If a Coen Brothers Film was set in Budapest just after the fall of Communism, and starred a drunken semi-pro Romanian hockey goalie turned high-rolling pelt smuggling ladies man, then you would have incredible true story behind ‘Ballad of the Whiskey Robber.’
Julian Rubinstein’s book follows the exploits of Attila Ambrus, a young man whose hard luck upbringing leads him to an unorthodox career. After fleeing his native Romania with a record of juvenile crimes trailing right behind him, Ambrus tries to make a go of it in Budapest walking the straight and narrow path. Unfortunately for him, post-communist Hungary makes that all but impossible. Jobs are scarce and all the money seems to be flowing into the hands of corrupt politicians, mafia bosses, and those who make deals happen between the two.
Working as the janitor for the semi-professional hockey team for which he also serves a back-up goalie isn’t making ends meet and Attila feels that life should be more than leaky pipes and smelly jockstraps. This all pushes him towards something he is truly good at: robbing banks.
Every character in ‘Ballad of the Whiskey Robber’ springs from the page fully formed, forging an image of them in your head, forcing you to cast them with a beloved character actor after just a sentence or two of description. Even the minor characters have wild quirks (a cop who comes to work in a top hat and tails, a paramour who owns a carwash, a game show host who ends up in prison) that enhance Attila’s wild ride.
As for Attila himself, he is the perfect leading man straight out of the prestige TV playbook. He is brooding yet charming, a generous man and a drunken lout. He has delusions of grandeur but keeps getting his own way, messing up every non-criminal life raft that life throws his way as he gets in deeper at every turn.
For all of the retread, paint by numbers crime stories out there in print, on TV, and on podcasts these days, ‘Ballad of the Whiskey Robber’ offers one story you definitely haven’t read before. And with the backdrop of desperate economic circumstances in the beautiful rubble of capitalist Hungary at the turn of the 21st century, there is deep humanity that underpins the madcap hijinx of this thoroughly wonderful book.
- Goodreads rating – 4.01
- SUMMARY – Brenden Gallagher