Wanted Man

by Tamsin Spargo

Late one September night in 1891 a man boarded the American Express train as it sped through New York State. Wearing a red hood with slots for him to see through, his eyes flashed. 'It's money I'm after, ' he shouted, pointing two guns at the guard. Grabbing a fortune in cash, he then apparently dropped through the floor and vanished without a trace. His name was Oliver Curtis Perry and he became the country's most wanted man. While detectives searched in vain, the public couldn't get enough of the charismatic young robber. Women adored him and boys worshipped him. Five months later, he robbed the same train again, and only after an extraordinary chase was he caught. But if the authorities believed they had beaten this celebrity criminal they were mistaken. Perry's prison life proved as remarkable as his robberies as he turned escape-artist, protester, hunger striker and finally poet in his determination to win his freedom. In this unusual portrait of the Wild West gone east, Tamsin Spargo brings an irresistible and romantic anti-hero to life

Genres: History

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[scarlett :P]

wanted man because tamsin spargo wants him so bad.

[Leonard Pierce]

Spargo's biography of one of the most daring, and unusual, criminals of the 20th century suffers a bit from excess hero-worship and hip-pocket psychoanalysis, but it's still a thrilling story of a nearly forgotten man.