They'll Never Hold Me

In 1959, Australians thrilled to every move made by a new criminal underdog, a Ned Kelly for the rock'n'roll era.
Kevin John Simmonds was a charismatic crook whose brazen crime spree had scored him a lengthy prison sentence. But as he was led from court, he boasted, 'They'll never hold me.'
Two months later, Simmo made good on his promise, staging a daring escape from Long Bay Gaol. When his bid for freedom took a deadly turn, legendary Detective Ray 'the Gunner' Kelly took charge of the search, putting the fugitive in the crosshairs of the biggest armed manhunt in Australian history.
They'll Never Hold Me is the true story of an antihero with a code of honour who captured the public's hearts and minds even as he enraged the cops and the establishment. Brilliantly researched and written by Michael Adams, of the Forgotten Australia podcast, this never-before-told tale takes us beyond the public adventures that made Simmo into Public Enemy No. 1 to reveal the haunting tragedies he was trying to outrun - and the terrible fate that even he might not escape.

'I highly recommend this book and anything else written by this first-rate investigator'. - Independent Australia

'It is a tale that captivated the audience of its time and still has the power to do so today'. - Good Reading

Michael Adams has been a magazine journalist and editor, his work appearing in the likes of Rolling Stone, Empire and Men's Style, as well as a television scriptwriter, producer and presenter, on shows as diverse as MasterChef, Travel Guides, Aussie Inventions That Changed the World and The Movie Show. He is the author of ten novels for children and young adults. His nonfiction works include Australia's Sweetheart, Hanging Ned Kelly and The Murder Squad, which was shortlisted for the 2024 Ned Kelly Award in the True Crime category. Michael is the creator and host of the podcast Forgotten Australia, which has racked up more than six million episode downloads since 2018. He is also the author of the memoir Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies: A Film Critic's Year-Long Quest to Find the Worst Movie Ever Made - but that's a different story.

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