11 MINUTES

A gripping crime novel based on Melbourne’s most notorious unsolved heist — written by the brother of one of the men involved.

On 21 April 1976, six masked men stormed Melbourne's Victoria Club. In eleven minutes, they disappeared with the equivalent of $80 million in today’s money.
No one was convicted.
The money was never recovered.
But within ten years, every man connected to the robbery was dead.

11 MINUTES blends the precision of true crime with the tension of noir fiction as it follows Ray “Chuck” Bennett and Ian Carroll — two men shaped by the brutality of the Painters and Dockers Waterfront Wars — into a world of organised crime, corrupt cops, and violent retribution. What begins as a perfect heist becomes a slow, unavoidable descent into paranoia, betrayal, and the collapse of brotherhood.

Written by Gregory M. Carroll, whose brother was one of the real-life crew, this novel offers a rare insider’s view into the psychology of Melbourne’s underworld during the 1970s. It asks the question history never answered: What destroys a criminal empire from the inside?

A fast-moving, atmospheric thriller for readers of Australian noir, organised crime stories, and historical mysteries.

PRAISE FOR 11 MINUTES:

Featured in The Age by Senior Crime Reporter John Silvester.

"A cracking read and a cunning blend of inside information, fact and imagination." - The Age newspaper (John Silvester, 6-Dec-2025)

"Brilliantly written and impossible to put down. Fast-paced, authentic, and gripping from the first page." - Readers' Favorite (Alma Boucher, ★★★★★)

"A bold, honest, and haunting story - a masterful blend of suspense, history, and personal reckoning." - Goodreads (Katrina Martin, ★★★★★)