Speed Trap: Eighty Robberies and Fifty Years - Softcover

Bill Allen earned wisdom the hardest way imaginable, by breaking many of the cardinal rules of civil society. His reporting is honest and sometimes staggering. The writing is cinematographically frank. It could not be more visual. What will happen when the robberies mount up, the trail of broken promises and lost jobs overtakes a kid who just wants to have fun? His life story makes for compelling reading. Having spent more than half of his lifetime in prison for a string of drugstore holdups, Bill Allen has had time to consider the decisions of his early life. In these pages, he tells of the highs of his young adult rampage and reports the dull drudgery his early excesses earned him. Now a free man, Allen often speaks to young people, offering the benefit of his experience.

An Intimate Self-Portrait of a Spectacular Rule-Breaker

“Sometimes frightening, always amazingly candid, and ultimately redeeming.”
– Richard, Recovery Counselor, Illinois

“Part nihilistic road memoir, part reality therapy, and entirely vivid.”
– Dee, Recovery Counselor, California

“A book that could change lives, Speed Trap is one of the most powerful stories I have ever read.”
– David Norwood, Sheriff, Ouachita County, Arkansas

“Speed Trap is a powerful and compelling true-life story which will positively impact many lives. Allen shows how drugs destroyed the good part of a very talented man’s life and hopefully will cause its readers to stay out of the trap of ‘speed’ and avoid a long prison sentence from the likes of me.”
– David G. Scott, CFA, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, 13th Judicial District, Arkansas