Buy new:
-46% $11.97
FREE delivery Wednesday, May 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Ships from: Amazon
Sold by: Essentialsmerchant
$11.97 with 46 percent savings
List Price: $21.99

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
FREE delivery Wednesday, May 15 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Friday, May 10. Order within 22 hrs 22 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$11.97 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$11.97
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
Amazon
Ships from
Amazon
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$8.98
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
This item shows wear including some highlighting or writing. This item shows wear including some highlighting or writing. See less
FREE delivery Tuesday, May 14 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35
Or fastest delivery Friday, May 10. Order within 22 hrs 22 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$11.97 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$11.97
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Jesse Sublett
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

1960s Austin Gangsters: Organized Crime that Rocked the Capital (True Crime) Paperback – March 9, 2015

by Jesse Sublett (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 141 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$11.97","priceAmount":11.97,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"11","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"97","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"oNKi4AO882faFB7lJ0dHv3XAX%2Bt9QnoAB64FZsTYl6gFn8kCzrR9%2BmF4RkMHH5q1ZHeLGPor62MS8sBtbQ9TM%2FVMSg2gw2kNiN0DMx4Q%2FRe40Au5PcmvGcAoa9QTi7Y1bcvIrOkFumOPkudvaKmJMiJvewzr6AI5tBaP5RkvwhJEhlM6YAxRSORFlL9dKMyO","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$8.98","priceAmount":8.98,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"98","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"oNKi4AO882faFB7lJ0dHv3XAX%2Bt9QnoAqlGw1YlrwA6Q6JcpZHTz0CYV1X61NsbFE4%2FkgNIekE87c9sQSOAvOLz8MqoETrtZgwKG0i%2F0uKBzb%2FvSRVSLnxHh04yxhd%2FgQjS%2FER72tTKP2QDJmmurqL8XDgZaqZ1pNTlkbmF%2FN5ctl1iuOpfPW9zm5cZ19QoI","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Timmy Overton of Austin and Jerry Ray James of Odessa were football stars who traded athletics for lives of crime. The original rebels without causes, nihilists with Cadillacs and Elvis hair, the Overton gang and their associates formed a ragtag white trash mafia that bedazzled Austin law enforcement for most of the 1960s. Tied into a loose network of crooked lawyers, pimps and used car dealers who became known as the "traveling criminals," they burglarized banks and ran smuggling and prostitution rings all over Texas. Author Jesse Sublett presents a detailed account of these Austin miscreants, who rose to folk hero status despite their violent criminal acts.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    176 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    The History Press
  4. Publication date
    March 9, 2015
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.31 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1626198403
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1626198401
  8. See all details
Next page
Best True Crime Books
The top True Crime books curated by Amazon Book Review Editor, Chris Schluep. See his picks.

Frequently bought together

1960s Austin Gangsters: Organized Crime that Rocked the Capital (True Crime)
$11.97
Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 15
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
Sold by Essentialsmerchant and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.
+
Last Gangster in Austin: Frank Smith, Ronnie Earle, and the End of a Junkyard Mafia (Jess and Betty Jo Hay)
$21.95
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
+
The Cedar Choppers: Life on the Edge of Nothing (Volume 24) (Sam Rayburn Series on Rural Life, sponsored by Texas A&M Univers
$17.48
Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 14
In Stock
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Total price:
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Details
Added to Cart
Some of these items ship sooner than the others.
Show details Hide details
Choose items to buy together.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jesse Sublett is an author, musician and artist from Austin, Texas. His publications include Rock Critic Murders, Never the Same Again, Broke, Not Broken and has contributed to Texas Monthly, Texas Observer, New York Times, Texas Tribune and the Austin Chronicle. A member of the Texas Institute of Letters, his seminal Austin rock band, the Skunks was inducted in the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Jesse lives in Austin with his wife, Lois Richwine. His blog can be found at JesseSublett.com.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The History Press; First Edition (March 9, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1626198403
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1626198401
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.31 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 141 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Jesse Sublett

Jesse Sublett

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Jesse Sublett is an Austin, Texas based author, musician and all-around character in the Live Music Capital of the World. Jesse is recognized as being a seminal force in the Austin music scene since 1978, when he formed two of the region's first punk/new wave bands, The Skunks and the Violators, which helped changed the course of music history in Austin. He began writing short stories and novels in the mid-eighties while still playing full time. His first novels, Rock Critic Murders, Tough Baby and Boiled in Concrete, were published by Viking Penguin between 1989-1992. These books are set in the Austin music scene and feature protagonist Martin Fender, a blues bass player who moonlights as a skip tracer and detective. Jesse's memoir, Never the Same Again: A Rock n' Roll Gothic, published in 2004, tells the story of his experiences in the Austin music community from the mid seventies through the 1990s, and chronicles in detail his struggle to survive stage 4 throat cancer, a time when he decided to also revisit the murder of his girlfriend, Dianne Roberts, by a serial killer in 1976. The book is shot through with heartbreaking experiences and life-affirming ones as well, with generous doses of absurd humor in the musical passages, despite the many grim themes and story threads. Jesse is also recognized as an insightful essayist and satirical commentator; his writing has been published in New York Times, Texas Monthly, Texas Observer and the Austin Chronicle. He's also contributed to numerous nonfiction books, including We Were Not Orphans: Stories from the Waco State Home, by Sherry Matthews, published by UT Press in 2011, and he has also written and co-produced dozens of hours of documentary film and television. He regularly comments on film noir, crime fiction, music, politics and art on his blog at jessesublett.wordpress.com and plays in Austin clubs, performing original and traditional murder ballads, blues and rock n roll. He lives with his wife, Lois Richwine, and three cats in Austin, Texas.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
141 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bertilak
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting bit of Americana
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2022
Verified Purchase
An interesting read, especially for someone who lives in the area. Even if you are not local it is a nice bit of Americana, and a reminder of the 1960s.
Helpful
 Report
Hezekiah Shmuel
5.0 out of 5 stars Connecting some dots in Austin’s mid 20th century history.
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
A very good read, especially if you ever knew any of the people in the story. Reads almost more like a good novel than the historical documentary it is, for the most part.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
ghdorn
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2020
Verified Purchase
A lot going on in Austin that I did not know about. The under belly to say the least. May need to follow-up with his books on the music scene. One good read leads to a other!
Helpful
 Report
ravnhaus
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2016
Verified Purchase
I loved this book. If you are from 50's - 60's Austin era you will know the names and the locations. Well written story of a darker side of Austin. The photos are many. Recommend. Well done documentation of a not so distant era.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
C. F.
3.0 out of 5 stars Elevating low life scumbags to the level of gangsters.
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
I don't know why Jesse Sublett described Tim Overton and his buddies as gangsters; they come across as garden variety thugs.
There was nothing sophisticated about them. They burglarized banks by chopping a hole in the roof or a wall, then used brute force to peel open the vault. Any moron with a ten lb sledge and a chisel, given enough time, could do that.
Overton was a pimp and a woman beater. Jerry Ray James was a sociopath and a snitch. Nothing lower than pimps and snitches, except child molesters and drug dealers. Bottom feeders, all of them.
The women were no better. Low self esteem. Staying with men who abused them. Prostituting themselves for men who treated them like currency.
The police were little better than the criminals they pursued. Poorly educated, poorly trained, poorly paid. They could be bought off for the price of a meal.

Sublett tries to tell a great story, but somewhere along the line he was seduced by scumbags with no redeeming qualities.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
J. Cooper
5.0 out of 5 stars Sublett was unable to follow-up in depth on the many ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2015
Verified Purchase
Sublett was unable to follow-up in depth on the many characters he introduced in the book due to length constraints. Once he decided to go with the publisher he wrote for, the length of the book was determined by the publisher's format for these type of history books with a local interest. Having lived in Austin during the sixties and knowing many of the participants, Sublett treated them as fairly and in depth as much as the constraints of the format would allow. Let's hope he has more material so as to write other books on the subject.
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Gene L. Freudenberg
5.0 out of 5 stars I was there!!
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2015
Verified Purchase
Well researched from the standpoint of someone who dealt with this bunch of yahoos back in the 60's and 70's. Everything Sublett said, I know to be true. Well written and very factual. I could add a few stories of my own.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
Poorly written.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report