• Age: 12
• Grade: 7

In October 1935, three Doukhobor farm boys embarked on a violent trail of robbery and murder that stretched from Manitoba to Alberta. By the time the spree ended near Banff, seven people were dead, including the fugitives and four law-enforcement officers. For the next 70 years, these "farm-boy killers" held the distinction of being the RCMP's deadliest adversaries, yet many questions about the shocking case remained unanswered. This gripping narrative reveals surprising new details about the tragic events as it chronicles the disastrous impact of the Great Depression on the young killers and the lawmen who faced them down.

British Columbia-born author Rich Mole has enjoyed an eclectic communications career, as a former broadcaster, a freelance journalist, and, for 20 years, the president of a successful Vancouver Island advertising agency. A lifelong fascination with history has fuelled his desire to write about the times and people of Canada's past. Rich now makes his home in Calgary, Alberta.

Rich Mole's profile page

The desperate conditions created from loss of farms and finances during the Great Depression are effectively evoked in this book from the Amazing Stories series. —BC Books for BC Schools

Part of the Amazing Stories series, this is a book aimed at younger readers—but honestly, it should appeal to everyone. Mole does an excellent job of setting the stage for what unfolded, describing the terrible conditions that existed on the Prairies as a result of the economic collapse and the drought that followed. —the Times Colonist

Dirty Thirties Desperadoes: Forgotten Victims of the Great Depression