Jason Burhmester's "Black Dogs"

“The possibly true story of classic rock’s greatest robbery.”
In July of 1973, one of the greatest robberies in the history of rock ‘n’ roll took place as $203,000 went missing from Led Zeppelin’s safe deposit box at the Drake Hotel in New York City following a series of three sold out shows at Madison Square Garden. Jason Burhmester’s Black Dogs offers us a fictional take on what may have gone down on that famous night. The story follows a group of four deadbeat teens from Baltimore, Maryland including the main character, Patrick Sullivan, and his gang of criminal friends, Keith, Frenchy, and Alex as they plan and carry out this famous heist.

Patrick, who had recently left his life of crime behind to move to New York City to work as a caterer, becomes the ring leader of the operation after he learns that Led Zeppelin is paid in cash following each of their shows. Being an avid hater of the band, stealing that cash seems like the perfect idea to resurrect him in the eyes of his friends who he had left behind after their most recent failed robbery attempt landed Alex in jail. As soon as Alex’s uncle Danny gets involved in the matter however, things start to get a lot more complicated for the crew. While robbing the local pawnshop of their prized ’58 Les Paul, Danny decides it would be a good idea to steal a safe out of the back room. As it turns out, the safe is a very important possession to the owner of the pawn shop who is also the leader of a notorious local biker gang. Conflict quickly erupts following the theft of the safe as the owner, Backwoods Billy, tracks down the boys and demands that it be promptly returned to his possession. What would seem like a simple choice to just return the safe becomes more and more complicated though as the local district attorney learns of its theft and shows a strong interest in retrieving its contents. As the day of the heist approaches, the boys continue along with their plan despite the extreme conflict surrounding them, but just as in their other heists, nothing ever goes according to plan.

The writing style used in Black Dogs is a very simple, laid back, and easy to read tone and the dialogue between characters is what most people would expect from a group of teenagers with its frequent use of profane language, violence, and sexual content. Overall the book is a quick and easy read at only 250 pages, and the constant action from page 1 will keep readers locked in until the conclusion. Burhmester’s premier novel will not likely be taking home any literary prizes, but it will serve as great entertainment for a weekend on the beach or for any Led Zeppelin fan who wants to put a story behind the heist that occurred on that famous night in 1973.