title: The Gang They Couldn't Catch: The Story of America's Greatest Modern-Day Bank Robbers-And How They Got Away With It
author:  Debra Weyermann 
description: In her impressive true-crime story, Weyermann, a former reporter for the Arizona Daily Star , writes less about crime than about people. Focusing on David Grandstaff, she leaves little doubt that he was the mastermind among the three men who robbed the Valley National Bank depository in Tucson in 1981, hauling away more than $3 million. Grandstaff, whom she interviewed, emerges as an exceptionally intelligent man from an impoverished Des Moines, Iowa, background, who--like his fellow gang members, called "The Boys"--never had the opportunity to develop his abilities. Arrested for the first time when he was 12, Grandstaff became a career criminal. He, his friends and his lawyers are interesting players in this absorbing drama that culminates with a jury that would not convict The Boys for the Valley National Bank heist on the basis of dubious evidence. Grandstaff now works as a painting contractor in Des Moines. Photos not seen by PW. <br />Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  # 1
  
  
  THE WAY THE BANK teller shrunk back in fear captured everything.
  
  
  After all, Jamie Sorenson was a villain.
  
  
  Not just a villain. He was the Mind Robber. And he _terrified_ the people of
  San Delgado. The mere whisper of his name summoned panic, and when he
  incapacitated security guards with a brain-stun (his own term, which he
  thought was quite cool), that panic made robbing a bank as easy as handing
  over a bag—or in this case, planting a backpack on the counter.
  
  
  “Tell me, who do you love in your life? Husband? Boyfriend?” Jamie reminded
  himself to not assume. “Girlfriend? Child? Parents? _Who are they?_ ” he
  asked. He put a hand up, then dramatically turned one finger toward the bank
  teller. Her eyes widened, clearly aware of the modus operandi documented last
  year in the _San Delgado Times_ : a front-page feature breaking down his
  robberies and “extraordinary ability to stun people into a frozen stupor or
  worse, blank the memories of witnesses.” They’d even given him the n