About the Author

Erik Rivenes, founder of the St. Paul Gangster Tours, is a writer and historian who produces the Most Notorious podcast.

Reviews

"Through deep research and no-nonsense prose, Erik Rivenes deftly unravels a tale of rampant corruption in the Mill City. A last, sordid gasp of the Gilded Age, this largely forgotten Minneapolis scandal makes for an absorbing read."
Mark Lee Gardner, author of Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West's Greatest Escape
"A cast of vivid characters--including restaurateur and police captain 'Coffee John' Fitchette, who sometimes beat up complaining customers, and policeman Chris Norbeck, a married man whose mistress ran a First Street bordello--populate Rivenes's tale of the popular and unscrupulous mayor Albert Alonzo 'Doc' Ames, who entangled Minneapolis in corruption and brought the city national notoriety. This is a well-researched, lively contribution to Minnesota history."
Penny Petersen, author of Minneapolis Madams: The Lost History of Prostitution on the Riverfront
"With wit and clarity, Erik Rivenes tells the amazing story of Doc Ames and his improbable rise from Civil War surgeon to boss of a wide-open city, complete with brothels, saloons, con games, election fraud, and labor and class strife. As one policeman testified, 'Whoever did the dirty work, Mayor Ames got all the money.' How Doc and his corrupt band of cronies came undone is a classic tale of arrogance and greed arriving at its logical, inevitable end."
Tim Mahoney, author of Secret Partners: Big Tom Brown and the Barker Gang