Kevin E. Meredith THE SECRET SIX

June 25 | In-Store | 6:00 PM

Kevin Meredith, The Chicago Six

Former crime reporter Kevin Meredith tells this true crime story of (Red Lightning Books), a vigilante group formed by the Chicago Association of Commerce in 1930. Credited with launching Eliot Ness and the Untouchables and bringing down Al Capone, the Secret Six also had a dark side. Wealth, unchecked power, and the raw spirit of vigilantism corrupted the Secret Six from their inception. Kevin will be in conversation with our very own Jeff Garrett!

Doors and minibar open at 5:30PM

Getting here: We are located at 1620 Orrington Avenue, in downtown Evanston, just one block east of the Davis Street Metra and CTA public transit stops. There is metered street parking as well as numerous parking garages nearby.

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About the book: In winter 1930, an unprecedented force for good emerged from the chaos of crime-ridden Chicago: . Supported by the Windy City's richest and most powerful businesspeople, the vigilantes took on extortionists, bombers, bank robbers, kidnappers, and eventually Al Capone himself. Using the latest crime-fighting technologies of the era, the Secret Six caught dirty cops, won convictions in cases large and small, and helped launch Eliot Ness and the Untouchables. And when Capone went to Pr*son, he credited the group for bringing him down. The Secret Six inspired a movie featuring Clark Gable, testified before Congress, and wrote authoritatively about crime for the national press. Quickly, cities throughout America began emulating the Secret Six with their own vigilante forces.

But there was a dark side to the heroics and international praise. Wealth, unchecked power, and the raw spirit of vigilantism corrupted the Secret Six from their inception. They victimized the innocent, tortured the guilty, and bragged about it, and after three years of lies, mistakes and misdeeds that were as laughable as they were tragic, the effort collapsed in disgrace.

Nearly forgotten, brings this group back to life for the first time with the full, true story about what happens when good men in a large, chaotic city take the law into their own hands.

About Kevin: Kevin Meredith first covered crime in 1985 as a general reporter for the News of Orange County in Hillsborough, NC, a historic town with its fair share of armed robbery, hostage taking, and theft. As an award-winning reporter at the Savannah News-Press, he covered the military, local education, and election corruption. Since earning his MBA in1994, he has focused his professional life on the sale of computer technologies, but has continued to write on diverse topics, including evolutionary psychology, history, and crime.