Author, Norman Parker served a 24 year jail sentence for murder. On his release, wanting to experience life to the fullest, he took advantage of his writing skills to become a journalist for lads mags and the Daily Express and set about tackling the niche market of visiting dangerous places…
I read this book really quickly- it was enticing and a good tale. Gypsy Jane is something of a crazy phenomenon who rocked the London underworld with some pretty brutal firsthand tales. It didn’t take much for the Gran to pay a visit to any dissidents and she’d be brandishing…
View More Review: Gypsy Jane – by Jane Lee with David Jarvis
Richard Tomlinson was a controversial MI6 whistleblower that made international headlines during his messy fallout with Britain’s foreign intelligence service. Initially after a first class degree from Cambridge he was approached for recruitment by SIS but he postponed this work, beginning a career in the city and in his spare…
View More Review: The Big Breach – From Top Secret To Maximum Security – by Richard TomlinsonThis Mexican author, Elmer Mendoza, is about as vibrant a writer of fiction that I have encountered since Hemingway. A truly unique flowing style that is amazing to digest. The hero of the book is policeman Edgar ‘Lefty’ Mendieta. He is a drunken womaniser and the tale weaves in his…
View More Review: Silver Bullets – by Élmer MendozaThis is a study on the notorious criminal organisation the Sicilian Mafia – Cosa Nostra – Over the years, Cosa Nostra has become an alternative source of political power in Southern Italian island. The reach of this criminal organisation has spread its tentacles across the globe, becoming a feared…
View More Review: Cosa Nostra – A History Of The Sicilian Mafia – by John DickieCharlie Richardson was an important figure in the London Underworld during the 1960s. The Krays often overshadow The Richardsons in terms of their notoriety as London gangsters but, as is clear from the revelations in this book, The Richardson family were certainly equally as important in the capital’s underworld. Whereas…
View More Review: The Last Gangster – My Final Confession – by Charlie Richardson
Dr. Joey Whitfield, a Research Fellow at Cardiff University, explores prison writing and the effects of the ‘War on Drugs’ in Latin America. His forthcoming book analyzes the blurred lines between political and criminal prisoners and discusses the impact of cultural productions like films and narco-novelas on societal perceptions of drug-related violence and policy.
View More The Cultural Politics of the ‘War on Drugs’ in Latin America: Prohibition and Beyond? – By Dr Joey Whitfield, Cardiff University, 22.11.17
Chris and Anthony Donnelly are two likely lads from Wythenshawe, Manchester. Growing up to a backdrop of crime, allegedly part of the the notorious Quality Street Gang, these entrepreneurs became leading figures in the birth of Manchester’s Acid House scene, initiating illegal raves and forging bonds and networks across music…
View More Review: Still Breathing: The True Adventures of the Donnelly Brothers – by Anthony and Christopher Donnelly (and Simon Spence)
David Tomkins has led an interesting life, to say the least. Our swashbuckling protagonist begins his autobiography as a tough safe-cracker, self-trained in explosives. His early adventures lead him to prison life where he swaps tales and picks up skills, leading to further crimes. Moving away from his gangster life,…
View More Review: Dirty Combat – Secret Wars and Serious Misadventures – by David TomkinsA doctor conversing with one of his elderly patients in Japan, reveals this amazingly quaint story of a Yakuza gang leader. Set in the heart of Tokyo in the early twentieth century, our hero comes from an ordinary background and works his way into a veritable life in the underworld,…
View More Review: Confessions of a Yakuza – by Junichi Saga
The author is a military expert and the phrase he coins to determine Mexico’s narcotics problem is a ‘mosaic cartel war’. This book analyses in detail the various cartels that are present in Mexico that operate in a highly competitive, highly profitable, highly illegal, immensely violent global industry. The Mexican…
View More Review: Cartels At War – by Paul Rexton Can
The Last Narco: Hunting El Chapo, The World’s Most Wanted Drug Lord by Malcolm Beith My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a fast-moving story of the rise of Mexico’s most feared and influential drug lord, El Chapo. The Sinaloa cartel occupies the number one position in terms of…
View More Review: The Last Narco: Hunting El Chapo, The World’s Most Wanted Drug Lord – by Malcolm Beith
Siberian Education: Growing Up in a Criminal Underworld by Nicolai Lilin My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is an exciting tale of a youth living in the Transnistrian underworld. His society, a Siberian criminal society has its own strict laws. The tales of violence and crime are quite horrifying…
View More Review: Siberian Education: Growing Up in a Criminal Underworld by Nicolai Lilin