Lawrence P. Gooley

North Country / Adirondack Author

Book Tag: Mineville

Bullets, Booze, Bootleggers, and Beer: The Story of Prohibition in Northern New York, Volume 1

Bullets, Booze, Bootleggers, and Beer, Volume 1-Front Cover

Prohibition was the wildest, most chaotic period in northern New York’s history. America’s so-called “Great Experiment”—banning the social and recreational use of alcohol—led to unforeseen and unfortunate consequences. Thousands of speeding bootleggers presented potentially deadly hazards to casual drivers. The number of gun-toting highwaymen (robbers) skyrocketed with the emergence of new and irresistible targets—bootleggers carrying cash north to buy alcohol, and bootleggers carrying valuable booze loads south.

Even more alarming were the almost daily wild shootouts, often on village and city streets, the air heavy with bullets as lawmen and smugglers fought it out during high-speed chases. Worse yet in the eyes of many were the extremely aggressive tactics of lawmen, who were sworn to provide enforcement (the offenses were mostly misdemeanors) and protect the public, but killed bootleggers and innocent citizens alike in the process, and were rarely held accountable. They falsified charges, lied, stonewalled, withheld evidence, and did whatever it took to avoid prosecution. » More Details

Terror in the Adirondacks: The True Story of Serial Killer Robert F. Garrow

Terror in the Adirondacks-Front Cover

In the summer of 1973, a serial killer’s rampage in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York State changed the region forever. Innocent visitors and campers were brutally knifed to death, terrifying thousands of residents and vacationers.

A peaceful part of America was lost, as people armed themselves and locked their doors, living and sleeping in fear. It was a reign of terror the likes of which the mountains had never seen.

And it was all the vile handiwork of one very troubled, dangerous man: Robert Francis Garrow.

But there is much more to Garrow’s story than a series of murders. Before he was captured, there was the longest manhunt in Adirondack history, and one of the longest the state has ever seen. There was a bizarre trial, with horrifying revelations that shocked the senses of citizens from coast to coast. » More Details