The Monk: The Life and Crimes of Ireland's Most Enigmatic Gang Boss

Description

On the streets of the tough Dublin inner-city neighbourhood where he grew up, Gerard Hutch was perceived as an ordinary decent criminal, a quintessential Robin Hood figure who fought the law - and won. To the rest of the world he was an elusive criminal godfather called the Monk: an enigmatic criminal mastermind and the hunted leader of one side in the deadliest gangland feud in Irish criminal history. The latest book from Ireland's leading crime writer Paul Williams reveals the inside story of Hutch's war with former allies the Kinahan cartel and how the once untouchable crime boss became a fugitive on the run from the law and the mob - with a 1 million bounty on his head. The Monk is an enthralling account of the rise and fall of a modern-day gangster charting the violent journey of an impoverished kid from the ghetto to the top tier of gangland - until it all went wrong.

Paul Williams is Ireland's leading crime writer and one of its most respected journalists. For over three decades his courageous and ground-breaking investigative work has won him multiple awards. He is the author of ten previous bestselling books and has also researched written and presented a number of major TV crime series. His first book The General was adapted for the award-winning movie of the same name by John Boorman. He is a former presenter on Newstalk Breakfast and currently writes for the Irish Independent. Williams holds an A in Criminology and is a registered member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists based in Washington DC.

"If Netflix has become your principal supplier of true crime product in recent years but you find the quality of its output patchy, here's a solution. Next time you hit a lull, just check in on the current state of the Hutch-Kinahan feud in Ireland. . . . This story moves at such speed, and keeps undertakers so busy, that even just a few recent headlines will more than adequately top up your need for fresh insight into the working habits of villainy's most committed. . . . This account . . . is told with breathtakingly intimate command of who shot whom and why by journalist Paul Williams. It's almost as if he was copied in by both sides at every stage of their business activities. Among Strong Words' takeaways from this bracing session, two things: you ever retire from a life of crime, and if anywhere's the new Sicily, it's Ireland." Strong Words