Alive If Possible...dead If Necessary

This intriguing, true-life mystery springs from America's heartland and takes the reader back to the gunmen who preceeded Pretty Boy Floyd and Bonnie & Clyde. When the roaring twenties brought in a wave of new violence across the nation, even Oklahoma did not escape?fifty-two Oklahoma bank robberies were reported for 1924 alone. The increase of crime and the public outcry forced the creation of a unique law enforcement agency, the State Crime Bureau (forerunner of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation). Author Dee Cordry thoroughly researched this era and discovered the forgotten story of a murdered Crime Bureau agent. Luther Bishop died in his home in Oklahoma City, the victim of a hail of gunfire in the middle of the night. Cordry draws the reader in, to form their own opinions as to who killed the lawman who was known as the ?two-gun state operative.? It's all here, in-fightings between government agencies, the organized criminal gangs who vowed they would not be taken alive, the dangerous and deadly job of going after them, the murders of Osage Indians for their oil wealth, this un-finished case that begs to be solved and brought to conclusion. The author's spell-binding storytelling style will keep the reader turning the pages, as Cordry brings to life the colorful events of that period of Oklahoma history, and leaves us wanting to hear more.