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Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History
In the spirit of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Onion Field, Norco ’80 is a gripping true crime account of one of the most violent bank heists in US history.
Norco ’80 tells the story of how five heavily-armed young men—led by an apocalyptic born-again Christian—attempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most violent criminal events in U.S. history, forever changing the face of American law enforcement. Part action thriller and part courtroom drama, Norco ’80 transports the reader back to the Southern California of the 1970s, an era of predatory evangelical gurus, doomsday predictions, megachurches, and soaring crime rates, with the threat of nuclear obliteration looming over it all.
A group of landscapers transforms into a murderous gang of bank robbers armed to the teeth with military-grade weapons. Their desperate getaway turned the surrounding towns into war zones. When it was over, three were dead and close to twenty wounded; a police helicopter was forced down from the sky, and thirty-two police vehicles were destroyed by thousands of rounds of ammo. The resulting trials shook the community to the core, raising many issues that continue to plague society from racism and the epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces.
Norco ’80 tells the story of how five heavily-armed young men—led by an apocalyptic born-again Christian—attempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most violent criminal events in U.S. history, forever changing the face of American law enforcement. Part action thriller and part courtroom drama, Norco ’80 transports the reader back to the Southern California of the 1970s, an era of predatory evangelical gurus, doomsday predictions, megachurches, and soaring crime rates, with the threat of nuclear obliteration looming over it all.
A group of landscapers transforms into a murderous gang of bank robbers armed to the teeth with military-grade weapons. Their desperate getaway turned the surrounding towns into war zones. When it was over, three were dead and close to twenty wounded; a police helicopter was forced down from the sky, and thirty-two police vehicles were destroyed by thousands of rounds of ammo. The resulting trials shook the community to the core, raising many issues that continue to plague society from racism and the epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces.
399 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 11, 2019
391 people are currently reading
6912 people want to read
About the author
Peter Houlahan
4 books84 followersPETER HOULAHAN is an author, freelance writer, and book review contributor. His work has appeared in CrimeReads, Salon, Los Angeles Magazine, Police1, Hearst, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Daily Mirror, and The Orange County Register. His first book, Norco ’80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History, was a finalist for an Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Hammett Prize, and a Macavity Award. The book has been chosen as a New York Times summer pick; a best book of the year by NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and Amazon; and a Gold Standard selection by the Junior Library Guild. Originally from Southern California, Houlahan now lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 323 reviews
August 6, 2019
This is a remarkable book, the true story of a bank robbery in Norco, California, in Riverside County by five men, some of them religious Christians convinced the end times were coming. Two lived together in a house in Norco where they were digging trenches and fencing the perimeter of their property with barbed wire preparing for marauders to come for their caches of food, weapons and supplies. They were late on the mortgage, owed child support so there may have been a mixed motive for the bank robbery. Either way it turned into one of the largest crime scenes ever, in the bank and then when they tried to get away spreading out over forty miles, in two different counties, Riverside and San Bernadino, with police departments from both and sheriff's officers from both, helicopters and a chase that ended up with them driving up a single-file road in the San Gabriel mountains, a national park, with forty police cars from the four jurisdictions and California Highway Patrol lined up behind them and the four remaining perps firing away. The officer in the lead car was killed. The suspects fled into the chaparral and were tracked by helicopter, dogs and SWAT teams.
They had assault rifles. The alpha in the group, a Vietnam vet, had altered them so they could shoot more ammo faster. They had pipe bombs, other bombs and homemade grenades. They didn't need the internet because there was a book that gave detailed instructions on how to make bombs and grenades. They had timed out the bank robbery but messed up, one guarding a door wasn't and more people came in, a silent alarm set off by a teller went to the wrong city. The bank didn't even have much money. So many things went wrong it's incredible that only one person was killed.
They messed up getting their getaway cars and ended up kidnapping at gunpoint the owner of a bright yellow truck. His legs were bound with duct tape and eventually, because the police couldn't be sure he was a victim or a perp, he had to roll his way through an intersection over to them. This is when things go really wrong and the crime scene gets very spread out. There are officers at the bank, where one perp lies dead at the wheel of their van. And now they're traveling in suburban neighborhoods and on the highway in a bright yellow truck with two guys standing up in the back shooting thousands of rounds of ammo indiscriminately and the others shooting from the windows. They shot around twenty-five police officers. They hit a boy riding his bicycle with his friends ("clipped his finger," the author says, which I assume is an injury?). They hit a girl whose dad was giving her a driving lesson. They put thousands of bullets into thirty-three police cars that were destroyed. They shot at the helicopter.
Throughout the crime, which is the first half of the book, the police did their best in an utterly chaotic situation. They had so many limitations but the biggest one was they did not have assault rifles. They had small handguns. This is the case that resulted in officers nationwide being armed with assault rifles. The robbery happened the same year PTSD was added to the psychiatric DSM manual and this is the crime that brought to light how utterly unequipped law enforcement entities nationwide were to deal with PTSD when it manifested in their officers. That too would change as a result of the Norco robbery.
Peter Houlahan does an amazing job of bringing the reader into every part of the forty-mile crime scene. The book reads like a movie but a movie could never do it justice because it was so spread out and chaotic. It's his first book but he's written articles and is an EMT in Newtown, CT whose unit responded to the Sandy Hook school shooting, although their services weren't needed when they arrived. He has also studied PTSD. You have to read the book to see how this crime unfolds, it's so unreal but all too real.
The second part deals with the trial and for a little while I was getting bored and wondering why but then it all came together.. The three captured (two died) were tried together with separate attorneys. The trial lasted a year not counting the penalty phase, and what Houlahan chooses to bring forth makes that section well worth it. The author is so gifted the book unfolds as if it's written itself. He is at all times master of the material. Like the crime, you've got to read what he tells us about the trial because the truth is so much stranger than fiction. There are a few things so shocking that even though this happened I won't give them away here. Mostly I was incredulous at how the defense attorneys treated the cops on the stand. These men had been through a crime the likes of which has never been seen. Many were wounded. Some watched their friend die. It's very relevant to today because there is so much attention paid to mistakes the police make -- and they do, horrible ones -- and here they did too but it's so clear everyone did the best they could in the worst of circumstances. In the end we learn how some fared. No one came away unscathed. And the criminals, unrepentant and self-righteous throughout, trying to game the system, having no respect for life or property all the while proclaiming their faith. You won't read another book like this because there's never been a crime like this and because Houlahan tells a very complex story in an organized and compulsively readable way.
My review hasn't done "Norco '80" justice. The book is that good. As long as my review is, I haven't even scratched the surface. I wasn't sure it was a book for me, and the material is disturbing in many ways, but I'm very glad I read it. I encourage everyone who is interested in true crime, religious fanatics who justify violence,, sociology or anyone looking for a great read, one you won't want to put down, to go for it.
They had assault rifles. The alpha in the group, a Vietnam vet, had altered them so they could shoot more ammo faster. They had pipe bombs, other bombs and homemade grenades. They didn't need the internet because there was a book that gave detailed instructions on how to make bombs and grenades. They had timed out the bank robbery but messed up, one guarding a door wasn't and more people came in, a silent alarm set off by a teller went to the wrong city. The bank didn't even have much money. So many things went wrong it's incredible that only one person was killed.
They messed up getting their getaway cars and ended up kidnapping at gunpoint the owner of a bright yellow truck. His legs were bound with duct tape and eventually, because the police couldn't be sure he was a victim or a perp, he had to roll his way through an intersection over to them. This is when things go really wrong and the crime scene gets very spread out. There are officers at the bank, where one perp lies dead at the wheel of their van. And now they're traveling in suburban neighborhoods and on the highway in a bright yellow truck with two guys standing up in the back shooting thousands of rounds of ammo indiscriminately and the others shooting from the windows. They shot around twenty-five police officers. They hit a boy riding his bicycle with his friends ("clipped his finger," the author says, which I assume is an injury?). They hit a girl whose dad was giving her a driving lesson. They put thousands of bullets into thirty-three police cars that were destroyed. They shot at the helicopter.
Throughout the crime, which is the first half of the book, the police did their best in an utterly chaotic situation. They had so many limitations but the biggest one was they did not have assault rifles. They had small handguns. This is the case that resulted in officers nationwide being armed with assault rifles. The robbery happened the same year PTSD was added to the psychiatric DSM manual and this is the crime that brought to light how utterly unequipped law enforcement entities nationwide were to deal with PTSD when it manifested in their officers. That too would change as a result of the Norco robbery.
Peter Houlahan does an amazing job of bringing the reader into every part of the forty-mile crime scene. The book reads like a movie but a movie could never do it justice because it was so spread out and chaotic. It's his first book but he's written articles and is an EMT in Newtown, CT whose unit responded to the Sandy Hook school shooting, although their services weren't needed when they arrived. He has also studied PTSD. You have to read the book to see how this crime unfolds, it's so unreal but all too real.
The second part deals with the trial and for a little while I was getting bored and wondering why but then it all came together.. The three captured (two died) were tried together with separate attorneys. The trial lasted a year not counting the penalty phase, and what Houlahan chooses to bring forth makes that section well worth it. The author is so gifted the book unfolds as if it's written itself. He is at all times master of the material. Like the crime, you've got to read what he tells us about the trial because the truth is so much stranger than fiction. There are a few things so shocking that even though this happened I won't give them away here. Mostly I was incredulous at how the defense attorneys treated the cops on the stand. These men had been through a crime the likes of which has never been seen. Many were wounded. Some watched their friend die. It's very relevant to today because there is so much attention paid to mistakes the police make -- and they do, horrible ones -- and here they did too but it's so clear everyone did the best they could in the worst of circumstances. In the end we learn how some fared. No one came away unscathed. And the criminals, unrepentant and self-righteous throughout, trying to game the system, having no respect for life or property all the while proclaiming their faith. You won't read another book like this because there's never been a crime like this and because Houlahan tells a very complex story in an organized and compulsively readable way.
My review hasn't done "Norco '80" justice. The book is that good. As long as my review is, I haven't even scratched the surface. I wasn't sure it was a book for me, and the material is disturbing in many ways, but I'm very glad I read it. I encourage everyone who is interested in true crime, religious fanatics who justify violence,, sociology or anyone looking for a great read, one you won't want to put down, to go for it.
May 4, 2020
3-Edward-50, the suspects are stranded, their vehicle is disabled at Hamner and Fourth. Roll help. I need an ambulance. I'm bleeding badly.
I'm not a big fan of true crime books; stories are never tied up nice and neat like they are in fiction, and sometimes the bad guys win. But, ever since seeing Dog Day Afternoon at a fairly young age, I have been intrigued by tales of bank robberies gone horribly wrong. And, they don't get much "wronger" than the robbery that occurred in Southern California in 1980 when five young men, who were armed to the teeth with semi-automatic weapons plus homemade bombs and grenades, attempted to raise the capital they felt they needed to see themselves through the coming apocalypse.
Pretty much everything that can go wrong with a robbery went wrong that day. From bad timing, to stupid choices, to personality clashes, to bizarre coincidences - it was a disaster that led to death, and destruction, and lives forever changed.
The book starts off with some exposition, and the author flings a lot of names at the reader. I was going a little crazy wondering which ones might be most important to the story, but it turned out to not be a problem. Once the introductions are over, the story takes off. Be warned - once you hit page 61, plan on settling in for a while because the next 100 pages are packed with some of the most intense, nonstop action you'll ever read.
It's an amazing tale of heroism and horror that should keep you riveted.
I'm not a big fan of true crime books; stories are never tied up nice and neat like they are in fiction, and sometimes the bad guys win. But, ever since seeing Dog Day Afternoon at a fairly young age, I have been intrigued by tales of bank robberies gone horribly wrong. And, they don't get much "wronger" than the robbery that occurred in Southern California in 1980 when five young men, who were armed to the teeth with semi-automatic weapons plus homemade bombs and grenades, attempted to raise the capital they felt they needed to see themselves through the coming apocalypse.
Pretty much everything that can go wrong with a robbery went wrong that day. From bad timing, to stupid choices, to personality clashes, to bizarre coincidences - it was a disaster that led to death, and destruction, and lives forever changed.
The book starts off with some exposition, and the author flings a lot of names at the reader. I was going a little crazy wondering which ones might be most important to the story, but it turned out to not be a problem. Once the introductions are over, the story takes off. Be warned - once you hit page 61, plan on settling in for a while because the next 100 pages are packed with some of the most intense, nonstop action you'll ever read.
It's an amazing tale of heroism and horror that should keep you riveted.
August 11, 2019
"Riverside to all Norco units. 211 in progress at the Security Pacific Bank at Fourth and Hamner." -- the RCSO dispatcher, on page 73 (*211 is California penal and/or police radio code for armed robbery)
An absolutely outstanding and suspenseful true crime book, meticulously chronicling the May 1980 bank robbery / pursuit / shoot-out in Southern California (not in Los Angeles, but farther east in a desert and mountain area known as 'The Inland Empire') that pitted five heavily- and better-armed thieves against a small and diverse group of responding law enforcement personnel - county sheriff's deputies, city police officers, and highway patrolmen from various agencies - in a particularly violent and nightmarish encounter. It reads like it's right out of a Hollywood script, but it was the real deal.
This is author Houlahan's first book, and it is one hell of a strong debut. Norco '80 is a confident, well-researched detailing of the personalities involved (the suspects, the police, the lawyers on both sides), the actual incident, and the occasionally absurd trial aftermath. Drawing on many interviews, taped radio transmissions (see above), investigatory reports, and court transcripts, Houlahan weaves everything together into an absorbing narrative. However, I don't want to necessarily make it sound like a fun, mindless action movie - this was a retelling of a particularly dark day for the involved law enforcement and bystanders, involving a tragic line of duty death and also countless injuries. But out of said tragedy came a better understanding / response for dealing with PTSD, among other things.
An absolutely outstanding and suspenseful true crime book, meticulously chronicling the May 1980 bank robbery / pursuit / shoot-out in Southern California (not in Los Angeles, but farther east in a desert and mountain area known as 'The Inland Empire') that pitted five heavily- and better-armed thieves against a small and diverse group of responding law enforcement personnel - county sheriff's deputies, city police officers, and highway patrolmen from various agencies - in a particularly violent and nightmarish encounter. It reads like it's right out of a Hollywood script, but it was the real deal.
This is author Houlahan's first book, and it is one hell of a strong debut. Norco '80 is a confident, well-researched detailing of the personalities involved (the suspects, the police, the lawyers on both sides), the actual incident, and the occasionally absurd trial aftermath. Drawing on many interviews, taped radio transmissions (see above), investigatory reports, and court transcripts, Houlahan weaves everything together into an absorbing narrative. However, I don't want to necessarily make it sound like a fun, mindless action movie - this was a retelling of a particularly dark day for the involved law enforcement and bystanders, involving a tragic line of duty death and also countless injuries. But out of said tragedy came a better understanding / response for dealing with PTSD, among other things.
September 30, 2019
What a great ride this was. It was so exciting. I had moved away from Norco in the late 70’s, and I could picture this whole tale. I didn’t appreciate the slanted views on religion at the beginning. I felt it was unnecessary and the author obviously had a bias. All in all, it got a five from me, so you can tell how much I enjoyed the rest of the story.
September 3, 2019
The true account of the ill-conceived bank robbery that resulted in a harrowing police chase and gun battle in 1980’s Norco, California. After the 5 perpetrators fled, they began their powerful and overwhelming fire power attack (automatic and semi-automatic guns, grenades, pipe bombs, thousands of rounds of ammunition) on the police forces that pursued them. Many officers were injured, and one officer was dead. This crime caused police departments across the country to incorporate military grade weapons in their arsenals.
The personalities of the perpetrators are exposed to reveal the circle of manipulation, fear, and bullying that caused these men to unite and commit such a horrible crime. It’s too bad no one recognized the need of a mental health intervention of George Smith when there were so many warning signs of paranoia, grandiose ideation and delusional thinking.
An in depth account of the trial follows and if you are not familiar with court proceedings it might be overwhelming, but I found the courtroom histrionics fascinating!
Not quite 5 stars because I found all the players (perps, victims, lawyers, police forces/units, family members) jumbled and it would have behooved the author to reference their role more than once.
Recommended.
The personalities of the perpetrators are exposed to reveal the circle of manipulation, fear, and bullying that caused these men to unite and commit such a horrible crime. It’s too bad no one recognized the need of a mental health intervention of George Smith when there were so many warning signs of paranoia, grandiose ideation and delusional thinking.
An in depth account of the trial follows and if you are not familiar with court proceedings it might be overwhelming, but I found the courtroom histrionics fascinating!
Not quite 5 stars because I found all the players (perps, victims, lawyers, police forces/units, family members) jumbled and it would have behooved the author to reference their role more than once.
Recommended.
August 22, 2020
In May of 1980 in Norco, California a bunch of losers had decided to rob a bank. They were armed to the teeth with all kinds of automatic weapons and they also had homemade grenades.
What ensued after the robbery was a massive chase in which over thirty police cars were wrecked by the onslaught of automatic weapons from the bank robbers. The chase ended high up in the canyons and mountains which are such a prominent feature of California. On the canyon road the robbers finally had to disembark their pick-up truck, which they had hijacked, and headed off into the wilderness. Exhausted, they were easily captured the next day by police and SWAT teams. One police officer was killed, several were injured and also many innocent civilians who were walking or driving on the roads during the chase.
A lengthy trial ensued,
The portrait of these loser bank robbers is not pretty. They couldn’t hold jobs, couldn’t support their children and wives/girlfriends who had left them and sold drugs to supplement whatever income they had. Some sought solace in religion, and they all had survivalist tendencies believing that end-times were approaching. One of them came up with a cockamamie plan to rob a bank – and the rest followed, believing it was going to be easy money. So, they kept buying loads of guns and ammunition to rob the bank and then settle somewhere, someplace in the wilderness to await the apocalypse, end-times and a second coming where they would all be pardoned for their sins… This was a most pathetic group.
Apparently, the Norco bank robbery prompted police forces across the U.S. to get more and better armaments and vehicles to deal more effectively with any subsequent episodes like Norco. That’s one way to look at it. The other is that why is an ordinary citizen permitted to buy and stockpile weapons and ammunition that (page 104) were capable of firing 120 rounds in just over a minute?
What was most interesting is the dissension and the PTSD that afterwards pervaded the various police departments that were involved in the chase. Some officers could no longer speak to each another – feeling a lack of support. Others, after months or years left law enforcement. That violent day left an imprint on their lives that festered and constantly gnawed at them. They had permanent behavioral changes.
Perhaps the book goes on too long at times – more so with the police cars being riddled with bullets. The long trial was a travesty in some ways with both defenders and prosecutors getting weary.
Nevertheless, this is an exhilarating page turner.
What ensued after the robbery was a massive chase in which over thirty police cars were wrecked by the onslaught of automatic weapons from the bank robbers. The chase ended high up in the canyons and mountains which are such a prominent feature of California. On the canyon road the robbers finally had to disembark their pick-up truck, which they had hijacked, and headed off into the wilderness. Exhausted, they were easily captured the next day by police and SWAT teams. One police officer was killed, several were injured and also many innocent civilians who were walking or driving on the roads during the chase.
A lengthy trial ensued,
The portrait of these loser bank robbers is not pretty. They couldn’t hold jobs, couldn’t support their children and wives/girlfriends who had left them and sold drugs to supplement whatever income they had. Some sought solace in religion, and they all had survivalist tendencies believing that end-times were approaching. One of them came up with a cockamamie plan to rob a bank – and the rest followed, believing it was going to be easy money. So, they kept buying loads of guns and ammunition to rob the bank and then settle somewhere, someplace in the wilderness to await the apocalypse, end-times and a second coming where they would all be pardoned for their sins… This was a most pathetic group.
Apparently, the Norco bank robbery prompted police forces across the U.S. to get more and better armaments and vehicles to deal more effectively with any subsequent episodes like Norco. That’s one way to look at it. The other is that why is an ordinary citizen permitted to buy and stockpile weapons and ammunition that (page 104) were capable of firing 120 rounds in just over a minute?
What was most interesting is the dissension and the PTSD that afterwards pervaded the various police departments that were involved in the chase. Some officers could no longer speak to each another – feeling a lack of support. Others, after months or years left law enforcement. That violent day left an imprint on their lives that festered and constantly gnawed at them. They had permanent behavioral changes.
Perhaps the book goes on too long at times – more so with the police cars being riddled with bullets. The long trial was a travesty in some ways with both defenders and prosecutors getting weary.
Nevertheless, this is an exhilarating page turner.
July 23, 2019
The blame begins with the huge eruption of Mount St. Helens. George Wayne Smith (age 29) and Chris Haven (age 27) were convinced that the eruption announced the coming rapture as predicted in the Book of Revelations. Their apostolic faith convinced them that the end was near and that they needed to move to the mountains in order to survive the coming chaos. Both of them were ex-military and stockpiled a huge supply of weapons, homemade grenades and ammunition to prepare for the coming apocalypse. One thing they lacked—money for the move.
So—these two guys convinced their friends, Belisaro and Manuel Delgado, and Chris’ brother, Russell, to join them in robbing the Security Pacific Bank. Unfortunately, an employee from the bank across the street saw the masked men entering the bank and quickly called police. What ensues is Fargo-esque as events flew out of control. Total chaos ensued with the five robbers spraying hundreds of rounds of ammunition at the responding police in an area full of civilians. The miracle is that there were not more deaths and casualties. But there were still plenty—two of the perpetrators and one Sheriff’s deputy were killed, another 9 wounded, over 30 police cars were damaged, and even one helicopter was downed.
The bank robbers were forced to steal a second truck when their first one was damaged. They were able to escape Riverside County and entered San Bernardino County with multiple police officers from multiple jurisdictions in hot pursuit. Eventually they reached the mountains and proceeded on foot. They were caught the next day.
The second part of the book focuses on the trial for the three remaining robbers. It was not your usual criminal trial! The Defense Attorneys presented numerous audacious theories and verbally fought with the presiding judge. And then there was the case of the Defenses’ investigator falling in love with George Wayne Smith. [I’m sure that will turn out well! Not!]
Recommend this true crime tale that defies believability.
So—these two guys convinced their friends, Belisaro and Manuel Delgado, and Chris’ brother, Russell, to join them in robbing the Security Pacific Bank. Unfortunately, an employee from the bank across the street saw the masked men entering the bank and quickly called police. What ensues is Fargo-esque as events flew out of control. Total chaos ensued with the five robbers spraying hundreds of rounds of ammunition at the responding police in an area full of civilians. The miracle is that there were not more deaths and casualties. But there were still plenty—two of the perpetrators and one Sheriff’s deputy were killed, another 9 wounded, over 30 police cars were damaged, and even one helicopter was downed.
The bank robbers were forced to steal a second truck when their first one was damaged. They were able to escape Riverside County and entered San Bernardino County with multiple police officers from multiple jurisdictions in hot pursuit. Eventually they reached the mountains and proceeded on foot. They were caught the next day.
The second part of the book focuses on the trial for the three remaining robbers. It was not your usual criminal trial! The Defense Attorneys presented numerous audacious theories and verbally fought with the presiding judge. And then there was the case of the Defenses’ investigator falling in love with George Wayne Smith. [I’m sure that will turn out well! Not!]
Recommend this true crime tale that defies believability.
June 5, 2019
Oh, this book was all kinds of amazing!
Even though I'm from Southern California, I'd never heard of the Norco bank robbery. I figured it was before my time, but my parents hadn't heard of it either. Reading, this, I don't know how we missed it.
This is one exciting read.
While the author takes some liberties here and there with the feelings of some of our participants (like one dying young man was thinking/feeling), those liberties are logical.
The book is well researched, but honestly reads like a movie. I could see people getting shot, feel the whiz of bullets as they narrowly missed other characters, and my heart was pounding like crazy.
A fabulous book that inspired me to learn even more about what happened (and more about a serial killer and a cult I'd never heard of before).
Excellent!
Even though I'm from Southern California, I'd never heard of the Norco bank robbery. I figured it was before my time, but my parents hadn't heard of it either. Reading, this, I don't know how we missed it.
This is one exciting read.
While the author takes some liberties here and there with the feelings of some of our participants (like one dying young man was thinking/feeling), those liberties are logical.
The book is well researched, but honestly reads like a movie. I could see people getting shot, feel the whiz of bullets as they narrowly missed other characters, and my heart was pounding like crazy.
A fabulous book that inspired me to learn even more about what happened (and more about a serial killer and a cult I'd never heard of before).
Excellent!
August 10, 2020
I recently expressed the opinion that most true crime books can be divided into 2 categories, either a straightforward retelling, generally with additional detail, of a contemporary criminal event, or books that delve more deeply into the particulars of a time, place or subject, where that background is necessary to understand the crime under examination.
This analysis of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong could be placed in the first category, since it is definitely a retelling of a specific event, with a boatload of detail. I'd suggest, however, that the historical moment, 1980, and the location, Southern California, were key elements in how this violent story played out.
The brief summary: five guys, down on their luck and obsessed with apocalyptic religious fervor, decide to rob a bank in the small city of Norco, California. Their objective was to obtain the funds they need to purchase a remote property on which they could build an armed hideout where they could live during the cataclysm they anticipated. Several of them were veterans whose personalities were affected by the experience of being in the military during the Vietnam war era. A couple were not physically well and easily led by one who was especially disturbed and manipulative.
They acquired an extensive armory of automatic weapons, to which they added home-made explosives, and proceeded with their plan even when the wheels started falling off early on the day designated for the heist. Things went from bad to worse, with the botched robbery followed by a bizarre car chase that ended with their arrest in the San Gabriel mountains. They were pursued by police from several jurisdictions, all of them significantly less well armed than the group of five.
So what made this event so connected to the time and place, as reflected in this book?
*Southern California was knee deep in extremist religious groups in the late 70's, such that this group did not stand out as unique, did not call attention to themselves.
*1980 was only five years after the end of the Vietnam war and many returning servicemen carried scars visible and otherwise.
*The state did not have especially strict gun control laws, and nothing stood in the way of the group purchasing their arsenal, again not calling attention to themselves.
*By contrast, it was not normal in 1980 for state or local law enforcement officers to be armed with assault weapons. These circumstances set up the lengthy car chase and the ultimate outcome of the robbery.
In fact, the discrepancy in weaponry in Norco led directly to changes in police departments across the nation. it was clear that the time had arrived when criminals could be, and were happy to be, in a position to outgun law enforcement.
The aftermath of the event also unfolded in ways that reflected time and place. The California judiciary tended to be liberal, although capital punishment was available as a sentence. Both of these elements had an affect on the trial. (The lengthy trial had far too many extraordinary elements to recount here.)
The most pronounced after effect of the event, in my opinion (formed solely by reading this book, I will confess), was the way in which the post traumatic stress suffered by so many of the law enforcement officers wasn't immediately recognized or addressed. PTSD was only added to the Diagnostic and Manual of Psychiatric Disorders in that year, so that's understandable, if unfortunate.
So, enough philosophizing. The book held my interest all the way through. My one problem with it was something over which the author had no control: too many similar names, especially for a listener. It took me an entire chapter to figure out that there was a Manny Delgado and an Andy Delgado, one on each side. BTW, the narrator, Joe Bennett, is a good match for the material.
Not quite as good as the true crime books I've rated most highly, but a very solid 4.
This analysis of a bank robbery gone horribly wrong could be placed in the first category, since it is definitely a retelling of a specific event, with a boatload of detail. I'd suggest, however, that the historical moment, 1980, and the location, Southern California, were key elements in how this violent story played out.
The brief summary: five guys, down on their luck and obsessed with apocalyptic religious fervor, decide to rob a bank in the small city of Norco, California. Their objective was to obtain the funds they need to purchase a remote property on which they could build an armed hideout where they could live during the cataclysm they anticipated. Several of them were veterans whose personalities were affected by the experience of being in the military during the Vietnam war era. A couple were not physically well and easily led by one who was especially disturbed and manipulative.
They acquired an extensive armory of automatic weapons, to which they added home-made explosives, and proceeded with their plan even when the wheels started falling off early on the day designated for the heist. Things went from bad to worse, with the botched robbery followed by a bizarre car chase that ended with their arrest in the San Gabriel mountains. They were pursued by police from several jurisdictions, all of them significantly less well armed than the group of five.
So what made this event so connected to the time and place, as reflected in this book?
*Southern California was knee deep in extremist religious groups in the late 70's, such that this group did not stand out as unique, did not call attention to themselves.
*1980 was only five years after the end of the Vietnam war and many returning servicemen carried scars visible and otherwise.
*The state did not have especially strict gun control laws, and nothing stood in the way of the group purchasing their arsenal, again not calling attention to themselves.
*By contrast, it was not normal in 1980 for state or local law enforcement officers to be armed with assault weapons. These circumstances set up the lengthy car chase and the ultimate outcome of the robbery.
In fact, the discrepancy in weaponry in Norco led directly to changes in police departments across the nation. it was clear that the time had arrived when criminals could be, and were happy to be, in a position to outgun law enforcement.
The aftermath of the event also unfolded in ways that reflected time and place. The California judiciary tended to be liberal, although capital punishment was available as a sentence. Both of these elements had an affect on the trial. (The lengthy trial had far too many extraordinary elements to recount here.)
The most pronounced after effect of the event, in my opinion (formed solely by reading this book, I will confess), was the way in which the post traumatic stress suffered by so many of the law enforcement officers wasn't immediately recognized or addressed. PTSD was only added to the Diagnostic and Manual of Psychiatric Disorders in that year, so that's understandable, if unfortunate.
So, enough philosophizing. The book held my interest all the way through. My one problem with it was something over which the author had no control: too many similar names, especially for a listener. It took me an entire chapter to figure out that there was a Manny Delgado and an Andy Delgado, one on each side. BTW, the narrator, Joe Bennett, is a good match for the material.
Not quite as good as the true crime books I've rated most highly, but a very solid 4.
November 22, 2019
What a damned disaster. What began as a terrifying take-over style bank heist quickly turned into a deadly shootout and car chase. The robbers, equipped with quite an arsenal, were not giving up peacefully. The police were utterly outgunned. This violent incident was a pivotal moment in law enforcement history. Horrific, but fascinating.
August 20, 2020
Sometimes frustrating, sometimes exhilarating--a detailed account of despicably reckless bank robbers and outgunned police officers.
Found the prologue a bit heavy-handed attempting to place the robbers into the context of the charismatic, apocalyptic, unhinged California super-criminals of the 1970s.
But once we transition to the actual history, the backgrounds of the robbers and cops, the book really picks up. We get to the gripping events of the robbery itself and it gets even better. The robbers know their firearms but they've never robbed anybody before and it shows. (We get plenty of minute-by-minute descriptions, and I assume the author was able to infuse the magnitude of detail into the narrative because of the trial records and eye-witness accounts.) For example, the bank teller asks whether the robbers want the coins (which are heavy, worthless, and would slow the robbers down), and the ringleader demands every damn cent.
As compelling as the amateurish heist itself was, it was the ensuing police chase that leapt from the page and rattled around my psyche for a hundred pages and a couple days or so. The white-knuckled pursuit pitted the well-meaning but rightfully nervous sheriff's deputies, police officers, and highway patrolmen against a truckload of savages who shoot at everything including law enforcement, helicopters, and civilian bystanders.
The frustration for me was that the robbers seemed to get away with so much. Not money, but such disregard for their fellow human beings during their attempted escape. Time and again they were able to slip away from their pursuers. Later, during the trial, they seemed to be making headway with ludicrous defense strategies and impugning anybody they could in an attempt to shift blame. The ringleader continued to exploit and demean his henchmen even in captivity.
Frustrating because it's difficult to face such ruthlessness, and to watch as some people (the henchmen, girlfriends, even attorneys) seemed to fall for it or become attracted to the magnetism of the criminals.
Found the prologue a bit heavy-handed attempting to place the robbers into the context of the charismatic, apocalyptic, unhinged California super-criminals of the 1970s.
But once we transition to the actual history, the backgrounds of the robbers and cops, the book really picks up. We get to the gripping events of the robbery itself and it gets even better. The robbers know their firearms but they've never robbed anybody before and it shows. (We get plenty of minute-by-minute descriptions, and I assume the author was able to infuse the magnitude of detail into the narrative because of the trial records and eye-witness accounts.) For example, the bank teller asks whether the robbers want the coins (which are heavy, worthless, and would slow the robbers down), and the ringleader demands every damn cent.
As compelling as the amateurish heist itself was, it was the ensuing police chase that leapt from the page and rattled around my psyche for a hundred pages and a couple days or so. The white-knuckled pursuit pitted the well-meaning but rightfully nervous sheriff's deputies, police officers, and highway patrolmen against a truckload of savages who shoot at everything including law enforcement, helicopters, and civilian bystanders.
The frustration for me was that the robbers seemed to get away with so much. Not money, but such disregard for their fellow human beings during their attempted escape. Time and again they were able to slip away from their pursuers. Later, during the trial, they seemed to be making headway with ludicrous defense strategies and impugning anybody they could in an attempt to shift blame. The ringleader continued to exploit and demean his henchmen even in captivity.
Frustrating because it's difficult to face such ruthlessness, and to watch as some people (the henchmen, girlfriends, even attorneys) seemed to fall for it or become attracted to the magnetism of the criminals.
July 29, 2019
4.5 stars rounding up - what a wild story from the robbery all the way through the trial. I had never heard of it before. The writing makes you feel like you’re right there throughout the whole robbery and chase. Really well done. I need a Netflix doc on this!!
June 25, 2020
Evidence Never Lies
Given the evidence available to you, I appreciate you being an impartial writer...WELL DONE.
From one who lived it,
Debbie Rose
Investigator Asst. to Jeanne Painter
Given the evidence available to you, I appreciate you being an impartial writer...WELL DONE.
From one who lived it,
Debbie Rose
Investigator Asst. to Jeanne Painter
March 26, 2024
Top notch Non-Fic/True Crime. I really want these books to take me through the main event, moment by moment in great detail, and I totally got that here.
Bank robbing holds a special place in the public's imagination. Romantic Robin Hood notions aside, if it's done right, a bank can be relieved of its burden without anyone getting hurt. A lot of planning, a little courage, and after one adrenaline-fueled day all your money problems are over! It's no wonder so many would-be John Dillingers gave it a try during the recent golden age of bank robbing between the 1970s-1990s.
George Wayne Smith convinced some friends they needed money to escape the coming nuclear apocalypse. Back on May 9, 1980, he and four other men stormed a regional bank in tiny Norco, California. Another day, another robbery. But these thieves stood out from the crowd because of their cache of weapons, including military-style rifles and homemade bombs. In the end, two of them died, one officer was killed, and eight other officers and a number of civilians were wounded. So many rounds were fired that over 30 police cars were destroyed and a police helicopter was shot down. It must've been complete panic and chaos.
The firepower and violence were of a level never seen before and it influenced long-standing changes in law enforcement agencies across the country. Departments that typically armed their officers only with handguns began stocking assault rifles, and training began to incorporate tactical shootout scenarios. Chiefs and Sheriffs everywhere were determined their people would not be outgunned like they were in Norco.
I find there are an awful lot of True Crime authors whose skills are average-to-bad. Peter Houlahan's Norco '80 is excellent, mostly because it gets the mix right: the lead up, an exciting play-by-play of the crime from a wide variety of perspectives, the immediate aftermath, the courtroom trial, the lasting impact and where they are today.
My only nit is that the chapters covering the day of the crime include a lot of quotes, thoughts and feelings, including from people who wound up being killed that day. This is my biggest Non-Fic pet peeve: authors insinuating these uncertainties as facts. Even if it makes sense and follows logically, it remains that the author cannot possibly know and so shouldn't frame it that way.
If True Crime is your thang, give this a read. Even if your preference isn't bank robberies, it's well written and riveting.
Bank robbing holds a special place in the public's imagination. Romantic Robin Hood notions aside, if it's done right, a bank can be relieved of its burden without anyone getting hurt. A lot of planning, a little courage, and after one adrenaline-fueled day all your money problems are over! It's no wonder so many would-be John Dillingers gave it a try during the recent golden age of bank robbing between the 1970s-1990s.
George Wayne Smith convinced some friends they needed money to escape the coming nuclear apocalypse. Back on May 9, 1980, he and four other men stormed a regional bank in tiny Norco, California. Another day, another robbery. But these thieves stood out from the crowd because of their cache of weapons, including military-style rifles and homemade bombs. In the end, two of them died, one officer was killed, and eight other officers and a number of civilians were wounded. So many rounds were fired that over 30 police cars were destroyed and a police helicopter was shot down. It must've been complete panic and chaos.
The firepower and violence were of a level never seen before and it influenced long-standing changes in law enforcement agencies across the country. Departments that typically armed their officers only with handguns began stocking assault rifles, and training began to incorporate tactical shootout scenarios. Chiefs and Sheriffs everywhere were determined their people would not be outgunned like they were in Norco.
I find there are an awful lot of True Crime authors whose skills are average-to-bad. Peter Houlahan's Norco '80 is excellent, mostly because it gets the mix right: the lead up, an exciting play-by-play of the crime from a wide variety of perspectives, the immediate aftermath, the courtroom trial, the lasting impact and where they are today.
My only nit is that the chapters covering the day of the crime include a lot of quotes, thoughts and feelings, including from people who wound up being killed that day. This is my biggest Non-Fic pet peeve: authors insinuating these uncertainties as facts. Even if it makes sense and follows logically, it remains that the author cannot possibly know and so shouldn't frame it that way.
If True Crime is your thang, give this a read. Even if your preference isn't bank robberies, it's well written and riveting.
August 22, 2020
A better read than any thriller shoot 'em up, because it's a true story.
The author does a great job with backgrounds on the bank robbers and with some of the police officers involved. It covers from the background to the robbery itself, the shootout, the chase, and the capture. Then moves into the trial phase and the aftermath of PTSD to the officers involved.
Very much like the North Hollywood bank robbery in the late 90's and the FBI shootout in south Florida in the mid 80's.
The author does a great job with backgrounds on the bank robbers and with some of the police officers involved. It covers from the background to the robbery itself, the shootout, the chase, and the capture. Then moves into the trial phase and the aftermath of PTSD to the officers involved.
Very much like the North Hollywood bank robbery in the late 90's and the FBI shootout in south Florida in the mid 80's.
July 21, 2019
The jaw-dropping account of how 5 bank robbers armed to the teeth with military grade weapons - automatic weapons, homemade bombs, Molotov cocktails, and a samurai sword robbed a bank in the rural town of Norco (Riverside County) California in 1980 and subsequently led police on a wild pursuit. Thousands of rounds were fired during the chase, putting police and civilians in harm's way along the rural roads of Riverside, on the freeway and up into the nearby mountains. 30+ police vehicles were shot up, a helicopter shot out of the sky, and tragically, a police officer killed in the shoot-out. Houlhan's research meticulously takes us from the reasons for the hold-up (the robbers' belief that the rapture was coming and they needed to get the hell out of California), to the pursuit of the robbers up to the San Bernardino mountains. The second half of the book is equally gripping as the author explains how the criminal trial became a circus as the defense lawyers used questionable tactics, made ridiculous claims, and engaged in outright lies to try and get their clients off the hook if not out of the gas chamber. A must read for any one who is interested in true crime narratives, police procedure, or true-life cops and robbers stories -- or questions why police departments today use military grade equipment in their line of work.
March 10, 2019
I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway. This story provides further proof that truth is stranger than fiction. From the beginning, it engages the reader and doesn't let go; narrative writing at its finest. I lived in the midwest and was in my teens during the time of this crime and trial and I don't remember hearing anything about it, so I was fascinated by the entire tale. It was especially enlightening reading about how this one crime impacted law enforcement, particularly the militarization of it, nationwide.
There were several times where I felt completely lost and couldn't keep the moving pieces straight (and I am a careful reader), but that just shows how convoluted the entire episode was from the planning of the crime through the outcome of the trial; that the author could make sense of any of it, and manage to make it into a coherent story, speaks volumes. I can't even imagine what Mr. Houlahan's white board/bulletin board/post-it note tree, or whatever he used to connect the dots, looked like. I highly recommend this book!
There were several times where I felt completely lost and couldn't keep the moving pieces straight (and I am a careful reader), but that just shows how convoluted the entire episode was from the planning of the crime through the outcome of the trial; that the author could make sense of any of it, and manage to make it into a coherent story, speaks volumes. I can't even imagine what Mr. Houlahan's white board/bulletin board/post-it note tree, or whatever he used to connect the dots, looked like. I highly recommend this book!
July 24, 2019
This is one of the best books of its sort I have ever read. Well done, Peter Houlahan. What a heartbreak. I lived a very unexciting life within ten miles of where all this went down, and I was completely unaware of all of it until now.
August 22, 2021
Norco ‘80 was a fast paced true crime read paced with details of this kidnapping, bank robbery, police chase, trial, and aftermath. Pre Covid, we used to visit the Palm Springs area every year. These crimes occurred north of that area in the 1980’s. This horrific series of events was instrumental in leading to updates in the communication equipment used by law enforcement and the type of weapons that officers have available to them to deal with heavily armed offenders.
The amount of ammunition and military grade weapons that the bank robbers were able to acquire from a legitimate gun store was shocking to me. Hopefully, the laws have changed to make it difficult to come into possession of such weapons. As you read this book, you will learn the devastation these powerful weapons inflicted on people and property.
As an attorney for many years, I was disgusted by the courtroom antics, disrespectful conduct, and animosity on display by the attorneys on both sides of the case. The interactions between the suspects/defendants both before and after the trial are interesting and leaves one wondering how these intelligent young men lost their way and became seduced into these criminal acts.
Well research and well written, I believe that many readers will enjoy this largely forgotten episode in history.
The amount of ammunition and military grade weapons that the bank robbers were able to acquire from a legitimate gun store was shocking to me. Hopefully, the laws have changed to make it difficult to come into possession of such weapons. As you read this book, you will learn the devastation these powerful weapons inflicted on people and property.
As an attorney for many years, I was disgusted by the courtroom antics, disrespectful conduct, and animosity on display by the attorneys on both sides of the case. The interactions between the suspects/defendants both before and after the trial are interesting and leaves one wondering how these intelligent young men lost their way and became seduced into these criminal acts.
Well research and well written, I believe that many readers will enjoy this largely forgotten episode in history.
December 26, 2020
Where the hell was I when this happened? I was in college in the next county over, in what was in fact my home town, and I think I must have been reading the NY Times rather than local papers but what the hell? How did I miss it? This story is crazy. It is a miracle that more people weren't killed. My eyes are sore from bugging out of my head while reading this.
March 11, 2019
Norco ’80 is one hell-raising ride through 1970’s Southern California with an apocalyptic prophet and the prosecutors bent on turning the tables on the policemen involved in the most violent bank heist ever committed on American soil. From the minute you meet the charismatic George Smith and his flunky friend Christopher Harven, you’ll be hanging on for dear life, waiting for the next catastrophe to take your breath away with each heart-breaking turn of the page. It’s part law and part order and it’s outstanding!
July 9, 2019
Birthed in a distinctively curious milieu of poverty, survivalism, sign gifts, and eschatology, the story told here is all kinds of fascinating. The planning, the robbery, the pursuit, the capture, and the trial are all given full treatment. Along the way, Houlahan not only holds our interest but builds it. The characters described become old friends and foes to us. It is the kind of book where you cannot help but keep saying, "Wow!" to yourself as you hike along the trail listening to it. Where has this story been hiding all these years?
Hats off to Mr. Houlahan. Great work.
Hats off to Mr. Houlahan. Great work.
June 26, 2019
3.5 stars really...
Quite a story and one that, like most people, I was completely unfamiliar with. I know there is talk of a movie about this, and there really should be.
The book is a good read, although it drags a bit in the trial portion... Then again so did the actual trial. But the robbery, shootout, chase, and apprehension... WOW. Just wow. That three people died is both terrible and remarkable.
Glad I read it and at times really hard to put down.
Quite a story and one that, like most people, I was completely unfamiliar with. I know there is talk of a movie about this, and there really should be.
The book is a good read, although it drags a bit in the trial portion... Then again so did the actual trial. But the robbery, shootout, chase, and apprehension... WOW. Just wow. That three people died is both terrible and remarkable.
Glad I read it and at times really hard to put down.
February 7, 2020
It dragged a little near the end (during the trial portion of the book), but overall it was a compelling read and a crazy story! It's a shame that lives were lost in the act of a few people being incredibly stupid.
December 14, 2019
Well researched, well told. I want to write so much more about this book, but I just am not finding the words.
August 26, 2019
This book lives up to its billing in the subtitle. I'd never heard of the Norco robbery before reading this book. The author does a great job telling this story in a comprehensive and compelling way. You can tell that he did a ton of homework but he doesn't hit you over the head with it. This book included just the right amount of details to put you in the middle of the story without bogging down the narrative. Having read enough detail-laden non-fiction that loses the thread for the sake of showing off the amount of research that was put in, I know that this is no easy task.
The first half of this book covers the half-baked robbery scheme cooked up by a couple of apocalypse-predicting survivalists who decided they needed an arsenal to knock off a sleep suburban bank. Their planning on how to deal with an armed response was impeccable. They had plenty of high-powered weapons, ammunition, and grenades to deal with the police (which they ultimately put to use by damaging 30+ police vehicles, injuring nine officers, and killing one). Their planning for the actual robbery however, was a different story. All told, they made it out of the bank with about $20,000 to be split among the five of them.
The second half delves into the bizarre and meandering process that this case took through the criminal justice system. By simply relating the events of the trial, the book highlights the deficiencies of the legal system and the outsized impact that a single player or two can have. An event that was over and done with in less than 24 hours, from the robbers entering the bank to their capture 25 miles away, took 14 months to try. The author laudably doesn't jump onto a soap box to decry these problems but he also doesn't have to. Reading through the processes used, the ridiculous arguments made, and the delay tactics employed is argument enough.
Reading this book is like traveling not just through time, but to a totally different country. Houlahan drops you into the middle of post-70s Inland Empire, California, with its mix of born-again evangelicals, disillusioned hippie dreamers, and Vietnam war vets returning home and starting their careers and families. He offers a straight-faced description of the self-professed rationale that the robbers had for trying to knock off a bank without mocking them or praising them.
The description of the shootout and its aftermath crackles with suspense. Like any good documentary, this book walks you through the events from a variety of viewpoints without losing track of the timeline or jumping back and forth to the point that you forget where you are. By positioning the reader at various points with the robbers, the police, the victims and witnesses, and later the attorneys involved in the trial, you get a variety of perspectives and get a holistic view of this crime and its fallout. Life cannot be neatly summed up in a neat us vs. them narrative and this book highlights the tensions created by this crime. From a deputy who washed out of law enforcement within a year of being shot at to another who felt that his fellow officers had abandoned him in the middle of a war zone, the story goes beyond the end of the shooting to describe the long-term impact this case had on its participants decades after the shooting stopped.
Every so often, the narrative tries to put Norco into a bigger historical perspective. This is primarily done in pointing out how out-gunned the officers were at the time and contrasting with how things would have been done differently in neighboring jurisdictions that were better prepared for a shootout or how they would have been handled today when every police agency equips its officers with rifles and has a SWAT team ready to intervene. The book maintains its tight focus and describes the changes that were implemented by the Southern California agencies directly involved in the shootout. History ultimately showed that law enforcement on the national scale required several more deadly bank robbery shootouts (in Miami and North Hollywood) before making wholesale changes.
As the author points out, Norco has largely been forgotten from the national consciousness. My father in law grew up in Riverside County during this time and he didn't recognize either the name or the story when he saw me reading this book. Hopefully this book goes a long way towards preserving this story and highlighting this bizarre and heartbreaking chapter of American history.
The first half of this book covers the half-baked robbery scheme cooked up by a couple of apocalypse-predicting survivalists who decided they needed an arsenal to knock off a sleep suburban bank. Their planning on how to deal with an armed response was impeccable. They had plenty of high-powered weapons, ammunition, and grenades to deal with the police (which they ultimately put to use by damaging 30+ police vehicles, injuring nine officers, and killing one). Their planning for the actual robbery however, was a different story. All told, they made it out of the bank with about $20,000 to be split among the five of them.
The second half delves into the bizarre and meandering process that this case took through the criminal justice system. By simply relating the events of the trial, the book highlights the deficiencies of the legal system and the outsized impact that a single player or two can have. An event that was over and done with in less than 24 hours, from the robbers entering the bank to their capture 25 miles away, took 14 months to try. The author laudably doesn't jump onto a soap box to decry these problems but he also doesn't have to. Reading through the processes used, the ridiculous arguments made, and the delay tactics employed is argument enough.
Reading this book is like traveling not just through time, but to a totally different country. Houlahan drops you into the middle of post-70s Inland Empire, California, with its mix of born-again evangelicals, disillusioned hippie dreamers, and Vietnam war vets returning home and starting their careers and families. He offers a straight-faced description of the self-professed rationale that the robbers had for trying to knock off a bank without mocking them or praising them.
The description of the shootout and its aftermath crackles with suspense. Like any good documentary, this book walks you through the events from a variety of viewpoints without losing track of the timeline or jumping back and forth to the point that you forget where you are. By positioning the reader at various points with the robbers, the police, the victims and witnesses, and later the attorneys involved in the trial, you get a variety of perspectives and get a holistic view of this crime and its fallout. Life cannot be neatly summed up in a neat us vs. them narrative and this book highlights the tensions created by this crime. From a deputy who washed out of law enforcement within a year of being shot at to another who felt that his fellow officers had abandoned him in the middle of a war zone, the story goes beyond the end of the shooting to describe the long-term impact this case had on its participants decades after the shooting stopped.
Every so often, the narrative tries to put Norco into a bigger historical perspective. This is primarily done in pointing out how out-gunned the officers were at the time and contrasting with how things would have been done differently in neighboring jurisdictions that were better prepared for a shootout or how they would have been handled today when every police agency equips its officers with rifles and has a SWAT team ready to intervene. The book maintains its tight focus and describes the changes that were implemented by the Southern California agencies directly involved in the shootout. History ultimately showed that law enforcement on the national scale required several more deadly bank robbery shootouts (in Miami and North Hollywood) before making wholesale changes.
As the author points out, Norco has largely been forgotten from the national consciousness. My father in law grew up in Riverside County during this time and he didn't recognize either the name or the story when he saw me reading this book. Hopefully this book goes a long way towards preserving this story and highlighting this bizarre and heartbreaking chapter of American history.
December 23, 2019
3.5 Stars!
“If you had robbed a bank in the greater Los Angeles metro area on May 9, 1980, you would not have been alone. Los Angeles had long been labelled “Bank Robbery Capital of the World” among FBI agents responsible for investigating the crime. It was a title well earned. For decades, one quarter of all bank heists in the United States fell under the geographical jurisdiction of the Los Angeles field office of the FBI, which included Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. By 1980, an average of six banks were being robbed each business day. More than 1500 a year. The reason was simple: freeways.”
I had never heard of this robbery before and only came across it through various Americans who had reviewed it on GR. This was a really interesting overview into a dramatically botched armed robbery and its long, drawn out aftermath. I think the details of the crime itself could have been edited down and as for the court case, I often lost track of all the names and who was representing who etc. I believe that a little dramatis personae page at the start of the section would have done wonders for the clarity and point of reference.
August 7, 2019
The first half of the book reads like a gripping action movie, complete with shoot outs, car chases & bullets flying everywhere. The second half goes into a kind of drawn out Law & Order look at the 2 year long court case with at times too much detail into personal lives of the lawyers and court officials. This book could have ended 100 pages earlier and it would have been 4.5 stars. Still, very entertaining and an interesting look at a point-in-time when police weren't equipped like seal team 6. You can pinpoint this as the turning point for the militarization of US police forces, which I think was a fascinating point for further inspection but felt like more of an afterthought in the epilogue.
April 4, 2023
3.5 stars
This story is about the over the top armed robbery of a local bank in Norco, CA that took place on May 9th, 1980.
I enjoyed the beginning (the background of the suspects in the days leading up to the robbery) and the end of the book (the trial and the epilogue). Most of the book however is spent describing the heist and the shootout itself. Almost 200 pages of minutia that made the actions of that day quite muddled and didn't correlate with the drama.
I thought the epilogue was quite revealing. I shouldn't have been surprised with the lack of remorse by the surviving suspects but I was nevertheless.
So this was an interesting real crime thriller that could have been a little better.
This story is about the over the top armed robbery of a local bank in Norco, CA that took place on May 9th, 1980.
I enjoyed the beginning (the background of the suspects in the days leading up to the robbery) and the end of the book (the trial and the epilogue). Most of the book however is spent describing the heist and the shootout itself. Almost 200 pages of minutia that made the actions of that day quite muddled and didn't correlate with the drama.
I thought the epilogue was quite revealing. I shouldn't have been surprised with the lack of remorse by the surviving suspects but I was nevertheless.
So this was an interesting real crime thriller that could have been a little better.
July 11, 2019
My GOD
I read this book in one 6 hour sitting. I simply couldn’t...and wouldn’t...put it down. The pace is mind boggling and the author does a great job of keeping the relevant but not getting bogged down during the trial portion (a la Errol Morris) and wraps it up tidily. There are a few slips from fact into opinion, especially in his attempt to defend Painter. Painter was fired appropriately and did do a great disservice to professional women. If we are demanding equality, then this author made the mistakes of spending time trying to defend her indefensible behavior. But as I understand this is a first-time author, it’s forgivable. Excellent job...I highly recommend!’
I read this book in one 6 hour sitting. I simply couldn’t...and wouldn’t...put it down. The pace is mind boggling and the author does a great job of keeping the relevant but not getting bogged down during the trial portion (a la Errol Morris) and wraps it up tidily. There are a few slips from fact into opinion, especially in his attempt to defend Painter. Painter was fired appropriately and did do a great disservice to professional women. If we are demanding equality, then this author made the mistakes of spending time trying to defend her indefensible behavior. But as I understand this is a first-time author, it’s forgivable. Excellent job...I highly recommend!’
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