never seen some of the photos used. well researched

I did enjoy reading this book as it moved very quickly, was linear and didn't fly off on irrelevant tangents as many books often do. The thing that bothered me was that most of the book was based on conversations that no one besides Bonnie and Clyde could have known about. This made the story interesting, but completely unbelievable. The point is that it seemed more a piece of speculation than fact. The events themselves could be confirmed, but any of the events around them are a guess.

Good description of Bonnie and Clyde's life and death but was disappointed that this book goes into no detail about the bank robberies.

I was looking forward to this book and although it is a true account of events, I felt Iike I was reading a romance novel. I am having a hard time finishing this book.

Photos in the book nearly made it a 3star, but…….Nowadays if a tv programme, or in this case a book, doesn't include the ' f ' word then it is not considered good. This book is littered with them. I'm no prude but I nearly gave up reading it. I have two other books on B & C, both from Amazon, which are considerably better and managed without the use of the 'f' word.Does John Gilmore feel it makes the story more gritty, or him a better writer? It doesn't.Most of my books I read more than once. This one I will not.