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  • The Unusual Suspect

  • How to Rob a Bank and (Nearly) Get Away with It
  • By: Ben Machell
  • Narrated by: David Linski
  • Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (107 ratings)
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The Unusual Suspect cover art

The Unusual Suspect

By: Ben Machell
Narrated by: David Linski
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Summary

Stephen Jackley was a young British geography student with Asperger's syndrome. When the global financial crisis hit in 2007, he became obsessed with the idea of Robin Hood. With no prior experience, he resolved to become a bank robber. He would steal from the rich and give to the poor. Against all likelihood, his plan actually worked. 

Jackley used disguise, elaborate escape routes and replica pistols to successfully hold up a string of banks, making away with thousands of pounds. He committed 10 robberies in Southwest England over a six-month period. Bank notes marked with 'RH' - 'Robin Hood' - began finding their way into the hands of the homeless. The police, despite their concerted efforts, had no idea what was going on or who was responsible. That is until Jackley's ambition got the better of him. 

This is his story. 

©2021 Ben Machell (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Meet Stephen: university student, bank robber, modern Robin Hood, human being. He was only good at one of them, thankfully it was the only one that mattered. A truly remarkable story." (Terry Hayes, author of I Am Pilgrim)

"Stephen Jackley, the 'Robin Hood' bank robber, is an Asperger's student with an incredible, increasingly dark, story, which Machell tells with Hollywood box-office wit, compassion and brio. With every page, you find yourself screaming 'Oh my god - what are you doing, Stephen?', all the way to him ending up in US jail. How one young British man's misguided plan to save the world went increasingly, dangerously wrong." (Caitlin Moran, author of How to Be a Woman)

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What listeners say about The Unusual Suspect

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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A great story let down by a poor audio performance

This is a fascinating story which is let down by this audio recording. There are two narrators - or it is the same narrator but recorded at different times (as a result it feels like two different people). The second voice (which is noticeably different to the main narrator) interjects with a sentence here and there, with the effect of jarring you out of the experience of listening. There are times where the second voice even sound like it is computer generated. It really makes it difficult to listen to and spoils the enjoyment of this audio book.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Found it very hard to listen to. Narrator rubbish.

This isn’t a drama it’s an account of real events - so the accents and ‘voices” were not necessary, I found them very distracting.
The story is very padded out.
Did not enjoy it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An interesting story

After deciding to take a gamble in this book I was glad that I did. A very interesting story well written and narrated. A few editing issues I thought, which makes it seem like there are two narrators tag teaming their way through the story, but it doesn't distract from the narrative. All in all very enjoyable.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Worst reading of an audible book to date.

I was intrigued by this subject matter so was happy to give it a listen while working. The story itself is an interesting one, unfortunately I would have enjoyed reading it much more than listening to it.
The narrator’s pitch, tone, volume and accent change through out, and not just from chapter to chapter but mid sentence and paragraph. It makes following what is being read very difficult. Either the narrator has never read a book aloud before or he made so many mistakes reading this that he was forced by the publisher to go back and re-record several parts. To the detriment of this audio book, this was an obligation he seemingly couldn’t be bothered to conduct with any pride, accuracy or quality. The overall enjoyment is heavily impacted by the very poor performance of the reader.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a fantastic and fascinating listen

I’m so pleased that I chose to listen to this book whilst on my daily dog walking duties over the past week. The construction of the storyline had me riveted and eagerly looking forward to where, and how, we were going next. Ben Machell you’ve written a superb true story about a very intricate, interesting yet extremely troubled young man.
I worked in law enforcement for 35 yrs, the majority of which was spent hunting down and locking up the bad guys. Very early on in career I remember a Senior Detective telling me that no two criminal minds think the same or are the same. How true that was for me and how true for the investigators who were trying to identify Stephen Jackley.
Excellently narrated by David Linski.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A kind, well-researched account.

The production of this one is a bit patchy, but the voice is good and the amount of research that the author has put into it is delightful. It puts me in mind of the good old-fashioned journalism rather than the opinion pieces we overdose on now.

The author does his best to give a balanced account yet he clearly has a sympathy for the autistic bank robber. He tries to balance that with the recognition of the effects the robberies have on the victims but … well at least he tries.

I am a psychologist so I found it particularly interesting and I think people with at least a passing interest in mental health will enjoy the book most, but it is altogether interesting and accessible.

Probably a bit mean not to give it five stars, I did enjoy it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

I really enjoyed this - good narration, fascinating story.

Minor criticisms: Early on I found the jumping around in time quite irritating until I settled into it, and there is a little bit too much information given about the global financial crisis given how little it relates directly to the story - we don't need to know all about CDOs and money markets to understand this story, or that there was widespread anger about the banks and the behaviours of bankers at the time Jackley was active. I think these passages could have either been omitted or condensed since they felt like distractions from the story proper.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Too slow and ultimately lacked objectivity.

A promising premise of a book and well narrated (excusing what sounds like an Antipodean and the consequent mispronunciations of UK places and references). However, it was reeeeallly drawn out which, in the end, led me to lose interest in the key personalities in the story and I struggled to finish it.

Most disappointingly, though, was that whilst the author goes to some length to explain his neutrality in telling the story, I simply couldn't believe his statements - there are lots of passages, and increasingly so as the book progressed, that felt like justification for the protagonist's behaviour - way beyond simple explanations of objective fact.

If anything, this actively swayed me against and by the time the book had finished, I had lost all sympathy with the protagonist, leaving it all feeling a bit self-righteous.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Jumps about

Its a good story but the timeline jumps around so its hard to follow at times.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The production is far below the standard expected

It sounds like the narrator recorded this in various rooms in his house in Lockdown, sometimes from one sentence to the next, such is the poor quality of the production. The levels are all over the place and I shall struggle to finish what is an OK story but could just as easily be a brief podcast series.

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