Three powerful men converge on the banks of the Red Cedar River in the early 1900s in southern Minnesota—George Albert Hormel, founder of what will become the $10 billion food conglomerate Hormel Foods; Alpha LaRue Eberhart, the author’s paternal grandfather and Hormel’s Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary; and Ransome Josiah Thomson, Hormel’s comptroller. Over ten years, Thomson will embezzle $1.2 million from the company’s coffers, nearly bringing the company to its knees.

The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy opens in 1922 as George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company he’d helped Hormel build—is Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement? Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth he’d rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying while their three children grieve alongside. Of course, his story doesn’t end there.

In scale both intimate and grand, Cherington deftly weaves the histories of Hormel, Eberhart, and Thomson within the sweeping landscape of our country’s early industries, along with keen observations about business leaders gleaned from her thirty-five-year career advising top company executives. The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy equally chronicles Cherington’s journey from blind faith in family lore to a nuanced consideration of the three men’s great strengths and flaws—and a multilayered, thoughtful exploration of the ways we all must contend with the mythology of powerful men, our reverence for heroes, and the legacy of a complicated past.

The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy is a standout, informative, and captivating historical biography that deserves to be on every reader’s bookshelves! From the start of this book, the reader will find themselves engaged, hooked, and fascinated thanks to the incredible research, knowledge, and literature from the author Gretchen Cherington.

Usually, some history/biographical books can be slightly lackluster; however, this is not a problem The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy has, as the author ensures her book is captivating from start to finish! I found myself hooked learning about the events that unfold, and also the author’s passion for telling this true story. That is why I am already recommending The Butcher, the Embezzler, and The Fall Guy! However, if you need more convincing, then continue to read to learn more!

The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy is a brilliant, unique, and captivating historical biography book that is guaranteed to shock as well as entertain you from start to finish. The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy is part biography, part family memoir, as the author Gretchen Cherington shares the histories of George Albert Hormel, Alpha LaRue Eberhart, and Ransome Josiah Thomson, all of who had a big part to play in American history. The reader will be taken back in time to the early 1900’s where we meet these people and the business they built. Hormel built a $10 billion food conglomerate known as Hormel Foods, in the 1900s in Southern Minnesota but there is more to this story than just that.

In fact, the history of this company and the people involved will shock and captivate you as you learn of all that happened, including the embezzlement of $1.2 million. All of this and more is laced throughout The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy as the author Cherington does an incredible job of weaving together a complicated history into a brilliant and fascinating tale, and this book lovers is the short premise of the incredible The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy!

In The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy, it is evident that Gretchen Cherington is passionate; she enthusiastically writes about the topics explored throughout the book, and it, in turn, keeps readers hooked! The knowledge Cherington has managed to lace throughout is simply awe-worthy, and I am really impressed with the level of detail and research laced throughout this book.

Gretchen Cherington has written a superb book and is clearly a talented author. In The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy, she will inform you with plenty of information, but also at the same time, never bombard readers with too much information that is confusing or hard to read. Instead, Cherington perfectly combines facts, with knowledge with entertainment, and that, to me, is the perfect nonfiction read!

To conclude my thoughts on the wonderful The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy, I would say The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy is a fascinating, informative, and captivating book that I would recommend to any readers, as I truly believe all readers will find something to love in The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy. That is why I, of course, have to award The Butcher, the Embezzler, and The Fall Guy five stars! Be sure to have a read of the preview below book lovers, you won’t regret it!