In Brothers Notorious, Pensoneau gives readers a long overdue book that traces the Shelton story from its unpretentious beginning in rural Wayne County to the headline-capturing violence at the tale's conclusion. Readers will find the book informative and entertaining, a resurrection of a dramatic era in Illinois history.
I found this fascinating. As a southern Illinoisian I had heard many stories of the Shelton gang. However, I never realized the breadth of their operations, nor how dangerous living in southern Illinois was during that era due to the violence of the bootleg rivalries and the large presence of the Klan. It made me wonder why Capone got all the press. He controlled Chicago: the Sheltons controlled the rest of the state.
Lived my whole life in downstate Illinois, but I was born two generations too late to remember any of this. I recognize all of the places but none of the names. It's just as well. Who knew that organized crime was as wild downstate as in the big cities? Well back then, everybody did. And you think government is corrupt in Illinois now! Side note, I have a signed copy, as the author spoke at my writer's group a couple of months ago. Heck of a nice guy!
Taylor Pensoneau did a fine job capturing the rise and fall of the Shelton brothers. He neither glorified their lifestyle nor minimized it. All and all Brothers Notorious filled in the gaps of my late Grandma Dot and her memories of shot up cars speeding by and one of her brothers diving in a bush upon hearing a car backfire, all of which were undoubtedly related to the presence of the Shelton’s in southern Illinois where my Grandma grew up.
There is a lot in the literature about the Shelton Brothers. Pensoneau takes a very conservative approach and presents a storyline of information that most authors agree upon. If he mentions any of the controversial aspects of the gangsters, he glosses over them and does not commit himself to any interpretation.
Interesting subject matter, since the Shelton gang operated throughout southern Illinois, including the area in which we live. Lots of familiar place names were mentioned. Unfortunately, the author's writing style detracted from the book for me. He used lots of sentence fragments, and run-on sentences that sometimes left me puzzled. I did enjoy the Illinois history.