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Ballad of the Whiskey Robber
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts | Julian Rubinstein
15 posts | 17 read | 22 to read
Follows the misadventures of Budapest bank robber Attila Ambrus, who struggled in his pursuit of women and a career as an untalented hockey goaltender before taking up crime, and profiles the investigators assigned to his case.
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readswellwithothers
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Pickpick

I went into this totally blind, and it wound up being one of my top audiobooks of the year! What a romp of a tale, well-told. And what a delightfully entertaining and well-produced audio this was! I was on the edge of my seat, I laughed, I exclaimed out loud, I spent 20 minutes on the phone with my 78yo mom telling her this true story that I‘d previously known nothing about. Don‘t be put off by multiple voice credits - it‘s excellent! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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BookNAround
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The last bags (besides the overnight bag and the perishables in their freezer bag) are packed and ready to go to the car. I started this one in the meantime (plus my daughter wants to read it and I‘ll see her tomorrow evening—here‘s hoping I can finish it that quickly!).

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Love your bag!! 2y
BookNAround @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks It was my daughter‘s but she left it behind when she moved out so now it‘s mine. 😉 2y
50 likes2 comments
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Christyco125
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📖 I don‘t read a lot of non-fiction but when I do I need a storyteller. This true crime was fun and almost unbelievable.
📖 🔪☠️❓🕵️🚔
📖 I like the challenge of figuring out who did and why
📖 I‘m a cover girl 📔
#ThoughtfulThursday

MoonWitch94 Murder Mystery is my guess! Thanks for playing 🙂📖 2y
34 likes1 comment
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AvidReader25
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Pickpick

Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction. This crazy account of a real life bank robber in Hungary in the ‘90s is hilarious, well written, and hard to believe. Budapest is one of my favorite cities I‘ve visited, so reading about its history was a treat for me. So much changed in the ‘90s as it came out from under communist rule and life was certainly not easy. Between the history and the bank robberies, this one was very entertaining.

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Sapphire
Pickpick

I am not sure how this came across my radar as I am not much of a true crime reader, but this was fascinating. Modern history too. Interesting author/journalist as well.

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suvata
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Pickpick

In the 1990s, while playing for the biggest hockey team in Budapest, Ambrus took up bank robbery to make ends meet. Enter the most incompetent team of crime investigators the Eastern Bloc had ever seen: a robbery chief who had learned how to be a detective by watching dubbed Columbo episodes; a forensics man who wore top hat and tails on the job; and a driver so inept he was known only by a Hungarian word that translates to Mound of Ass-Head.

BookNAround This was supposed to be a book club read for my summer book club this past summer but since we didn‘t end up meeting, I never did manage to read it. 4y
suvata @BookNAround You may want to read it anyway — it‘s pretty humorous 4y
55 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Pam.Kokomo
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Pickpick

True Crime. The audiobook was delightful!

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Librarian199509
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Pickpick

Meet Attila Ambrus aka the Whiskey Robber a hockey goalie come pelt smuggler come bank robber in 1990s Hungary. The later half of the book gets a little repetitive as he just keeps robbing banks with ridiculous ease. His story is a hilariously insane but the book sort of ends in a down mood.

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Christyco125
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Pickpick

I finally got a copy of this book. It is so hard to believe that everything happened for real. I had a hard time putting the book down. After I was finished I had to follow up to see if Atilla ever got released. #reality #2017christyread

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Tamra
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Hockey, bank robbery, Hungary in the 90s......doesn't seem like my thing but it came highly recommended. Why not?

Tamra I tried. I enjoyed the history bits, but I felt bogged down by the details. 8y
7 likes1 stack add1 comment
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diovival
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#aprilbookshowers Day21: #subtitles
I noticed a trend right away. All the chewiest subtitles were on my nonfiction books. Behold the longest subtitle on my shelf:

A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts

@RealLifeReading

RealLifeReading Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling? 8y
LeslieO Yes. You had me at Transylvanian Pelt smuggling. 8y
diovival @RealLifeReading everybody's gotta make a living 😂😂 8y
29 likes3 comments
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MeJeMiller
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Pickpick

I love this book because of Hungary. I lived there for about a year. I walked the same streets, the picture is of forints he would have stolen. There is a decent amount of history in this and I don't think everyone would like this book. It is a good book and worthy to be read if you're into true stories. Even if I hadn't lived there I think this book was interesting. This book did call my heart back to Hungary. Boldog új évet.(Happy new year)