Norco '80

Praise for Norco '80 Norco '80 somehow makes meticulous research and devotion to the truth fuse with suspense and excitement until the reader is right there, a witness to this guns-blazing account of a crime that changed American law enforcement's readiness for violence in the extreme. -Joseph Wambaugh, bestselling author of The Onion Field Norco '80 reads like a pre-apocalyptic nightmare, and it's all true. Houlahan's writing is intimate and stark, and the pacing relentless, as it tells the story of a group of young men who robbed a bank to prepare for the end of the world and succeeded in bringing fire and brimstone to one unfortunate small town and the police sworn to protect it. The reader will feel like a witness to these events as they unfold. Be warned-you will not get anything done until this book is done with you. -James Renner, author of True Crime Addict There is no doubt that Norco '80 is poised to become a true crime classic. It's a marvel of pacing and information-at times racing ahead like a speeding bullet and others slowing down to provide a perfect panorama of a hairsbreadth moment. Houlahan has left nothing unexamined in his obsessively detailed account of this heist, from the emotional to the logistical to the spiritual. Trust me, you're going to want to read every word. -Ivy Pochoda, author of Wonder Valley As the astonishing mayhem chronicled in this book unfolds, you'll find yourself wondering, 'How much worse can this situation get?' Answer: a lot. Turning the pages, I kept flashing back to the desperate, duck-for-cover urgency of Black Hawk Down. Meticulously reported and artfully written, Norco '80 is an utterly absorbing, unforgettable, and haunting study of how a series of bad decisions can snowball into something truly disastrous. --Dave Howard, author of Chasing Phil Simply put, Norco '80 is one of the best true crime accounts ever written. Harrowing, incisive, and important. But also? A goddamned thrill ride. This is a book you'll read and then talk about for weeks. --Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland [An] alarming account of a bank heist that rocked the country in 1980 and reflected 'the peculiar zeitgeist of that decade' in all its cockeyed drama . . . For a first-time writer, Houlahan sure knows how to dramatize a scene. His cinematic treatment of the robbery itself reads like wildfire, the fatal shootout with the police ends in colorful chaos, and the huge manhunt through San Bernardino National Forest conducted by 'Hunt & Kill Teams' is a nail-biter. -Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review Like American Heiress in the summer of 2016, this looks like the true crime book that will launch a hundred conversations. -CrimeReads, One of the Most Anticipated Crime Books of Summer [A] deeply researched, thrillingly paced tale. -Peter Larsen, Southern California News Group Thrilling account of a violent California bank robbery . . . Houlahan's debut is remarkable for the exhaustive . . . level of detail he brings to every stage of the story, transforming a pulpy true-crime narrative into a reflection of social transformations and class conflict as the countercultural 1970s faded into the Reagan era . . . An impressively well-rendered true-crime saga. -Kirkus Review