Carbon City, 1925, By James Alan Gill
Coal money built Carbon City, but corruption and violence keep it alive, and power belongs to those willing to take it. When the paramilitary Law Enforcement League begins terrorizing immigrant workers, city officials and clergy applaud “True Americanism,” mine owners profit from the chaos, and ordinary citizens keep their heads down, hoping to survive.
Into this maelstrom steps Jackson Hall, the last independent newspaperman in town, determined to uncover the truth about a masked vigilante who haunts the rooftops. His investigation entangles him with a fearless young reporter, a war-scarred veteran turned avenger, and a gangland starlet walking the knife’s edge of loyalty and independence.
Equal parts historical epic and hardboiled thriller, and based on real events that rocked Southern Illinois coal towns between 1922 and 1927—including bloody gang wars, public killings of striking miners, and the final state-sanctioned hanging in Illinois—Carbon City, 1925 is an unforgettable journey into the dark heart of America’s past, and a reflection of the battles still raging today.
$24.00 US
“What distinguishes this novel is Gill’s commitment to the texture of the period. He capably reconstructs a world rendered with a specificity that suggests deep archival work, [and his] prose moves between journalistic clarity and something more lyrical when the moment demands it, with dialogue accurately capturing period speech and unflinching depictions of racism, gender oppression, and the casual brutality that defined the era. Yet there’s still room for quieter moments that provide space to breathe between the violence. Gill’s ambition is considerable, but he succeeds in intertwining historical events with invented characters while examining justice, power, and what happens when institutions fail.
An intense, Prohibition-era historical thriller rich with authenticity.”
— Booklife
“It’s hard to believe a novel set in a 1920s coal town could feel this sharply modern. Carbon City, 1925 reads like a gunslinging Western shaped into a detective mystery, page-turning but with plenty of room to explore the racial, moral, and labor tensions that shaped the early 20th century. This is a beautifully drawn and profoundly immersive book. I was completely transported.”
— Emily Everett, author of All That Life Can Afford, a Reese’s Book Club pick
Castoff Press 