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    Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History
    Unavailable
    Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History
    Unavailable
    Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History
    Ebook530 pages9 hours

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

    By Peter Houlahan

    4/5

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    About this ebook

  • A thrilling, true-crime page turner for fans of the netflix docu-drama WILD WILD COUNTRY, or the bestselling book I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara—from cultish religious extremists to remarkable true-life plot twists, from courtroom scandals involving relationships between defendants and lawyers and more, this is a widely appealing read
  • Norco ’80 tells the story of how five heavily-armed young men—led by an apocalyptic evangelical Christian—attempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most unbelievable and violent criminal events in U.S. history, and one that changed the face of American law enforcement for decades to come
  • With the internet and social media today giving amplified voice to the radical right, we are well aware of the cultural conditions that mobilize extremist, religious white men (Q, InCel, etc). Norco '80 explores how this is not a new phenomenon in America, but it is a profoundly disturbing and consequential one
  • The author's access to this story was singular: Houlahan was a first responder to one of the most horrible violent acts in the US– the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting–and this gave him a tremendous amount of credibility with the Norco deputies, many of whom opened up about their experience in ways they would not have to other writers.
  • Some of the most compelling parts of the book uncover the men's complex and wildly-varying motivations for this violent crime: George Wayne Smith, the man who planned and led the robbery wanted money to buy a cabin in the remote mountains of Utah where he would gather his loved ones to ride out the impending apocalypse and await the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Chris Harven was a survivalist who had his own doomsday belief in which a rare alignment of planets two years off would result in “The Jupiter Effect,” triggering cataclysmic natural disasters followed by lawlessness and social collapse.
  • With black and white photos throughout

    Praise from Librarians and Booksellers:

  • "Norco ’80 is one hell-raising ride through 1970s Southern California with an apocalyptic prophet and the prosecutors bent on turning the tables on the policemen involved in the most violent bank heist ever committed on American soil. From the minute you meet the charismatic George Smith and his flunky friend Christopher Harven, you’ll be hanging on for dear life, waiting for the next catastrophe to take your breath away with each heartbreaking turn of the page. It’s part law and part order, and it’s outstanding!" —Kristin Bates, McLean & Eakin Booksellers (Petoskey, MI)
  • "On May 9, 1980, what we usually happens only in action-thriller movies came to life in Orange Country, California. I don’t usually read true crime, but Houlahan’s writing pulled me in. While reading this meticulously researched and documented account, I could almost smell the gunpowder, hear the cacophony of gunfire making my ears ring, and see the dust clear as the largest crime scene in American history came into view. Documented here is how an attempted bank robbery and its subsequent trial would forever change a town, its people, and law enforcement nationwide. The crime and court case may have been an unbelievable firestorm catastrophe, but this book is pitch-perfect." —Shannon Alden, Literati Bookstore (Ann Arbor, MI)
  • "In 1980 in California, a group of religiously inspired survivalists set out to rob a bank. With assault rifles and homemade explosives, they significantly outgunned the law enforcement officers they encountered. Peter Houlahan approaches the tale fully armed with facts culled from interviews, police reports, and court documents. He deploys them in steady bursts that hold the reader steady in a literary bullet time while the fast motion mayhem plays out. Norco ’80 is a riveting true crime adventure that also explains one of the predicates for the militarization of modern police departm
    • LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCounterpoint
    Release dateJun 11, 2019
    ISBN9781640092136

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    Reviews for Norco '80

    4/5

    35 ratings5 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Good. Could have used more about the weird intersection with the Jesus Movement.
    • 4/5
      Great book! A bank robbery in 1980 by 5 young men turns into a loss of many lives and much destruction. Lots of detail on each of the main characters.
    • 5/5
      On May 9, 1980, what usually only happens in action-thriller movies came to life in Orange County, California. I don’t usually read true-crime, but Houlahan’s writing pulled me in. While reading this meticulous researched and documented account, I could almost smell the gun powder, hear the cacophony of gunfire making my ears ring and see the dust clear as the largest crime scene in American history came into view.
      Documented here is how an attempted bank robbery and its subsequent trial would forever change a town, its people and law enforcement nation-wide. The crime and court case may have been an unbelievable catastrophe, but this book is pitch-perfect.
    • 5/5
      There is a lot to digest from this book, and I found it amazing that this is the author’s first book; he’s an EMT by trade. This is an amazingly detailed account, first of the bank robbery, to the 40 mile long chase, and finally the trial.Free review copy
    • 4/5
      This story of the spectacular and deadly 1980 bank robbery and subsequent chase is certainly interesting. And very detailed – perhaps a little too detailed for me. While the story was interesting, that didn't keep it from dragging in places.I did like that background was given on quite a few of the people involved, which helps me understand actions and decisions better. In the epilogue, we're told what has happened to key players, and I appreciated the updates.I didn't appreciate this observation: “One of the court watchers, almost all of them nosy old retirees, nodded in his direction and whispered something to the old crone beside her.” Excuse me, Mr. Houlahan? This particular nosy old crone doesn't really enjoy being stereotyped. At first, I wondered about the lack of quotes in most of what people were saying. The parts were a bit of conjecture. Quotation marks were used when the actual conversations were known. There are no footnotes and no bibliography. However, there is a section on the author's research. The photos at the end of the Kindle version were poor quality but helpful. This was an eye-opening, if a bit too long, story for people interested in reading true crime stories.

      1 person found this helpful