Author(s): Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read, Mark Brandon Read

TRUE CRIME

"It was just after dawn on Thursday, November 14, 1991. The hatch on the cell door slid back. I could see the screw's face through the slit. I've seen better heads on a pig dog, but this time I could have kissed him." Underworld standover man and executioner Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read was released from Pentridge Prison in November, 1991, vowing never to return. He became an instant celebrity when his autobiography Chopper: From the Inside hit the bestseller lists (it also holds the record as Australia's most shop-lifted book). Six months later he was back in jail writing his second volume of memoirs. In this sequel, Chopper reveals his struggle to cope with "civilian life", from the highs of gambling thousands of dollars at a legal casino to the lows of facing the rest of his life in prison. He also reveals more of the stories of criminal activity that made his first book an international publishing sensation, from bookie robberies to hitmen, slavery and kidnapping. Written with dark humour and an intimate knowledge of some of Australia's most notorious criminals and crimes, Hits and Memories is a unique look at Australia's underbelly.