Dan Bilefsky...is a brisk, enthusiastic storyteller ... Bilefsky draws on interviews, court testimony and transcripts from the Metropolitan Police to put together a meticulously researched procedural. But the early sections of the book are weakened by the fact that the mastermind, Brian Reader—76 at the time of the burglary—provided no additional information to what was already in the public record. Bilefsky is left to make deductions about Reader’s motivations ... The prosecutor Philip Evans...[is] vividly rendered here; the book is at its best when focused on the good guys ... Bilefsky doesn’t try to explain [why the public didn't mind the robbery]...and maybe it’s not fair to wish that he had tried.
New York Times correspondent Bilefsky hits it out of the park with this account of the 'bad grandpas.' With a cinematic writing style and colorful cast of characters, this book tells the story behind the players and events surrounding the 2015 Hatton Garden Heist ... True crime enthusiasts will be drawn in by the magnitude of this offense, as well as its masterminds' personality quirks, motivations, and histories.
The Last Job combines old-age melodrama—a gang of geezers dead-set on proving they’ve still got what it takes—with an enticing overview of the post-World War II London underworld and a dash of classic Blake Edwards farce ... To his credit, Bilefsky never buys into the 'harmless geezers' narrative. Although their frequent whinging can be hilarious, the portrait he paints of these men is hardly sympathetic. He’s kinder toward the safe-deposit boxes’ owners, most of whom were diamond merchants from the neighborhood and other small-business owners.
A raucous account ... Bilefsky combines humor, pathos, and technical nitty-gritty in a clearly written procedural ... Bilefsky captures the meticulous, complex planning of the break-in ... Bilefsky takes a balanced approach, acknowledging the media-cultivated public appeal of the gang’s old reprobates but also noting how the losses from the safe deposit wiped out many businesses and families’ savings. A well-researched, irreverent tale of a serious yet fascinating crime and the anachronistic underworld that sparked it.
Former New York Times London correspondent Bilefsky makes good use of his access to the Scotland Yarders investigating 'the biggest burglary in English history' to recreate a daring theft carried out by five thieves ... Bilefsky provides just the right amount of detail in this real-life page-turner.
