Blurb:
Colton Harris-Moore. A teenage outlaw wanted in nine states for more than
eighty crimes. For two years he outran authorities - often barefoot. At every
step of the way, a frenzied public cheered him on...
He looked like a
typical American teenage boy. But Colton Harris-Moore was something else: a
disturbing neighborhood nuisance at the age of ten, a troubled felon at twelve,
wanted at fifteen, and the subject of a cross-country and international
fugitive manhunt by the time he could register to vote. He stole boats, luxury
cars, laptops, credit cards, and planes, despite no formal flight training,
then embarked on an astonishing two-year crime spree that crossed international
borders, fueled a titillated media, and eluded law enforcement. A twenty-first
century Billy the Kid, Harris-Moore hid in the woods and lived on candy bars,
snack food, and at least one stolen organic blueberry pie. As his crime spree
continued and his notoriety grew, he was celebrated online, on T- shirts, and
on Web sites and a Facebook Fan Club.
Only one thing was
increasingly clear: Harris-Moore wasn't going to give himself up easily. His
fans wouldn't have had it any other way. This is the Barefoot Bandit's life
story - his youth, his crimes, and his capture - the incredible true account of
a digital-age wild child who may have run out of getaways, but found something
much more valuable: a peculiar and very American brand of fame.
Review:
Fly, Colton, Fly is a true account
that provides a lot of details about a very interesting teenage character,
Colton Harris-Moore, aka the Barefoot Bandit. Colton became somewhat of an
international folk hero through two factors: his uncanny ability to survive
above and beyond the law, and the modern-day social tool known as Facebook. As
the author, Jackson Holtz, points out, Colton was the “first outlaw folk hero
of the Internet age.” Holtz is able to clearly get across the mechanics behind
the sympathy for the main character, and even I was rooting for the abused and
troubled kid gone bad guy, at times. Holtz also balances this with insight into
the sufferings of Colton’s victims.
Although
a very intriguing subject matter, this book is not well-written in my opinion. It’s
somewhat difficult to follow because the author does not maintain a clear
chronological order to events, which is a very helpful tool in the genre of
true crime. Most of the book swings back and forth between dates and events in
Colton’s life, and necessarily becomes somewhat repetitive in places due to
this poor technique. It could have something to do with the author also being a
newspaper reporter, since that kind of procedure is important for newspaper
articles. However, I have read books written by other newspaper reporters which
did not exhibit this particular problem at all, so I am reluctant to supply
that as an excuse. Holtz does include a timeline at the front of the book, but
I found it disrupting to have to constantly return to a timeline and figure out
on my own what event the author is referring to. Holtz ideally would have
followed the timeline himself to a greater degree, with referrals to previous events
in the context as needed.
There
are also some minor discrepancies in the book. For example, in the first part
of the timeline provided at the front of the book one finds, “His birth father
leaves when he’s a toddler and his stepdad dies when Colton is ten, about the
same time his serious behavior problems are first documented. He’s arrested the
same year for theft.” Much later, in chapter 12, one finds, “Like Colton,
Harley’s criminal history dates back to his early teens.” I immediately had to
go back to the timeline, once again, because at that point I am remembering
that Colton’s criminal history dates back to age ten, unlike Harley’s. Hence, it became a disjointed read for much of the
book.
Chapters
were another issue for me, although one of personal disdain more than anything
else. I see no reason for any author to chop up a book into two and three page
chapters, with 1.5 line spacing and easy to read print size. There are 58
chapters within 236 pages. Whatever the intent, it makes it seem to me that the
author is choosing to have quantity over quality in chapters, and is perhaps a
bit lazy about the work it takes for a good author to make proper transitions
within fewer chapters that combine obviously relevant material. This added to
the overall disjointed effect, and also contributed a lot of wasted space to
the book.
Even
though I cannot recommend this particular book, I would recommend for any
reader who is interested in this topic to seek out more information from some
of the many other resources available online, in newspapers, and in books. This
character, the Barefoot Bandit, is a part of Americana who will be back on the
local scene after his prison release in 2018, if not sooner!
Length: 272 Pages
Prices:
Print: $14.00
Digital: $11.99
You’ll
notice I always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors
usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher. Editors and cover
artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes &
Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author,
editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book
costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will
receive about $2.40. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive
about $0.83.
Downloading
the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file
from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the USB end of your chord into a
USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to
your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. I actually download my books using “Save
As” to a “Books” file I created on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher,
friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.
That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer. Your
author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.
Thanks
for visiting. Rose & Rochelle
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