- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Northeastern University Press (Oct 27 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 155553449X
- ISBN-13: 978-1555534493
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 590 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #932,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
You wouldn't necessarily expect a true-crime book to be a whole lot of fun, but this one is. Like William Friedkin's 1978 film The Brinks Job, it's exciting, lighthearted, and completely realistic. As crime writer Dennis Lehane points out in his foreword, too many true-crime memoirs tend to present their subjects in a less-than-accurate light, trading on our Godfather-inspired perception of criminals as loyal, honorable, wealthy people. The truth, as the authors make abundantly clear here, is somewhat less glamorous. Phil Cresta and his cohorts were a band of thieves--very clever thieves, to be sure, but thieves nonetheless. They weren't particularly honorable, and they certainly weren't wealthy, but this chronicle of their adventures (and the occasional misadventure, such as the armored-car robbery that netted $50 million worth of cancelled checks) gives us more excitement than a whole fistful of novels. According to the authors, Cresta was one of the great unknown criminals, a man responsible for many crimes that remain unsolved to this day. Even though he was a "bad guy," it's awfully hard not to like him. Put this at the top of every true-crime fan's reading list. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
Phil Cresta was no run-of-the-mill thief. Mastermind of the legendary Brink's armored truck robbery and a string of countless other high-stakes heists, he stole more than ten million dollars in escapades that often were breathtakingly daring and at times marvelously inventive. The robberies baffled both police and fellow outlaws for decades, and most of the crimes remain unsolved today. Now the open case files of these memorable thefts can be closed as Cresta himself provides the true story on how they were planned and carried out.
Born in Boston's North End in 1928, Cresta was raised in an abusive household. He was sent to Concord Reformatory as a teenager, where he learned the craft of picking locks, a skill later honed during stays at the Charlestown and Walpole prisons in Massachusetts. Following the Brinks robbery in 1968, he was put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, but eluded the law for five years, living in Chicago under an assumed name. After serving time at Walpole for the Brinks job, Cresta died penniless in Chicago in 1995. Yet shortly before his death, he revealed the full extent of his astonishing capers to coauthor Bill Crowley, a retired Boston police detective.
Drawing from their extensive conversations, this riveting page-turner chronicles how Cresta, along with partners "Angelo" and "Tony," pulled off robberies of jewelers, rare coin dealers, furriers, and armored trucks, detailing the meticulous planning that marked his criminal career. Cresta's final accounting is brimming with vivid tales of betrayal, murder, and intrigue as well as a colorful cast of characters, including mob bosses, wise guys, informants, paid "ears," corrupt judges, a Hollywood starlet, and even the Mayor of Chicago.
Filled with drama, tension, and humor, this absorbing saga takes the reader inside the dangerous yet exhilarating world of a life dedicated to crime.
Born in Boston's North End in 1928, Cresta was raised in an abusive household. He was sent to Concord Reformatory as a teenager, where he learned the craft of picking locks, a skill later honed during stays at the Charlestown and Walpole prisons in Massachusetts. Following the Brinks robbery in 1968, he was put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, but eluded the law for five years, living in Chicago under an assumed name. After serving time at Walpole for the Brinks job, Cresta died penniless in Chicago in 1995. Yet shortly before his death, he revealed the full extent of his astonishing capers to coauthor Bill Crowley, a retired Boston police detective.
Drawing from their extensive conversations, this riveting page-turner chronicles how Cresta, along with partners "Angelo" and "Tony," pulled off robberies of jewelers, rare coin dealers, furriers, and armored trucks, detailing the meticulous planning that marked his criminal career. Cresta's final accounting is brimming with vivid tales of betrayal, murder, and intrigue as well as a colorful cast of characters, including mob bosses, wise guys, informants, paid "ears," corrupt judges, a Hollywood starlet, and even the Mayor of Chicago.
Filled with drama, tension, and humor, this absorbing saga takes the reader inside the dangerous yet exhilarating world of a life dedicated to crime.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wannabe wiseguys might want to read this book,
By "pregio1" (Haverhill, MA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Final Confession: The Unsolved Crimes of Phil Cresta (Hardcover)
A lot of fun to read. You can't help but laugh at a lot of these true-crime stories. You just can't make this stuff up. This book would make a great movie.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Final Confession,
By Major (Pompano Beach, FL. United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Final Confession: The Unsolved Crimes of Phil Cresta (Hardcover)
Very enjoyable. I agree with other reviewers about itscontents. My vote to play Phil Cresta in a movie is Robert Di Nero. Looking forward to the movie.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read, not great, but good,
By
This review is from: Final Confession: The Unsolved Crimes of Phil Cresta (Hardcover)
A Decent book, very interesting read. The style in which the story is told is very engrossing as it is told from the first person. The one drawback to the book is that it is based on one persons recollections and biases. With the exception of the Plymouth mail truck robbery most of these crimes were standard criminal enterprises, hardly crime of the century material. Of the crime he boasts the most of, a Brinks hold up, Cresta ended up going to prison. This is the story of a man who thought he was smarter then he was and in the end, was too smart for his own good.
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