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True Crime Organized Crime

Hard Road

Bernie Guindon and the Reign of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club

by (author) Peter Edwards

Publisher
Random House of Canada
Initial publish date
Feb 2018
Category
Organized Crime, Criminology, Criminals & Outlaws
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780345816092
    Publish Date
    Feb 2018
    List Price
    $19.95

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Description

The spiritual godfather of Canadian bikers tells the story of his fascinating life.

You could call Bernie Guindon the Sonny Barger of Canadian bikers (but not to his face). The founder of Satan's Choice, Guindon led what was in the 1960s the second-largest biker club in the world (after the Hells Angels, which Bernie would join briefly in the early 2000s) to national prominence and international infamy. His life wasn't all bikes and crime. He was also a medalist in boxing for Canada at the Pan Am Games. That tension between the very rough life he was born into and the possibility for success in the straight world (and how aspirations in each fed his success in the other) layer Guindon's story, one of the great untold stories in biker history. Friends from the biker world and Guindon's family have given extensive interviews for Hard Road, including his son, Harley, a convict and outlaw biker himself.

About the author

PETER EDWARDS, crime reporter for the Toronto Star, is the author of ten books, including the highly praised One Dead Indian: The Premier, the Police and the Ipperwash Crisis. Edwards has been nominated four times for the Arthur Ellis Award and has been interviewed about organized crime forthe Mob Stories and Outlaw Biker series for History Television. A two-hour History Television documentary on The Bandido Massacre is currently in development. Edwards works in Toronto. Visit www.bandidomassacre.com.

Peter Edwards' profile page

Editorial Reviews

Hard Road pulses with action and takes you deep inside the realm of outlaw biker gangs. Peter Edwards is a master guide with an eye for detail and the breadth of knowledge to explain the underworld like no one else.” —Joe Friesen, bestselling author of The Ballad of Danny Wolfe

Hard Road is a full throttle ride in the fast lane. Peter Edwards accurately chronicles the history of outlaw motorcycle clubs in Canada.” —Ed Winterhalder, former Bandido and author of Out in Bad Standings

PRAISE FOR BUSINESS OR BLOOD:

“Could possibly be one of the best reads of the 2015 mafia books . . . offers a seldom seen look into the Montreal mafia and the Rizzuto crime family.” —About The Mafia

“The Rizzuto family story . . . seems like the perfect plot for another The Godfather film.” —Justine Lewkowicz, NewsTalk1010.com
“You may be astonished at how much money, power and influence the real-life Rizzuto family of Montreal amassed and how it all came so violently tumbling down.” —CBC (copy for an episode of The Current)

“Edwards and Nicaso do a fine job of connecting the dots of criminal enterprises spanning several decades in numerous countries and including various ethno-cultural groups. . . . The authors have done exhaustive research to provide readers with the necessary background regarding organized crime in Quebec, eastern Ontario, Italy and the U.S. Their research includes information that could only be gleaned from those close to the action. . . . In Business or Blood, fans of the true-crime genre have a comprehensive telling of a recent, bloody chapter of Canadian organized-crime history. It explores the reasons mass bloodlettings take place and the repercussions for organized crime and society.” —Winnipeg Free Press

PRAISE FOR PETER EDWARDS:

“Peter Edwards knows how real bad guys eat, sleep and breathe, and on the page brings them to life—even the dead ones—better than any other true crime writer.” —Linwood Barclay, international bestselling author

“Peter Edwards is one of the best crime writers in Canada.” —Michel Auger, author of The Biker Who Shot Me: Reflections of a Crime Reporter

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