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“Dick Pound is probably best known to Canadians as the
former vice-president of the International Olym
crusading head of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He also finds the time to serve
as chancellor of McGill University
and as a partner in a law firm. And now he has managed to write a new book –
one that has little to do with any of those presumably time-consuming pursuits.
a true-crime tale with a heavy emphasis on the legal details of the case, is
about a 1976 Calgary bank ro
police officer and then a hostage-taking. In the first part of the book, Pound
quite ably depicts the crime with a keen eye for detail, noting, for example,
that the first reporter to reach the hostages by phone was future Alberta
Premier Ralph Klein.
when they carried out all aspects of the crimes. At question, in the trial –
and, to a lesser extent, in Pound’s book – is Gamble’s specific role in those
crimes and whether or not she knew what her husband and his old jail buddy had
in mind. A Calgary jury convicted
her of murder, and that verdict sets off the last half of the book, which
focuses on the various legal efforts to free Gamble from the Kingston Prison
for Women.
his connection ot the story is through a friend, Colin Irving, who became
interested in the case after watching an episode of The Fifth Estate. The chapters detailing how Irving used the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to argue for Gamble’s release aren’t
nearly as compelling or as entertaining as the depiction of the crime itself.
But Pound does his best to break up the long law-heavy stretches by inserting often-touching
correspondence between the lawyer and his client.
the End, Pound neatly balances complex legal proceedings, Gamble’s
compelling personal story, and a shocking true crime tale. It is this mix, as
well as Pound’s fondness for quirky details, that make the book a worthy read
for fans of the genre.”
– Dan Rowe
When I first read this book, it had become a nothing but a memory…then it all came back..the call, the pick up, the creepy, hair raising ride, staring down the barrel of a cocked gun, the words ” let’s go..I just killed a cop”..and I remember Janice..A sad end to tragic life of all those young people that time…. The Cab Driver..