Capone's Cornfields: The Mob in the Illinois Valley, Paperback/Dan Churney

Residents of small towns in New England like to say "George Washington slept here," while citizens of the Illinois Valley like to say "Al Capone slept here." As you can see, things are different in the Land of Lincoln. Scarface might or might not have laid his head to rest in the Illinois Valley - a region 70 miles southwest of Chicago - but there is evidence that lesser hoods slept there - sometimes for eternity. Capone's Cornfields covers the rackets and racketeers of the Illinois Valley from the horse-and-buggy era to the Internet age. You'll read about bona fide pinstripe-clad Mafiosi such as Capone, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca and "Mad" Sam De Stefano. However, lesser known and less noxious viceroys of vice also appear in its pages. In Capone's Cornfields, you'll be taken for a ride, but unlike some of the mobsters about which you'll read, you'll return safely. About the Author: Dan Churney is a native of North Central Illinois and has been a writer in that region for 20 years. In addition to newspaper work, Churney has also had a novella published and has won several writing awards. Churney is also the author of "Take Two Bullets and Call Me in the Morning," which is a look at old cases of true crime from North Central Illinois.