Public Enemies

Hey all , I don't normally review non-fiction books but every now and again , somebody sends me through one to read and review , I don't normally mind it though as it tends to be the sort-of genre that I am interested in. One of my favourite genres I like to sit back and read is Mystery - all that crime, blood and guts. Every now and again, I like to pick up a True-Crime story and give it a read . One of my favourite true crime books is called "The Last Victim " where this 17yr old boy wrote to prisoners like Jeffery Dahmer , Ted Bundy etc all for a school project. I was reading this fiction book "Sweetheart " by Chelsea Cain and it mentioned the book , so being me I headed to the local library and read it.

Today's Book that I have to review reminded me of more the movie starring Johnny Depp "Public Enemies" rather than The Last Victim . Readers all around , gather to thy forum as I read and review for you "Wanted : Gentleman Bank Robber " by Dane Batty.

Wanted : Gentleman Bank Robber tells the story of Leslie Ibsen Rogge , who has been deemed as one of the FBI's most elusive criminals. You heard of the movie comedy/action "How to Rob a bank in ten days" well this book would describe itself as "How to Rob a bank in several entertaining lessons". Reading this book , It was amazing to me how much it reminded me of the role Johnny Depp played as John Dillinger in Public Enemies , though in more than one way he was much more smarter and cleverer. Leslie's criminal record spanned twenty years and he has been said to have robbed more banks than Bonnie and Clyde and Jesse James put together and he did all this without leaving behind casualties in the name of crime. Leslie was caught by police and put in jail twice then of course -he escaped. His escapism techniques and ability to go undetected for such a long time reminded me briefly of the role Leonardo DiCaprio played as Frank Abbengale in "Catch Me if you Can". Along for the ride was his wife Judy and their trusty companion - the man's best friend. Together they sailed off into the world , without being caught. Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber details their sailing journey as they visit Alaska , Chesapeake Bay ( as in Nora Robert's Books) and Cancun. When they settled in Guatemala -Les became known as Uncle Bil , a nice family friend to all and a geniune good guy. It wasn't until a friend of theirs fourteen-year old boy had been surfing the net came across Les's picture of the FBI's Most Wanted List. What then followed was a story of heartbreak and passions as he soon realised he had reached the end of his journey. Les was then sentenced to prison where he is to stay until 10th February 2047. Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber is the perfect prison for anyone interested in reading up on the history of criminals and their accounts on how for so long he escaped and fooled the law. Though it does show one moral , that no matter how far you run and for how long , crime always catches up on you and to sound cliched and all "Crime doesn't pay".