Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts

by Julian Rubinstein

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Attila Ambrus, the Robin Hood of Eastern Europe. He's the one-time pelt smuggler, professional hockey goalie (possibly the worst in the sport's history), pen salesman, Zamboni driver, gravedigger, church painter, roulette addict, building superintendent, whiskey drinker, and native of Transylvania who's decided that the best thing to do with his time is to rob as many banks as possible.

His rival: Lajos Varjú, the Inspector Clouseau of the Iron Curtain, whose knowledge of police work comes from Hungarian-dubbed episodes of Columbo. His deputy is nicknamed "Mound of Asshead" because of his propensity for crashing police cars. His forensics expert, known as "Dance Instructor" for his lucrative side career teaching ballet, wears a top hat and tails on the job.

Welcome to Julian Rubinstein's uproariously funny and unforgettable account of crime in the heart of the new Europe. With a supporting cast that includes car wash owners, exotic dancers, drunk army generals, cocaine-snorting Hungarian rappers, the Johnnie Cochran of Budapest, and a hockey team that seems to spend as much time breaking the law as it does practicing, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber gives us the most charming outlaw-hero since the Sundance Kid—and the Sundance Kid didn't play hockey.

As the Eastern bloc slips off its communist skin and replaces it with leopard-skin hot pants, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber is here to screw in the pink lightbulbs. Part Unbearable Lightness of Being, part Pink Panther, and part Slap Shot, Julian Rubinstein's tale is a spectacular literary debut—and a story so outrageous that it could only be true.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Biography, Crime, Humor, Audiobook

319 pages, Hardcover

First published September 16, 2004

About the author

Julian Rubinstein is an Emmy and IRE award-winning author, documentary filmmaker and educator.

In June, 2025, he won a national Emmy for directing and producing THE HOLLY, a documentary he filmed while working on his New York Times Editors' Choice book, The Holly: Five Bullets, One Gun, and the Struggle to Save an American Neighborhood, published by FSG in 2021. The book was the winner of the 2022 Colorado Book Award, the 2022 High Plains Book Award and a New York Times Editors' Choice. Booklist, which named it to its Best Books of 2021, called it "a shattering piece of investigative journalism involving street gangs, race relations and law enforcement."

The documentary is streaming on Amazon Prime, Apple Plus and Starz.

Julian's first non-fiction book, Ballad of the Whiskey Robber, is an international bestseller, chronicling the story of arguably the most popular living folk hero in the world. The book was called “an instant classic” by Canada’s Globe and Mail. It was a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award and a New York Times “Editors’ Choice.”

Julian's longform magazine work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Travel + Leisure and others. His journalism has been collected in numerous anthologies, including Best American Essays, Best American Crime Writing, Best American Science and Nature Writing and twice in Best American Sports Writing.

He lives in Denver.

Reviews

[Anne Bogel]

Reviewed in the August 2025 edition of Quick Lit on Modern Mrs Darcy:

This book is no stranger to MMD and WSIRN—it was even a 2012 MMD Summer Reading Guide selection—but I haven't talked about it in ages. It was a joy to revisit it this summer so I could do it justice in an episode of One Great Book over in our WSIRN Patreon community. The subtitle captures some of its breath: this is “a true story of bank heists, ice hockey, Transylvanian pelt smuggling, moonlighting detectives, and broken hearts.” It’s a real genre-bender, combining narrative nonfiction, a heist plot, politics, history, sports, and more. It's hugely entertaining as a picaresque yarn about an eccentric 1990s thief, but on my rereading I was struck by just how much of the book's power comes from the fact these events could not have unfolded in any other place, at any other time. I focused specifically on the audio for the One Great Book episode; the full cast narration is exceptional.

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t believe in trying to improve on perfection. In that spirit, here is the synopsis:

“A true story of bank heists, ice hockey, Transylvanian pelt smuggling, moonlighting detectives, and broken hearts.”

None of that is made up or embellished. This is the funniest book I’ve read in a long time. And it is all true.

[Scott Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true gem.

This book is the story of real-life Hungarian bank robber Attila Ambrus. His story alone would be worth five stars even told without flair--bank robberies! hockey! flight to freedom! But Rubenstein elevates the already unbelievable events with his masterful telling. Ballad is a crime-adventure comedy interwoven with slice-of-life journalism set in the proto-kleptocracy that was post-Soviet Hungary.

Truly one of the best books I've ever read. Miraculously, the audiobook performance was even better than the printed version.

Highest possible recommendation.

[LeeAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts


Budapest, Hungary

Hungary's most beloved criminal and one of the most memorable, fascinating and likable characters ever written about.

The "whiskey robber" was a simple man named Attila Ambrus from a small village in eastern Transylvania, Romania. Attila Ambrus got into trouble at a very young age for petty theft. In 1988, he illegally crossed Romania's borders by riding underneath a freight train looking for a better life.


The Whiskey Robber: Attila Ambrus

In Hungary he made a living by doing all kinds of odd jobs, including being a gravedigger & pelt smuggler. He also tried out for a professional hockey team. Despite his terrible performance as a hockey player, he was given a spot on the team as a goalie while doubling as the team's janitor.



Ambrus had trouble making ends meet even though he worked several jobs at once. Eventually he became so desperate for money he committed his first robbery of a post office in 1993. After the success of this one simple robbery, he continued with a string of 27 robberies of banks, post offices. He became known as the 'Whiskey Robber', because he was often seen drinking whiskey (Dutch courage) at a nearby pub prior to his robberies.


The Whiskey Robber in action

The Whiskey Robber became wildly popular and famous in Hungary for his robberies because of his very polite demeanor, his crazy disguises, his giving female bank tellers flowers prior to each robbery and for sending the police bottles of wine. A true gentleman!

The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein is one of the most entertaining, bizarre, laugh-out-loud funniest books I have ever listened to on audible. Don't mis this one!

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Attila Ambrus escaped from Romania to Hungary during the Ceaușescu regime by clinging to the undercarriage of a train. He asked for political asylum and applied for Hungarian citizenship. In Hungary, he became a janitor for the Hungarian National Hockey team, and eventually a goalie, though he was not actually a hockey player. During the 1990s in Hungarian history, a great upheaval was occurring after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the break-up of the Soviet Union. Capitalism started taking root when many American companies expanded into Hungary. It was a chaotic time as former Soviet satellites adjusted to a new economy.

Attila’s life took several downturns (much of it due to his gambling and drinking habits) and he found himself in debt. He tried pelt smuggling for a while. In disguise, he perpetrated a string of robberies, wielding a gun but committing no violent acts, and managed to evade the police for years before being caught. This is a book of true crime, and Attila comes off as a folk hero, admired by the general public for fooling the authorities for so long. The book was reasonably entertaining as this “charming rogue” gets away with his crimes (for a while), but I am not a big fan of romanticizing criminals. The writing is rather uninspired. The author attempts to be humorous, and sometimes succeeds, but it also seems like he is exaggerating for effect. The best part for me was the history of Hungary and Romania.

[R.S. Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

He was the main conspirator in dozens of armed robberies in post-communist Hungary in the nineties, but the people of Hungary saw Attila Ambrus like this:



He is the folk hero of Hungary, although he never redistributed his wealth. He stole from the state, but did pour the money back into the economy through his luxurious life style. Never violent, never intentionally harming a soul, giving the bank tellers flowers and maybe a little flirtation while he was half-in-the-bag, knee-walking drunk, Attila Ambrus evaded police detection while continuing his life as a pro hockey player for years.



The story of Attila Ambrus is the most unbelievable true crime story I've ever read. His crime spree combined with the complete ineptitude of the ridiculous cast of characters who encompassed the shoddy police department was not only too good to be true, it was hilarious!

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is as fun to read as it is enlightening. Every once in a while there comes along a person who leads such an unlikely life that it would be impossible to invent them. In addition to the story of the protagonist himself, the story of post-communist Hungary is a major part of the book as well. Everything that you would need to put the life of Attila (the whiskey robber) in context of the world that he lived in is provided in vivid detail. This book would have been fascinating to me even without the bank heists, ice hockey, Transylvanian pelt smuggling, moonlighting detectives and broken hearts, but it has all of that too! Others have written much more eloquent reviews of this book than I so I am hoping that my review will merely be seen as an embelishment of what others have said of this entertaining, enlightening, and possibly even rip-roaring book. Just know that I had fun AND learned a thing or two from reading it.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audio edition of this book is fantastic--really a radio comedy/drama. It is introduced by Attila Ambrus himself, the eponymous Whiskey Robber, as he served time in jail for his string of non-violent bank robberies in Budapest in the 1990s. The author is the main narrator, with voices supplied by a wildly diverse array of people from comedians Dmetri Martin and Eugene Mirman to author Gary Shteyngart, and music by One Ring Zero.

It is the crazy-but-true story of how Attila, a hapless and basically unpaid professional hockey goalie (as well as a pen salesman, pelt smuggler, and serious drinker and would-be high roller), applied himself to the profession of bank robbery, becoming a national folk hero as he left the overworked and under-equipped police sputtering in his wake. Great characters, detailed reporting, and a wry style drive the story along irresistibly. The author even manages to work in a quick background history of Hungary and paints a cynical picture of 1990s Budapest, when the influx of western-style capitalism only changed the style of corruption.

Haven't read the book in book form, but I can highly recommend the audio version as a most enjoyable roller-coaster ride.

[Judith E · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most excellent audiobook performance and a very entertaining listen. The path Attila Ambrus took to become a prolific bank robber followed the fall of Communist Hungary and the struggling, chaotic, independent government that ensued. The criminal and the political struggles are intertwined true stories and very well told.

[Rincey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This is a fun book, and even more fun on audio.

[Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the moment, Attila Ambrus was still a nobody. Soon, he would be a legend.

The Goodreads description of Ballad of the Whiskey Robber tells you everything you need to know about this one-of-a-kind true story. It’s a tale that could have only happened in 1990s Eastern Europe, when the former Soviet bloc countries were racing to take their first steps to embrace capitalism and the West. An era where a professional athlete could be so desperate for cash that he turns to robbing banks, only to discover it’s not that hard to stay a step ahead of underfunded, under-equipped police when things like security cameras are just beginning to be used. An era where corruption was so rampant that the public actually rallied behind a gentleman bank robber who got his nickname when people realized he would drunk in a bar before each robbery.

While he’s not exactly Robin Hood, Attila Ambrus is completely charming. Beginning with his escape from Romania on a train, his story takes twenty twists (including his prison break, which opens the book) that you’d never believe if they weren’t true. He may be a criminal who robbed 29 banks over 7 years, but you’ll probably find yourself rooting for him. A captivating, often hilarious, original story. Recommended, especially the excellent audiobook performance.

[Ryan Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This debut is the perfect summer read: compelling as hell, witty, illuminating, and really unbelievable for a nonfiction title. This is the story of Attila Ambrus, who in the 1990's in Hungary started as the most dedicated and talentless professional hockey goalie in the world, moonlighting first as a Transylvanian pelt smuggler and then as Eastern Europe's most legendary bank robber.

Filled with incredible details, from his habit of robbing while blisteringly drunk to the ubiquitous corruption ballooning on the police side of the law, this is the kind of book you impress upon friends. Rubenstein deftly balances the geopolitical climate with Ambrus's rise and fall, sometimes with prose almost too witty. But you can forgive him that—anyone who comes into contact with Ambrus inherits his sense of daring and bravado. So go read it already.

[Lucy Lauer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not finish the book. Only read 37% on Kindle and just did not care. I enjoyed the history of Hungary during and after the cold war. I found some of the descriptions very vivid and amusing. The protagonist was likable enough and realistic under the circumstances. Most of the too-many other characters ran together and no one had enough depth for me to root for or against. One bank heist after another got boring and I did not care what his various outfits looked like. I tried to be patient and had expected to like it, but alas-no.

[Myla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing true story, so entertaining—just kept thinking it would be the most hilarious movie if they could cast it just right.

[Pat Cooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the title and descriptions will suggest to you that this is a book about a criminal ice hockey goaltender who also was a smuggler - and it is, don't you worry - it's selling itself short. This is a book about postcommunist Hungary, particularly Budapest, and is told with amazing love and care through the lens of one Atilla Ambrus who very well might become your favorite bank robber.

While Rubinstein does such a good job of describing Hungarian culture and identity - to the point that I feel as if I've actually been to Hungary, watched Hungarian TV, and hung out in their bars late into the night - he misses slightly when writing about hockey, which never becomes as tangible a subject to the reader. That is my only complaint, however, and I can't think of a single person who I wouldn't recommend this book to or who wouldn't enjoy its crazy adventures and amazingly charismatic factual protagonist. There were times that, even in his criminality, I was inspired by Atilla, a man who didn't let a country trying to define itself define him in any way.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book. I thought all the voices were so funny and entertaining. I would laugh right out loud. I can’t believe how truly unbelievable this story is. I don’t want to call the Whiskey Robber lucky or smart but that’s what I kept thinking the whole time!!

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to let this one set for a bit before I could decide what to write in a review. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, it was like listening to radio theatre! This is the true story of Attila Ambrus, a Hungarian pro hockey player who was also leading a double life as the notorious whisky robber. Even without the robbery Ambrus had a very interesting life. He snuck into Hungary riding under a train car. He worked many odd jobs while he tried to gain citizenship. One of which was a zamboni driver which turned into hockey player when one day the team needed a substitute.

He always seemed to have plenty of money but his teammates never questioned it. Many Hungarians had side jobs in the gray area of legal and it was better not to know. Ambrus would plan his robberies for months and was able to carry them off with precision even while drunk on whisky, hence his nickname. It helped that the police force at the time seemed to be on the level of the pink panther. After one robbery he even spent time asking the police where they were rushing to as he stood there holding a bag of stolen cash! As time went on he would bring flowers and flirt with the female tellers. He would also send taunting packages to the detective on his trail.

This is a very entertaining true crime story. It's not often that you root for the criminal while laughing at his capers!

[Craig Dube · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ballad of the Whiskey Robber was pitched to our bookclub as a non-ficton that reads like fiction. I find this to be a very accurate assessment. The story is of Attila Ambrus, a young man who immigrates from Romania to Hungary to carve out a new life. When he comes to Hungary, he makes his way onto the local semi-pro hockey team as both a janitor and a 3rd string goalie. Attila struggles to make ends meet until he stumbles across the lucrative profession of pelt smuggling. However the pelt smuggling business peters out not long afterwards and Attila is forced to find a new means of making ends meet. His choice? Bank robbery.

The book details Attila exploits and the exploits of the police around him as the try to capture (and recapture) him. Attila becomes known as the Whiskey Robber as a result of his often downing whiskeys in nearby bars prior to the bank heists. He also becomes seen as a local Robin Hood type folk hero to the people of Hungary; although this moniker seems to be more marketing than reality as Attila didn't really return the money to the people but spent it with reckless abandon on gambling, travel and women.

The story itself is both fascinating and entertaining. The author enhances this experience by choosing to focus on some of the more ridiculous and sublime characters and elements. An example is his use of nicknames for all the police men. While I'm sure that they may have been referred to one another by these names at one time or another, having detectives referenced as Dance Instructor and Mound of Asshead makes for a very silly read. This humorous point of view often comes into play when the author explains the current political environment in Hungary and world abroad.

As it is written, I think most will find themselves routing for Attila, which is what I believe the author intended. I'm sure that another author could take this same story and putting a different spin on it, make Attila seem entirely more dangerous and villainous. Regardless if you root for or against Attila, I think most will enjoy this story and be highly entertained. I was.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have recommended this book more times than I can count! julian rubinstein writes a page-turning history, of a man, a place, and a series of events that proves once again that real life is stranger than fiction!

THE BEST! You'll be in post communist Budapest / Hungary / Romania during the 1990's. One reviewer said of it: "I love this book for giving me insight into a country I had little knowledge of".

Another reviewer said he saw "Atilla Ambrus – as a doorway to the bigger story, that of the tragedy of the wild east".


julian rubinstein writes on his webpage that: "BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER was named to Hollywood's 'Black List', a studio poll of the industry's best screenplays in development. It is being produced by Johnny Depp and Warner Bros." Read this before the movie comes out, you wont be sorry you did!

[Marieke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting this to be this good. First, i'd never heard of the subject, Atilla Ambrus. I was alive and well at the end of the Soviet era and totally into Eastern and Central European stuff. how did i miss this story? Thank you Julian Rubinstein for making sure it didn't slip by me.

Second, i was alarmed when i heard the long list of readers at the beginning of the recording. Normally i don't go in for that type of audio book, but this was done so incredibly well i want to give this book five stars twice, once for the writing, and once for the performance. Cabaret is a perfect description of it. You can check it out here and then get yourself the full-length audio book and see if you don't fall in love with Atilla, too. The most likeable worst hockey goalie turned bank robber in history.



(i'm just trusting that this is him, btw.)

and who wouldn't like a little contemporary klezmer music for interlude music?

[Shervin R]

از طریق پادکست چنل بی با این کتاب و آتیلا آشنا شدم. داستان واقعی مردی به نام آتیلا امبروش که در بحبوحه فروپاشی شوروی وارد مجارستان میشه و با مشقت و پشت کار فراوان به دنبال کار و پول درآوردنه. کتاب لحن خیلی طنزگونه داره و خیلی از جملات جدی رو طوری ادا میکنه که امکان نداره خواننده خنده ش نگیره. در موازات داستان ، اطلاعات خیلی خوبی راجع به تاریخ کشور مجارستان و ناحیه ترنسیلوانیا از ابتدای تشکیل تا دوره ی بعد از کمونیسم داره که برای من که به تاریخ علاقه مندم بسیار جالب بود. و صد البته نقطه قوت کتاب در اینجاست که با اینکه انتهای داستان تقریبا واضح و قابل حدس زدنه اما ابدا خسته کننده نیست و خواننده تا انتها با داستان همراه میمونه.
اگر به داستان های دزد و پلیسی واقعی و البته کشور مجارستان علاقه دارید ، این کتاب توصیه میشه.

[Erik Mudrak · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There’s no way this is real”
“That’s too funny to be the truth”
“The epilogue is going to say: sike! I made all of this up!”

Are all thoughts I constantly had while absorbing the whiskey robber’s saga.

And holy hell is my lie detector broken — it was all true. Another banger in the “non fiction that reads like fiction” genre that I love. Really enjoyed learning about post-communist Europe between wild bank robbery scenes. I’ll defer any further to the Goodreads description of this book, because it captures the bizarre gist!

[Overbooked ✎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The saga of an alcoholic hockey player turned polite bank robber, who became a news sensation and Hungarian national hero by evading the local and international police for so long. It’s an unbelievable (why did he insist on hitting the same places multiple times?) but quite funny story, dragging a little in the middle.

[Tasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

**2.5**The writing just didn't work for me. I also feel like I went into this one with very high expectations from some high praise, I was expecting a lot more and was somewhat disappointed that it didn't work well for me. I seem to be in the minority however so it might just be me.

[Sonal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely extraordinary story, totally unbelievable yet true. To be honest, I had no clue about Attila Ambrus, never read or heard about him and had no intention of reading his life story. This book came up in a blog as a must read before travelling to Budapest so I bought it before my trip a few years ago and completely forgot about it. After Beartown, this book caught my attention just because of Ice hockey and surprise!! even this one had little to do with the actual sport :P

This book is very well written. It's fun to read and actually feels more like a whimsical and folklorish tale. Attila who fled from Transylvania to Budapest somehow manages to become an unpaid goalie in the local ice hockey team, works as a janitor, sells parker pens to make ends meet. For a better chance at life, takes up pelt smuggling then shifts to less risky business of robbery which becomes more of an addiction. A robber who is always drunk is elegant, graceful (takes flowers to a heist) and kind of comical ultimately becomes a hero for the nation. When the entire country is swept by economic slump, poverty and massive corruption after the fall of communism; the Whiskey Robber emerges with a robin hood image. This real-life story was even better than the best of thriller heist movies.
Along with the biography, the author also gives a glimpse of the post-soviet condition of Romania & Hungary. A great history lesson as well!

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the funniest audiobook I have ever listened to! Hungary is just emerging from the Soviet era, the police sometimes try, but corruption is rampant and anti-crime funds are nonexistent. The whiskey robber is quite a character: a hockey goalie for a very bad team, a gentleman bandit, a gambler, a master of disguises, an alcoholic, a careful planner - who hides the money in his oven. The author had a great way with words describing the old Hungary tiptoeing into a more modern area. Another sign I really liked a book - I looked up more information about Attila Ablum and watched an interview with him.

Narration was outstanding. I can hear why it won awards. A short, Slavic tune played between sections. Very fun. I got extra cleaning done because I wanted to keep listening!

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truth really can be stranger than fiction. I wasn’t a quarter of the way through this book before I was on the internet trying to figure out if its apocryphal story was some kind of literary hoax. Nope. Attila Ambrus is a real person, and 1990s Budapest was the perfect setting for everything he got away with for so long. He’s not what you’d call a hero. Even apart from his intentionally criminal activity, his judgment in life decisions was repeatedly pretty poor. However, his determination and creativity were amazing, and I had to keep reading to see what happened next. The pace did slow down somewhat when the descriptions of one bank robbery after another began to pile up, but not enough to kill my interest. One other thing: Hungary was as much a character in this story as was Attila. The author did a nice job of framing how the country’s history, both over the centuries and during the turmoil after the breakup of the Soviet Union, set the stage for Attila’s escapades. Enjoyable read.

[Sarah Ingala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Attila Ambrus is the most likeable terrible hockey goalie turned bank robber in history! This book was so interesting and so much fun. I enjoyed getting to know Attila, while also learning about the political and economic struggles of Hungary during the 1990’s. I started with a hard copy book and then part way through switched to the audiobook, which was amazing with a full cast, sound effects, and whimsical music.
Hard Book- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Audiobook- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

PS- Super fun coincidence: this was my book club’s non-fiction pick for this month and we are meeting to discuss it on October 6, which just happens to be Attila’s 56th birthday! We will be eating some cake and drinking some whiskey in honor of him. 😊

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and hilarious portrait of a bank robber in the 1980's and 90's. The political climate of Romania and Budapest is also discussed, as well as the American influence on Eastern European culture at the time of the fall of communism. Great history lesson for me! The audiobook had a great cast of characters and had me laughing often.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love me a well written history book. It started off a little slow but that might be because I am unfamiliar with the history of this region. Once it picked up I couldn’t stop listening!