Red Highway — Loren D. Estleman

During the Great Depression, a ruthless killer breaks out of prison to reclaim his status as Public Enemy Number One in this chilling, action-packed novel
 
Before Dillinger, before Bonnie and Clyde, there was Virgil Ballard, the most ruthless killer the United States has ever seen.
 
Ballard gets his start in the early 1920s, hijacking liquor trucks and selling the bootlegged hooch. He has a youthful face and the eyes of a killer, and it isn't long before he baptizes himself in another man's blood. The state gives him a life sentence, but no jail can hold Ballard. When he busts out of prison, he knows he has a date with death -- but how many coppers can he take out along the way?
 
Inspired by the author's love of 1930s gangster movies, Loren D. Estleman's debut thriller surges with the narrative energy and crackling dialogue that would become hallmarks of his numerous acclaimed and award-winning hard-boiled crime novels.