The Bank Robber Diaries [Paperback]

Danny King returns with the second instalment in his Crime Diaries series. In The Bank Robber Diaries we're treated to another riot of outrageous, unlawful behaviour as Chris Benson and his unscrupulous gang get themselves into some unthinkable tangles. When Gavin Benson is sent down for 15 years, the onus is on his kid brother Chris to safeguard the family "business". This is never easy when you have a scandalous wife with an insatiable taste for married men; and it's especially hard when your brother's wife--your lonely and sexually frustrated sister-in-law--demands "solace" in the absence of her husband. But Chris's major problem turns out to be his partner in crime, Vince. This unashamedly violent individual (even in bank-robbing terms) demonstrates a complete disregard for the lives of anyone who gets in his way, be they bank managers, passers by or even participants in a paintball battle. Vince is one liability that Chris can do without.

The book is not all about laugh-out-loud comic writing. The Bank Robber Diaries also explores the darker side of criminal activity... and that's a pretty large canvas when hired hit men, murders in the woods and the ever-looming prospect of capture or death are thrown into the equation. Thus King's success in popularising, if not glorifying, his protagonists is brought to an abrupt halt at all the right moments. Danny King is a witty and insightful narrator well in tune with the mind of a criminal, likable or otherwise. The Bank Robber Diaries is by no means a book for the faint hearted but the dark humour, hilarious episodes and gripping action described so well here make for a captivating read. --David Thwaites

• The Bank Robber Diaries is joint winner of the 2001 Amazon.co.uk Writers' Bursaries

'Hilarious... well worth buying - and definitely worth half-inching' GQ

‘King [has] written a couple of excellent boooks about the nonlegit lifestyle choice, the Burglar Diaries and Bankrobber Diaries.’

?I?d like to make a withdrawal? Chris Benson idolises his older brother Gavin. In fact, everyone looks up to him. But then they have little choice when they are lying on their stomachs in the middle of the Halifax with a gun shoved in their face? When Gavin gets sent down for a 15-year stretch the somewhat unprofessional trio of Chris, Sid and Vince are left without their ringleader. As if Chris hasn?t enough to deal with already, his adulterous partner Debbie is spending money faster than he can nick it, his love-lorn, sexually frustrated sister-in-law needs ?consoling?, and he's got the Neighbourhood Watch scheme to look after? With more cock-ups than hold-ups, The Bank Robber Diaries is every bit as hilarious and wickedly un-PC as Danny King?s best-selling debut The Burglar Diaries. Guaranteed to have you laughing all the way to the bank.

Danny King was born in Slough in 1969 and has worked as a hod carrier, postman, journalist, porn mag editor and burglar. He is the author of six previous books, the first of which he recently adapted into a sitcom for the BBC. He currently lives in north London with his wife, Jeannie (who says hello) and needs to get himself a proper job, according to his mum.