"One of the most brilliantly thrilling books I have ever read.… A fun, exciting read, with a heartening moral: Crime doesn’t pay."
"[An] entertaining and detailed account of the caper.… Provides a rich slice of London’s East End underworld."
"[A] well-told tale."
The Wall Street Journal - Dave Shiflett
02/25/2019
Former New York Times London correspondent Bilefsky makes good use of his access to the Scotland Yarders investigating “the biggest burglary in English history” to recreate a daring theft carried out by five thieves, who ended their retirement from a life of crime in 2015 by breaking into safety-deposit boxes. Hatton Garden Safe Deposit stored “hundreds of millions of pounds in diamonds, sapphires, gold bars, rare coins and cash” for the many jewelers who worked in that area of London. The gang, led by septuagenarian Brian Reader, planned their break-in to coincide with a three-day weekend; after casing the vault storing the safety-deposit boxes, the criminals were able to figure out what they needed to drill through its walls. Over the course of two days, the gang managed to loot about $19 million in cash and jewels, despite a close call when an alarm went off and led to a check by a security guard, who saw nothing amiss—and no police response. That choice proved highly embarrassing to Scotland Yard after the megatheft was discovered, though the criminals were apprehended fairly quickly, due to a series of missteps. Bilefsky provides just the right amount of detail in this real-life page-turner. Agent: Todd Shushter, Aevitas Creative Managment. (Apr.)
"[Bilefsky] is a brisk, enthusiastic storyteller....A meticulously researched procedural."
New York Times - Laura Lippman
"The Last Job is both exhilarating and frightening; this is Dan Bilefsky’s fast paced and gripping account of how an aging group of criminal masterminds pulled off one of the greatest heists of the 20th century. No less riveting is the story of how the famed Scotland Yard Flying Squad solved the riddle of the crime and brought the gang to justice. The Last Job reads like a novel but it is all true!"
"What's not to love about a jewel heist tale involving diamond-tipped power drills, elevator shaft descents, and extra insulin shots for the retirees brazenly pulling it off? The Last Job is a wonderful book. Bilefsky is a nimble investigator and playful reporter; he clearly got the goods for this captivating account of an unforgettable crime."
"I loved this book! The Last Job is a fabulous read, gripping, at times hilarious, at times terrifying, always astonishing. Using his skills as an investigative reporter, Bilefsky pieces together a study of hubris and idiocy, of greed and camaraderie, and he does it with lyrical, moving, powerful prose. A wonderful book about an almost unbelievable crime."
2019-02-03
A raucous account of "the largest burglary in the history of England," committed by unrepentant, elderly career criminals.
In his debut, Montreal-based New York Times Canada correspondent Bilefsky combines humor, pathos, and technical nitty-gritty in a clearly written procedural. In the spring of 2015, the gang burgled the vault at the Hutton Garden Safe Deposit, the central storehouse of London's diamond district, after three years of planning. The author writes that the tale's "villains," despite their physical infirmities, were "possessed by a fearlessness borne of age. What was there to lose?" The crew members resemble characters from a British crime movie, having devoted their lives to the robbery profession; indeed, the ringleader had participated in the notorious heist portrayed in the 2006 film The Bank Job . Bilefsky captures the meticulous, complex planning of the break-in, noting how "old-school burglars across London had sniffed out that something big was afoot." The robbery displayed both brazen expertise and clumsy improvisation, with the thieves even stepping out to buy additional heavy equipment to penetrate the vault: "They wanted what they'd set out to take…$19 million worth of gold, gems, diamonds, and cash." The theft's discovery created a media circus and alarmed the close-knit community of old-school jewelers. "The shock was visceral and heartbreaking," writes the author. Yet, Scotland Yard's elite Flying Squad quickly identified the malefactors by analyzing London's pervasive closed-circuit network, followed up by intensive surveillance and wiretaps, which captured the old thieves' injudicious bragging. As one detective noted, "after the heist, their age kicked in." Following mass arrests, the principal thieves struck plea bargains, leaving frustrated prosecutors to try the conspiracy's motley hangers-on. Bilefsky takes a balanced approach, acknowledging the media-cultivated public appeal of the gang's old reprobates but also noting how the losses from the safe deposit wiped out many businesses and families' savings.
A well-researched, irreverent tale of a serious yet fascinating crime and the anachronistic underworld that sparked it.
