Norco 80, Peter Houlahan
Norco 80, Peter Houlahan
2 Rating(s)
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
Club: $14.99

Norco '80
The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History

Author: Peter Houlahan

Narrator: Joe Barrett

Unabridged: 13 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/11/2019


Synopsis

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 U.S. 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 listener 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 trial shook the community to the core, raising many issues that continue to face society today: from the epidemic of post-traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces.

About Peter Houlahan

Peter 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, where he works as an emergency medical technician.


Reviews

Goodreads review by SimitudeSims on 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......more

Goodreads review by Judith on September 03, 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......more

Goodreads review by OutlawPoet on June 05, 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 l......more

Goodreads review by britt_brooke on November 21, 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 enforcem......more