Hold Up

 

 

 

 

Written by an ex-gangster, this book is the tale of an anthological Hold Up.

 

146 million francs were stolen, and out of it, 139 haven’t been found yet.

 

 

Toulon, France, December 1992. There’s Manu, the mere guy without any story, who is compelled to participate to the legendary robery. Why him ? Because he works at the Banque de France as a security officer. His wife and young son have been taken as hostages, and he was forced to put an explosive belt around his waist. There he is, plunged into a devilish operation, where he is going to star as the main actor, instead of him : He will open the Bank’s doors to the thiefs.

And there is Marc, the brain of the operation, who has led the operation since the early beginning and yet feels that somehow it is going collapse. He keeps on opposing himself to the process, without knowing why, until it will be too late to go back.

 

Hold up is the Tale of an infernal machine. Or that is to say, how men and women find themselves involved in a gearing which will end up overtaking them. In the tiny rooms of the bank, time is suspended, relations are aggravated : each of the protagonists try to protect its own interests, whilst interacting with hatred and respect. But even though all the characters try to rush, the pending katharsis will be the same for all of them.

 

In this fictionnal testimony where the two heroe’s points of view always cross itselves and respond to eachother’s, french romancier Jean Claude Kella explains, with the skill of the novelist and the precision of the ex-hold up man, how they performed this monumental hold up.

 

 

Jean Claude Kella, said « le Diable », (the Devil), is a figure of the French connection. He published in 2009 l’Affranchi, a collection of souvenir. Released 22nd of September, 2011.