Boston Blackie

About This Book

Published in 1919, Boston Blackie is a collection of interconnected crime stories by Jack Boyle (1881–1928), featuring one of the most enduring characters in American popular fiction. Boston Blackie is a reformed safecracker and jewel thief who uses his criminal skills and underworld connections to help those in trouble — described as an enemy to those who make him an enemy, and a friend to those who have no friend.

Boyle created the character while serving time at the Colorado State Penitentiary, drawing directly on his own experience as an opium addict and convicted criminal. The stories first appeared in The American Magazine beginning in 1914, with Boyle writing under his prison number. The 1919 book compiled and revised these magazine stories into a cohesive narrative. Boston Blackie went on to become a cultural phenomenon, spawning fourteen films, a long-running radio series, and a television show. The character's transformation from outlaw to detective anticipated the antihero protagonists of later crime fiction. The work is in the public domain.

Excerpt

A massive safe, seemingly impregnable, was in the corner of the darkened office. Before it stood Boston Blackie, chief of the mob of peter cracksmen.— Opening of Boston Blackie

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