Read the story behind Australia's most daring heist 11 Minutes by Gregory M Carroll
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11 Minutes
A Crime Novel of Melbourne’s 1976 Great Bookie Robbery
Six men. Eleven minutes. The perfect crime.
11 MINUTES tells the untold story behind the Great Bookie Robbery—Australia’s greatest armed heist. Six men stormed Melbourne’s Victoria Club and vanished the equivalent of $80 million today. Although no one convicted, nor money recovered, but within a decade all were dead.
Told by one who knew them, this Australian noir crime novel blends meticulous research with cinematic prose. It explores loyalty, betrayal, and the human cost of ambition in Melbourne’s gritty underworld.
The crew’s rise forged in the Painters & Dockers Waterfront War left 40 dead. But after the robbery, enemies closed in. Not just the police Task Force, but Sydney’s Toecutters and Australia’s Krays, the Kanes. Everyone wants a piece. The old warning rang true: be careful what you wish for!
This book is not true crime. It's something deeper. Facts tell you what happened. A novel lets you feel it. 11 MINUTES reaches past police reports and courtrooms, into the quiet fears, the slow unravelling of loyalty, and the weight of choices made. It tells you not just what people did, but why.
About the Author
Gregory M. Carroll is not just the author of 11 Minutes — he lived it. Born and raised in the same tough world as the men in his story, he was more than a witness. He was a brother. Ian Carroll was his brother, his best man, and the man whose body he had to identify. Now retired, he writes from the Gold Coast, Australia, bringing lived experience to the page with sharp insight and unflinching honesty. Just like the lives that shaped it.