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Heist
- The True Story of the World's Biggest Cash Robbery
- Narrated by: Howard Sounes
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
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Heist
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Summary
On 22 February 2006, £53 million was stolen from a cash warehouse belonging to the Securitas company in Tonbridge, Kent. In terms of value, the robbery puts previous British capers, such as the Great Train Robbery, in the shade. This was a crime notable for its audacity, carried out by an unlikely crew of players that included a used car salesman, two Albanian casual workers and a roofer. Five men were convicted at the Old Bailey in January 2008, which attracted nationwide media coverage. A sixth man, Paul Allen, was sentenced in October 2009 for his part.
Having become close to the Tonbridge gang and the police during three years of research, Sounes relates a classic crime caper in irresistible, almost forensic detail. After the robbery comes the exciting, sometimes comical story of the getaway. Money is found, and arrests are made, but key characters slip out of the country, and millions of pounds are still missing.
Heist is the definitive account of these compelling events, is wildly entertaining and a must for all fans of well-written true crime. Since the book has been written, Darren Aronofsky (director of The Wrestler) has announced he will direct a British-made film.
Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of a wide range of extraordinary personalities, including the murderers Fred and Rosemary West (Fred & Rose), the American author Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) and the musicians Bob Dylan (Down the Highway) and Paul McCartney (Fab). His new book is Amy, 27 - a study of the life and death of Amy Winehouse and the other iconic stars who died at the same young age.
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What listeners say about Heist
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JAN JULIUS PERERA
- 06-06-23
Don’t believe the negative reviews
This book is fantastic.
The narration is hilarious, you can hear the authors distain for certain characters, a lot of wanabe cockney gangsters have taken offence to this book.
It’s a really good detailed insight of one of the worlds biggest robberies.
highly recommend.
I would listen to the sample to see if your offended by the narration.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dave
- 28-03-16
Incompetent crooks, who still make £30m or so
Great book and story, well read and a compelling lesson to any wanna be time crook to throw away the stuff you use during the crime!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Nico
- 03-12-20
Interesting story, terrible delivery
Let me start by saying the book is impeccably researched. The story is fascinating but one of those that seems to have disappeared from public consciousness, so I was pleased to listen, especially after how much work has clearly gone into this book. However, the voices and accents are utterly terrible...uncessary and borderline offensive. Howard really should've employed a professional voice artist. The derision with which he speaks of nearly everyone in this story, whether criminal or otherwise, is appallingly rude, insulting and often excruciating to listen to. It stinks of classism and ableism and ruins the narrative. This book is the only book I've ever returned to Audible.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A J TYLER
- 13-03-21
A thorough account
An intriguing story. Unfortunately spoilt in a few places by arrogantly derived stereotypes and a rather annoying narration voicing of the criminals and at times the Police.
It’s worth a listen for the actual case.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs C. Gooden
- 06-11-20
Heist
Having listed to probably 70 books I’ve found this the most enjoyable what made it for me was the voice and tone of the voice of Howard Stones Brilliant story and he was at the trials every day and this comes through in the book
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr
- 22-04-16
The account and story very well researched and written
I really enjoyed the book, initially l thought on no the author is narrating, this won't work. Howard Sounes is excellent and very witty
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Gus
- 27-05-20
Story is ok, narration could be better
The story is relatively interesting and you kind of follow along during the 16hrs of listening. That said it will get you confused if you never heard of the story before, especially because there are two Lee's in the story and the writer/narrator just calls each other Lee without specifying which is which. Only at the end he makes the effort to say "Rusha" and "Murray".
What can be said about the narration though? Other than the fact the narrator sounds like a weird version of Boris Johnson, his impressions are immensely annoying. He is using the same fake and weird Southern English sort of accent, and everyone sounds the same.
In a nutshell, you will need to make your own research to learn more about the heist as you listen through as you'll very quickly get lost and confused. Took me 5 minutes to read the wikipedia page on the heist which just contained the 16hrs content of this book in a short article.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 30-08-16
l loved it
will listen to again with out a doubt so seems to me, they were just asking to get them self's arested
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Goronwy-Wyn
- 28-11-20
Well researched, thorough work.
Fascinating tale of crooks at play, leaving the intriguing question of where £30Million went and if it actually went out of the door during the robbery.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Squeaky Joe
- 15-09-18
An exciting and thoroughly absorbing tale
In February 2006, an unlikely gang of would-be villains stole £53 million from a cash warehouse in Tonbridge, Kent. Rocketing the caper into the annals of British crimes such as the Great Train Robbery, the theft was audacious in its premise and, at times, positively farcical in its execution.
Subtitled ‘The True Story of the World's Biggest Cash Robbery’ this book tells the tale of a bunch of villains who planned to rob a Securitas cash depot in the early hours of 22nd of February 2006. Charting the whole scheme from conception to the capture of the gang, journalist Howard Sounes tells a thrilling and highly-researched story that is captivating in its attention to detail. Describing the lives of gang members, including wrestler Lee Murray and his pal Paul Allen, the author explores every aspect of the crime and how each of the gang played their respective roles. It’s also interesting that on those occasions when the facts are not clear, he does not resort to imagination, but simply points out the possible options and the most likely explanation.
This is an exciting and thoroughly absorbing account of one of the biggest robberies in the world, and will thrill anyone who enjoys true-crime stories.
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4 people found this helpful