The Unusual Suspect
The Rise and Fall of a Modern-Day Outlaw
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3.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The remarkable true story of a modern-day Robin Hood: a British college student who started robbing banks as the financial crisis unfolded.
“Completely fascinating . . . [The Unusual Suspect] reads like a deep psychological thriller, but it’s real. Is truth stranger than fiction? You bet.”—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Stephen Jackley was a young British college student when the global financial crisis began in 2007. Overwhelmed by the growing indifference toward economic equality, he became obsessed with the idea of taking on the role of Robin Hood. With no prior experience, he resolved to become a bank robber. He would steal from the rich and give to the poor. Against all likelihood, his plan actually worked.
Jackley used disguises, elaborate escape routes, and fake guns to successfully hold up a string of banks, making away with thousands of pounds. He attempted ten robberies in southwest England over a six-month period. Banknotes marked with “RH”—“Robin Hood”—began finding their way into the hands of the homeless. Motivated by a belief that global capitalism was ruining lives and driving the planet toward ecological disaster, he dreamed of changing the world for the better through his crimes. The police, despite their concerted efforts, had no idea what was going on or who was responsible. That is, until Jackley’s ambition got the better of him.
This is his story.
Acclaimed journalist Ben Machell had full and direct access to Stephen Jackley, who in turn shared his complete set of diaries, selections of which are included throughout the narrative. The result lends an intense intimacy and urgency to Jackley’s daring and disturbing tale, shedding light on his mental state and the challenges he faced in his own mind and beyond. It wasn’t until Jackley was held in custody that he underwent a psychiatric evaluation, resulting in a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome.
Behind the simple act of bank robbery lies a complex and emotionally wrought story of an individual whose struggles led him to create a world in which he would succeed against all odds. Until he didn’t.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British journalist Machell debuts with a gripping account of the unlikely criminal career of Stephen Jackley. As a student at the University of Worcester, Jackley decided to become a modern-day Robin Hood. Instead of social activism, he chose to make a difference by robbing banks with the intention of giving away the stolen money. After striking multiple banks in England in 2007, 20-year-old Jackley became the subject of a multinational investigation. His habit of obsessively writing down his thoughts and plans became a treasure-trove for law enforcement when he was finally apprehended in Vermont in 2008, after his failed efforts to buy a firearm. In 2009, after spending some time in prison in Vermont, he was deported to the U.K., where he served time until 2015. His diaries, along with Machell's interviews with Jackley, enable the author to reconstruct Jackley's bizarre criminal career in vivid detail. That includes Jackley having been so nervous before his first attempt that he had "written down the things he wanted to say and stuck the little script to his gun with all the nervous care of a schoolboy preparing to cheat on an exam." Assured prose boosts Machell's stranger-than-fiction true crime narrative. This balanced and sympathetic look at a troubled young man should have broad appeal.
