In 1966, Ken Leishman stepped onto the Winnipeg Airport tarmac and into the pages of Canadian history as the mastermind behind the country's largest gold theft. Known as the "flying bandit" or the "gentleman bandit," Leishman had already gained Dillingeresque notoriety as a bank robber when he stole the public's imagination with his last great exploit: brazenly - and politely- holding up a bank in Toronto.

Regarded as a Robin Hood-like figure at the height of his exploits, Leishman had humble beginnings in Holland, Manitoba. Master storyteller Wayne Tefs imagines what happened behind the "Flying Bandit" headlines, intermingling the full-on action of the gold heist with the story of a smart but troubled kid growing up in a stifling small prairie town. Raised by ultra-strict grandparents, young Ken thrived on Bowery Boys, Gary Cooper and James Cagney movies. As a married man and father of seven, Tefs' Leishman dreams of greatness, and a good life for his family free from poverty and worry. Even as he plots the greatest caper in Canadian history, he is guilt ridden and conflicted about his wife's tears and his failed promises to go straight.

Once again, Tefs presents a fictionalized version of a tremendous true story. Readers will be hard-pressed to judge the life of this "gentleman bandit" and Canadian folk hero who dared to fly far out of bounds.

Wayne Tefs was born in Winnipeg and grew up in northwestern Ontario. He has edited a number of anthologies and published nine novels and a work of non-fiction. His novel Moon Lake received the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction in 2000 and his novel Be Wolf won the 2007 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award. He lives in Winnipeg with his wife and son.

Wayne Tefs' profile page

• Short-listed, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction
• Runner-up, Manitoba Reads
• Short-listed, McNally Robinson Book of the Year

Bandit is a masterful portrait of a complex human being and of his time. It's also a powerful reminder that no place is beyond the reach of myth, and that any place, no matter how self-doubting, can and will mirror myth in its own way.

Tefs paints masterful portrait of 'Flying Bandit' (Review Excerpt)

Reading Bandit does more than revive a lot of large headlines and any personal memories readers might have: Tefs's compelling portrait of Leishman (a faithful married man and father of seven) raises awkward questions about the misjudgments anyone can make in pursuit of the Canadian Dream...

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