They Couldn’t Kill Sullivan (Formerly “From Crime to Christ”) A True Story by J.C. Sullivan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The title change was a good move, though the emphasis shouldn’t have been the name. The gist of the cover language is a bit deceptive. More so the illustration. Though Sullivan was a bad guy, he wasn’t a team mate of Bonnie and Clyde. They did travel in the same areas with many of the same people. As he write, his association with Pretty Boy Floyd was more significant. Along with a slew of others.

This could’ve been a heck of a book. Sullivan writes the elements needed. He just doesn’t know how to write…or edit. Due to that there is too much mess and the typical glaring problems of self-publishing prior to computers. The cut and paste is obvious and repetition of stories and documents presented.

If Sullivan could’ve found a solid writer, this book would’ve been a best seller…even a so-so seller.
The most important thing is that the story and history exists at all and provides a first person narrative to the criminal world in the ’20s through the ’40s. A rarity as most didn’t live long enough to record their story…or wouldn’t anyway.

As Sullivan was most intent to establish his life of Christian faith, it does appear he down played a lost of his life prior. For instance, I wish he’d been more clear how his wife stuck with him and produced children for over ten years, when he wasn’t around a good deal of the time, according to him.

His writing about the drug issue is territory evaded these days and should be amplified. Here he dives a bit deeper and relates the dark hole most fall into. People, today, have some backward idea drug use is just fun and ignore the piles of dead bodies in Chicago. I’m sure, if her were still around, Sullivan would be producing more books of that subject alone.

His shift to Christianity is explained, but I found that shallow. There’s a clear distinction of before and after, but the actual mind-shift is covered in a couple of sentences.

Though it’s poorly written and edited, this is an invaluable story of a Depression-era bad guy worth reading.

Bottom line: i recommend this book: 6 out of 10 points.

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