Fric-Frac: The Great Riviera Bank Robbery

by Albert Spaggiari

A singular account of the 1976 "heist of the century" by one of the men who did it. Sensational!

Genres: Nonfiction

261 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 1979

Reviews

[Richard Jespers · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book for $1.50 in 2005 at a used book store, and it was barely worth the price. I selected it because I do like to read (in sinful moments) true crime. Only I didn’t realize until I began it that it was written by the perp himself. Besides being a homophobe and a racist, he is also a masterminded criminal, who joins with maybe a dozen other men to drill through a bank vault to steal what they hope will be 40,000,000 francs (there was no Euro yet). It is slimy, filthy work beneath the streets of Nice, France, but the dirty dozen manage to get away with not quite their goal and they split it. At the time this fric-frac (French for “heist”) compares magnificently to the Great Train Robbery in England. I won’t say much more in case one wants to read this memoir of a criminal telling his smarmy story from the inside out. I never destroy books, but I may make an exception with this one. Spaggiari died at age 56 in 1989, according to Wikipedia, from lung cancer. His crime may pay, but smoking (as he does all throughout the book) certainly does not.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good heist and a fun read. A bit of the Italian Job vibes to it. Some language and adult situations so not for kids. Also, a little hard to follow when he isn’t talking specifically about the heist - he jumps around and it’s hard sometimes to know what/when he’s talking about. Overall, I enjoyed it.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every time there's a holiday heist involving safe deposit boxes, I remember this book, which i read as a prepubescent admirer of men who had problems with authority. Since it was written by a Frenchman with an Italian name, I was already hooked. Now I can only remember the escape and the one guy in the heist that specialized in blackmail materials. It would be interesting to go back and reread it thirty five years later, but I don't have the time. I think there was another book about an international criminal that I read at this time... Serpentine?...and this one itself came after Papillion.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw an episode of Masterminds about this bank robbery. Just watch it instead of trying to read this book. Yes he is very clever to have planned the bank robbery and later to have escaped from the courthouse. But he has a VERY big ego,and it shows. After about five pages I rolled my eyes and gave up.

[John Lyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Albert Spaggiari was truly a mastermind. Quite an amazing story. RIP A.S.

[Ameer · Rating 1 out of 5]

didnt finish the book. its more hype than substance.