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Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read is a notorious Australian criminal who is also the successful author of ten books on crime. In the 1970s and 80s, Read was a feared stand-over man in Melbourne, earning himself a reputation as a toe-cutter and blowtorch artist. He specialized in kidnapping armed robbers and persuading them (using the methods above) to divulge the location of their recently acquired treasures. The law caught up with him and sent him to Melbourne's Pentridge Prison where he was eventually sent to the Jika Jika division. Jika Jika was built for the most dangerous and lethal crims in Victoria. Crims like Chopper. When he was released, he picked up where he left off and soon found himself back inside. The first book "Chopper: On the Inside," was recently filmed, to popular and critical acclaim, as "Chopper." Several true crime and short crime fiction books followed. Chopper wrote many in Tasmania's Risdon Prison. In "Chopper 9" he has been released from prison and is living on a farm with his new wife tending to chickens, fixing the septic tank, drinking too much at the local bar and developing a strange interest in chainsaws. He's also free to write about several underworld figures that he couldn't previously because they were still alive. Men like Big Al Gangitano and Mad Charlie Hegyalji who were gunned down by suspected rivals. Chopper knew both and has something to say. He also comments on "The Great Bookie Robbery," notorious hit-man Christopher Dale Flannery and his own drunken appearance on a TV talk show that made headlines and probably lead to that show's demise. Chopper's writing is tough and uncompromising. He paints a portrait of the criminal underworld that only one who has lived there can but you often get the feeling that he believes the legend that surrounds him. Like his other true crime books, "Chopper 9" is a sordid, often unpleasant but compelling read enlivened by Chopper's darkly humorous view on life.
Reviewed by Glen Hannah, September 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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