Whether you loved him or thought he was just 'a toothless monster without a social conscience', by the time he died in October 2013, everyone knew who Chopper Read was - or thought they did . . .Mark 'Chopper' Read was Australia's most popular notorious criminal. Read's fame spread in the 1990s with the success of his 11 semi-autobiographical novels, and he was immortalised in 2000 by Eric Bana's portrayal of him in the movie Chopper, a box-office and critical success. At various times, Read claimed to be involved in the killing of 19 people and the attempted murder of 11 others. In an April 2013 interview with the New York Times, Read revised the number to 'probably about four or seven, depending on how you look at it'.Bestselling author and investigative journalist Adam Shand leaves no stone unturned in his quest to find out what is real and what was manufactured by Chopper for the sake of a good story. Using police and prison records and interviews with those who were close to him, behind bars and outside, Shand unearths curious inconsistencies and bigger reveals. Now Chopper is dead, people are willing to talk on record.Shand immerses himself in the story, meeting an intriguing cast of Chopper's support acts along the way. He examines how Chopper built himself into a legend and inhabited the persona he create - so that for him, the truth was simply irrelevant.