Bradley Nickell’s recounting of the long investigation and prosecution of a prolific serial criminal is an absorbing read. Nickell takes the reader through the entire investigation, prosecution, innumerable legal maneuvers, with a precision and detail which provides a true sense of what it would be like to work in law enforcement.
The story is about a career burglar who might possibly have been the most productive thief in history, committing hundreds upon hundreds of burglaries, stealing millions of dollars worth of property, and while clearly an intelligent and cunning indvidual, foolishly kept a huge amount of his haul in his own home, along with numerous storage units. By the time he was caught in just one relatively minor break-in, he had accumulated over 19 felony convictions… but that represented only a tiny fraction of the thefts he committed.
Brickell’s narrative paints a vivid picture of the sociopathology of this criminal, his endless attempts to escape from his legal predicament, and the escalation of his crimes to a conspiracy to attempt to murder Nickell himself, along with the judge in the case, and the prosecutor.
Perhaps the most unique, and pleasurable part of this book was, surprisingly, the narrator. Kevin Pierce was a superb selection for this project… his voice is perfectly suited to portray a first person narrative of a police officer and detective, sounding vaguely reminiscent of Jack Webb, without the corny idioms…. or, possibly, Howard Morris. It was very hard to keep in mind that the narration wasn’t done by Nickell himself, which is a mark of excellence for any narrator who works on a first person non-fiction story.
In fact, for my next book, I intend to try one of the other books narrated by Pierce… it’s hard to believe, but I think I have actually become a fan of a narrator!
Overall, it’s a great story, and a great read. For true crime fans, you won’t be disappointed.