Under an Outlaw Moon: A Novel

Action packed and fast moving this depression era tale will keep you reading. Two young star crossed lovers with a dream and no way to get there turn to crime. Based on the true story of Bennie and Stella May Dickson the book is both historical and readable. Stella meets a boy calling himself Johnny O'Malley at the skating rink. She is fifteen and falls in love with him. She never dreams that he is really the criminal Bennie Dickson, that she will marry him and on her sixteenth birthday they will rob a bank, but that is what happens. Bennie teaches Stella to shoot, they rob a bank but it is too little money so they rob a second bank. Now the FBI is on their trail and they are running for their lives. The dream of the little house with a swing in the back yard that Stella has will have to wait. After they are declared public enemy no 1 and no 2 there is no place for them to hide. The FBI is hot on their trail and closing in. They are safe nowhere and they can trust no one. This is a story of two young people not wanting to hurt anyone, but wanting a life they cannot afford and trying to find an easy way to get it. Times are hard, jobs are hard to find and Bennie is not into working for pennies. Stella is a teenager in love with him and following everything he says and does. All she wants is a home and family, all she gets is trouble. This was a really good read and I enjoyed reading it. It does remind one of the history of the great depression and how hard life was back then. It reminds us of how much we have and how lucky we are today to be living in better times even with the pandemic. I enjoyed listening to this audio book , the narrator did a wonderful job. I would recommend this story. Thanks to Dietrich Kalteis for writing a great story, to Patrick Garrow for the wonderful narration, to ECW Press Audio for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available for me to enjoy.