Cracking the Cases!

McOmie, Dave.  Safecracker: A Chronicle of the Coolest Job in the World.  Guilford, CN: Lyons 

            Press, 2021.  ISBN: 9781493058518

What did you want to be when you grew up?  Firefighter?  Cowboy?  Indian chief?  Or maybe a chef or a sports star?  But did you know that you could be a professional safecracker?  Well, that is what Dave McOmie became and this is his story!

Dave McOmie tells the story of his career over the course of a week.  Starting with a flight to Vegas on Monday to open a major bank's private currency center because the bankers has overwound the timelock.  And it needed to be done by midnight!  While taking the reader along on this thrill ride, Dave reveals how he got into this business.  Tuesday involved opening an ATM at a theater in full view of the public plus a discussion of professional ethics and the challenge of opening safes.  Wednesday involves a chartered flight to open two gun safes for a widow and the Department of Defense followed a return home for supper.  During the course of the day, he gets a couple of jobs for Thursday and a job for Sunday while discussing the merits of various gun safes.  Thursday involves opening the Portland Air National Guard armory vault with an interesting side-bit on government procurement in regard to safes and vaults.  Friday comes with a fully automatic bank vault to open in Salt Lake City with the need to return home for a daughter's dance recital.   Unlike Vegas, he has plenty of drill bits this time!  Saturday has Dave spending time at home and reminiscing about old jobs, the journal he writes,and the Penetration Parties he hosts.  Sunday involves a flight to Paisley Park, Minnesota to open a Mosler vault after the owner has died.  This opening has a big crowd of lawyers, bankers, and an archivist as well as DEA agents.  And of course this opening would be filmed.  Dave manages to get the safe open in the end only to have a smaller safe he needed to open inside the vault.  

When a reader cracks open a biography, you can never be sure what you will find in side.  In Safecracker, the reader gets a glimpse into a job most people will never experience in a lively, entertaining read!