The Kimes Gang (ISBN 1418471283)

Off-track:
I had high hopes for this book but it's at best only a fair retelling of the Kimes brothers' saga with a tremendous amount of irrelvant filler. Many researchers in the last few years have debunked the myth of the "Kimes-Terrill gang" and Koch could have easily done likewise here in a couple of paragraphs, thus allowing him to explore Matt and George Kimes in more depth. Instead, he devotes over half the book to the exploits and misadventures of Ray Terrill, Herman Barker, Elmer Inman, Q.P. McGhee and others who had little or nothing to do with the story. Sometimes three or four chapters in a row on the Barker-Inman-Terrill gang! In between are recitals of Kimes gang robberies, usually ending with a few lines about how it was doubtful that Ray Terrill was there. Very pointless, actually, and soon monotonous. If you're looking for a book covering both gangs, Dee Cordry's recent work on the early history of the Oklahoma Crime Bureau works better. If you want a great history of the Kimes gang, I think it's probably yet to come.

Exciting new crime book:
"The Kimes Gang" is a good new true crime book about a group of outlaws who robbed and killed their way in to history during the mid 1920s, in the State of Oklahoma primarily. This is a well documented book with footnotes and a bibliography. There are also several photo's, which I have never seen. I think this book would be a good book for anyone to read. Good job!

The fascinating story of Matt and George Kimes:
The Kimes Gang is the fascinating story of Matt and George Kimes who began their outlaw ways at a young age as little more than petty thieves but made a quick progression to bank robbery and eventually murder. The Kimes Gang studies the various crimes which covered several southwestern states including Arkansas, Arizona, Kansas Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, while also including well researched histories of the brothers Roy and Clyde Brandon, Herman Barker, Elmer Inman, and the notorious safecracker Ray Terrill. The Kimes Gang is a highly recommended read for all students of crime in the southwest United States during the 1920's and the prohibition era.

Shocking:
This book is riddled with errors. Dates and names are wrong with many names misspelled. Just because someone uses footnotes and endnotes doesn't mean that his sources are correct. Mr. Koch should have doubled checked his sources before printing fact. I thought he would have done better than this.

Fascinating account of the Kimes Gang:
I just loved this new book about a relatively unknown gang, which terrorized the southwest during the pre-depression era. Most of their activities were in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, but may have been as far as the west coast and into Kansas and Missouri. The author uses footnotes to show the reader his documentation to its fullest. Past reviewers have stated this was a distraction, but most scholars of any nonfictional books will want either footnotes or endnotes. Also a couple of reviewers thought the book wasted too much time on the Barker-Terrill gang, which I found to be an important ingredient to the start of the story. Many of the gangsters during this time period usually ran with each other or at the very least knew each other. So, I felt this was important and the author describes the law and lawlesness during the time period before the Kimes gang got going. This book is the first of it's kind and I feel it will be a major part of most library's ganster era section. It shold be read by others interested in this type of history. Good job!