Introduction
Sociologists and psychologists are fond of drawing links between violence and sexual repression, but rarely has a work of literature dealt so thoroughly with these themes as the explosive novel you are about to read.
This is the story of a bank robbery-the behind-the-scenes story of four outlaws and their hostage. This is the story that never makes the papers. For in their concern for the protection of innocent victims, the press rarely gives us all the details of how hostages and kidnap victims are really treated at the hands of desperate criminals.
In delving into the psyche of the criminal, one cannot help but see that the same impulses that cause men to strike out at society, to vent their hatred for institutions in acts of crime and violence, are often mirrored and acted out in parallel attitudes towards women. Probing deeper, it has been theorized that repressed rage at the father is often manifested in crimes like bank robbery, where the institution, with its appearance of impenetrable strength, functions as a symbol for the male parent. In cases such as the one described in this novel, where a female hostage is taken, we can also see how resentment towards the mother's neglect may be acted out in adult life, expressed in brutal acts of sexual assault.
While it is not the function of literature to propose easy solutions, we firmly believe in its value in bringing to light subjects that many would choose to pretend did not exist.
-The Publishers