Robbers!: True Stories of the World's Most Notorious Thieves

by Andreas Schroeder

Determined to beat the odds, professional thieves spend their lives figuring out ingenious ways to steal other people's possessions. In "Robbers!" you'll uncover the dirt on eight cunning master thieves, including: Master-of-disguise Willie Sutton, who robbed banks in costume D. B. Cooper, who hijacked a plane, demanded $200,000, and parachuted to safety London's Great Train Robbers, who held up a moving train to pull off one of the largest ever hauls of banknotes

Each story offers a glimpse into the high-octane underworld of the boldest of robbers. The writer's fascination with criminal masterminds and the illustrator's action-packed graphic depictions of real-life thievery make this a compelling read for fans of mischief, mayhem, and bad guys on the run.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade

166 pages, Hardcover

First published July 24, 2012

About the author

As the “resident Scam-meister” on the popular CBC Radio show Basic Black, Andreas Schroeder spent twelve years reporting on ingenious frauds, swindles, and hoaxes that have been committed around the world. Though the radio show ended in 2002, Andreas’s fascination with the subject continued, culminating in the publication of Scams! (2004), stories of some of history’s greatest tricksters.

Aside from having had one of the world’s all-time greatest job titles, Andreas has been an avid reader all his life and a writer for most of it. Born to a German-speaking Mennonite family who emigrated from Poland to Canada in 1951 (when he was five), he lived for 10 years on a farm in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, where he avoided farm chores whenever possible in order to spend his time reading. As a boy he wrote poetry and short stories in both German and English. A move to Vancouver when he was 15 introduced him to his own brand of paradise: libraries (free books!), bookstores on every corner, and a burgeoning population of fellow writers. He has never looked back.

Andreas and his wife, Sharon, lived for many years on a mountaintop in Mission City, near the B.C.–Washington State border, in a round four-story tower they built themselves. Today they live by the ocean on the Sunshine Coast with their daughter, Vanessa. Another daughter, Sabrina, travels the world as a composer. True to the West Coast ethos, Andreas enjoys motorcycling, paragliding, and skiing—when he’s not reading or writing, which he is most of the time.

Andreas Schroeder has published more than 20 books. Scams!, part of Annick Press’s True Stories from the Edge series, is his first book for young adults. Thieves! (2005) features ten enduring stories about the cunning plans and daring capers of thieving criminals.

Reviews

[Paul Hankins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annick Press gives us another super non-fiction text with real guy reader appeal. Shorter sections divide each story and the illustrations give the book an overall graphic novel feel. Stories are divided into the crime, the perpetrators, how they did what they did, how they were eventually caught, and the lasting legacy of the criminal act.

As the author states at the beginning of the book, some of the stories are probably funnier than the perpetrator would have liked for them to be, but you have to admit, duping visitors into getting a haircut as part of a local sanitation code and then shaving a thin "V" into the back of the person's head to identify them as a good target for robbery? Funny and interesting.

Younger readers can learn about the theft of the Mona Lisa and the antics of D. B. Cooper, among six others in this collection.

Annick Press is one to watch for these non-fiction titles they are putting out there this year.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent compilation of heists and robberies and those who committed them. It is well-written and I learned a lot of interesting facts!

[Zoidberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with my 9 year old son. Real life robbers, some of whose mysteries remain unsolved to this day.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating account of some intriguing and intricate robberies and the thieves who pulled them off. I had no idea that such well-planned and difficult thefts had occurred. The story about the airplane hijacker was especially incredible, and yet after so much work, the supposed thief got away with so little. Some of these thieves stole for decades without getting caught. It's kind of sad though that these men who had such talents used their talents in such unfortunate ways and they all ended up paying for it in one way or another.

First, there's the Italian who stole the Mona Lisa and kept it hidden for two years, only to avoid a long prison sentence because the Italian's thought he was a folk hero for 'rescuing' the painting from the French. And who would imagine that forgetting to wash the dishes would catch an extremely thorough and careful bunch of bank thieves. And what about the thief who never carried a gun because someone could get hurt. There is quite a collection of individual stories in this book.

The illustrations provide a comic feel to the book and quite appealing. The book should be perfect for reluctant readers who like unusual topics. I agree with the author that these stories do indeed make for great reading. Full of humor, irony, and even heartbreak, these stories provided me with a very entertaining read and reminded me why being a thief is so not a good idea.

[Freya Hooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

What this book is about:
This book is a series of eight stories profiling some of the most famous robberies in recent times. It shares tales of the heist of the Mona Lisa, the only successful hijacking extortionist in American history and the infamous bank robber Willie Sutton, man of a thousand faces.

Why I love this book:
This book is terrific! Each story is beautifully laid out in sections with comic like illustrations throughout. The stories are humorous, clever and ironic and the fact that they are true, just makes it all the more engaging. These robberies were so well planned and thought out, it makes you feel like they are a movie come to life.

Of course, all these men’s talents are quite sophisticated, but we see that they used them in the wrong ways. If this book shows you anything it is that crime doesn’t pay and even missing the smallest detail can get you caught!

Who this book is for:
This is a great book for reluctant readers because of the format of the stories and the clever illustrations. However, both my boys loved this book and read it in one sitting. They couldn’t put it down. This is probably one of the most kid friendly pieces of non fiction.

Final thoughts:
Since these are all true stories, I would have loved to see actual photos of the real criminals, perhaps as an addendum in the back.

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is there such a thing as a master criminal? Well, maybe, but that doesn't mean they end up sipping champagne in the Bahamas. This book highlights some criminals who were masters of their craft. It carefully follows the steps they took in their crimes, how the crimes were discovered and investigated and how, for the most part, the criminals made fatal errors that led to their eventual capture. Readers can learn about the thefts of the Mona Lisa and The Duchess, the great train robbery, blowing bank vaults, disguises, D.B. Cooper, a second-story man with impeccable manners...except for the gun, and a funny bank heist in Canada that went terribly wrong. Black and white illustrations add an occasional "graphic novel" feel to the book. There's humor, detail, suspense, and a clear indication that, in the end, crime usually doesn't pay. It's a good casual read, but if you're writing a report on criminals it would provide you with a good resource. I wouldn't, however, use it to plan your next heist. It's very clearly stated that criminals, for the most part, don't end up rich or happy.

[Tinadolcetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how it highlights the importance of washing dishes and how small town cops saved the day!