Hell's Angels: Three Can Keep a Secret If Two Are Dead' [Paperback]

Y. Lavigne (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A reporter for the Toronto Globe and Mail here examines the history and status quo of various groups of bikers (Hell's Angels are the best known) currently active in the U.S. and Canada. Lavigne describes--in overtly sensationalistic fashion--the media sensationalism that surrounds (and for a time succored) outlaw bikers, alleging that present-day gangs (Hell's Angels, Outlaws, Pagans, Bandidos) rival, and even surpass, traditional organized crime mobs in terms of revenues, organization and ruthlessness. While certain sections of the book (deep history, inter-gang feuding, an in-depth portrayal of the multiple execution of five Montreal Hell's Angels in 1985) do illuminate a relatively inaccessible subculture, the bulk of the volume is an amalgam of turgid prose, luridly violent anecdote and speculative, hyperbolic hypothesis. An assessment of bikers' attitudes toward women is couched in grossly offensive language, while a litany of security systems and weapons arsenals of gang-chapter clubhouses is merely boring.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Lyle Stuart; Carol Publishing Group ed edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0818405147
• ISBN-13: 978-0818405143
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Crime & Criminals  > Gangs

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Three can read the book if two can stay awake, October 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hell's Angels: Three Can Keep a Secret If Two Are Dead' (Paperback)

This book is poorly written. While the information is interesting, it is dated and extremely hard to follow at times. It reads like a rough draft of ideas. The information in the book is very out of date to say the least. If all one wants to do is look into the history of the club, this might be a good book if it were written with more professionalism. The way that it is written now, it has few redeeming qualities. One would have to read certain pages several times to try and understand what the author was trying to convey. Over all, it is dated and very difficult to follow even for a biker who understands what the author is writing about.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Lavigne's Wild Ride, February 9, 2002

By 

Charlie Arabella "charlie_arabella" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hell's Angels: Three Can Keep a Secret If Two Are Dead' (Paperback)

This book was recommended to me by a CHP officer as a good resource for MC clubs' criminal history. If this is what passes for a good resource, I'd say the MC Gang-True Crime genre is ripe for a real history written by a real life honest to goodness writer.

After finishing this book, initiation in the Hell's Angels almost looks refreshing. First the good: it held interest, was a fast read, and had interesting 'facts' (the reader has to assume this is either true or not, as the author doesn't cite any specific text except, apparently, what he read in the newspapers).

However, I have to wonder if it held interest because of how awfully it was written, thus affecting a sort of voyeuristic "Where is he going with this?" kind of feeling. As to it being a fast read, I can't really account for this, as it often felt as though the whole book was the same first-draft page reprinted 339 times and shipped to the book store.

I don't know if Lavigne was going for his own 'style' here or not, a la Hemingway. What I do know is that writing a history of anything written entirely in present tense is enough to make me want to stop shaving and bathing and beat people up as I ride around on a bike trying to forget the whole experience. When did this brilliant idea surface? It's very irritating and the book suffers tremendously for it.

Also, I'm not sure anyone, including the author, reread or edited this book beyond the first draft. It seems like every 3,4,5 pages some bit of information is repeated as though it was a new thought. Very often this repetition is almost a complete letter-for-letter copy of a previous paragraph.

And another thing: could Lavigne compare MORE things to genitalia? Jeez, it's like he writes sentences around some 8th grader playground vocabulary in a way he just MUST have thought a tough guy would talk. You just start feeling embarrassed for him after awhile.

Although Lavigne claims to dislike motorcycle gangs and ostensibly writes this book to 'expose' them, he writes as though he was some Hell's Angels rejected prospect who writes a poison pen book to get back at those mean guys, but down deep he still pines away for them.

Messy, unsubstantiated (though probably mostly true), overwrought, reaching, ultimately a disappointment. This is the book that, in getting published as is, makes struggling writers who are ten times better bang their heads on the walls in frustration.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Strange, disconnected and confusing, November 24, 2001

By 

Thomas S Roche (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hell's Angels: Three Can Keep a Secret If Two Are Dead' (Paperback)

But still interesting. I'm an organized crime book junkie, so I loved much of the information in this, but it's told in such a weird, disconnected style that I wasn't sure what the point was. The author's opinion seems to be that the Hell's Angels are very naughty people and we should all be very scared of them, but I didn't get the sense that there was much of a point to the book beyond that. The main thing that works against Lavigne is that he jumps around so randomly in time that he'll be telling you about 1974 in one paragraph (in present tense) and then the next paragraph will be about 1984, with absolutely no transition. Reads like it was written by a guy on his fourth week of a bender on bad biker speed. He also rarely cites sources -- what are these, court documents? Confidential informants? Who the heck knows. Even so, the information is interesting, especially if you're a crime junkie. If you're looking for a book that makes much sense, though, look elsewhere.