Killing Goldfinger: The Secret, Bullet-Riddled Life and Death of Britain's Gangster Number One - Hardcover

Clarkson, Wensley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1786484854 ISBN 13: 9781786484857

Publisher: Quercus Publishing, 2017

Synopsis

KILLING GOLDFINGER charts the extraordinary rise and spectacular bullet-riddled fall of John Palmer, the richest, most powerful criminal ever to have emerged from the modern British underworld. During the late 1990s, Palmer was rated as rich as The Queen by the Sunday Times Rich List.

Palmer earned his nickname Goldfinger after smelting (in his back garden) tens of millions of pounds worth of stolen gold bullion from the 20th century's most lucrative heist; the Brink's-Mat robbery. Palmer then used his share of the millions to become the vicious overlord of a vast illegal timeshare property empire in Tenerife. At the same time, Goldfinger financed huge international drugs shipments as well as some of the most notorious UK robberies of the past 30 years, including the £50m Securitas heist in Kent in 2006 and, many believe, the Hatton Garden heist in 2015.

Palmer vowed to hunt down all his underworld enemies. But in the end it was those same criminals who decided to bring his life to an end. Murdered in June 2015, with charges of fraud, money laundering and worse pending, this book tells his murky story for the first time.

As outrageous and bullet-riddled as the hit Netflix series Narcos, Killing Goldfinger tells the true story of Britain's underworld kingpin, who turned the sunshine holiday island of Tenerife into his very own Crime Incorporated and then paid the ultimate price.

About this title

About the Author

WENSLEY CLARKSON is one of Britain's most knowledgeable writers when it comes to the criminal underworld. His books - published in more than thirty countries - have sold almost two million copies. He has also written movie screenplays and made numerous TV documentaries in the UK, US and Spain.

From the Back Cover

Selected newspaper headlines about John 'Goldfinger' Palmer:

SWINDLER RAN EMPIRE WITH ARMY OF THUGS
(Daily Telegraph 2000)

HOW SLICK TIMESHARE FRAUDSTER CHEATED THOUSANDS (Guardian 2001)

CRIME BARON GOLDFINGER BACK BEHIND BARS AGAIN
(Daily Express 2007)

GOLDFINGER SWAPS JAIL FOR LUXURY LIFE ON TENERIFE
(Daily Express 2009)

JOHN 'GOLDFINGER' PALMER WAS RIDDLED WITH BULLETS IN ESSEX SHOOTING
(Daily Mail 2015)

From the Inside Flap

Killing Goldfinger charts the extraordinary rise and spectacular fall of John "Goldfinger" Palmer, the richest and most powerful gangster in UK criminal history. It exposes for the first time the massive covert operation to bring Palmer to justice and how he still managed to evade prison for many years.

Palmer earned his nickname "Goldfinger" because he literally got his own fingers dirty smelting down much of the gold from Heathrow Airport's Brink's-Mat robbery, which was the world's biggest ever bullion heist.

Killing Goldfinger is a roller-coaster ride through five decades of the UK and the Spanish underworld, including how Palmer turned the holiday island of Tenerife into his own personal fiefdom. Meticulously researched, it pulls the reader into Palmer's bizarre, sordid, crime-filled life - one that took him from the mean streets of Birmingham to harsh prison corridors and from a life of great riches which led directly to the killing fields of Essex.

Containing interviews with many of Palmer's former associates, Killing Goldfinger also reveals how Palmer was feared by many other criminals, how his addiction to money drove him on and how he desperately tried to 'retire' - only to discover that gangsters never rest in peace.

Edition details

• Publisher: Quercus Publishing
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1786484854
• ISBN 13: 9781786484857
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400