Showing results by author "Stu Armstrong" in All Categories

Strap in for a high-octane dive into the dangerous world of Britain’s most feared and ruthless armed robbers. Notorious, Volume 2: Armed Robbers explodes with the true stories of the criminal masterminds, violent blaggers, and street-level soldiers who took on banks, payroll vans, jewellers and the Flying Squad itself.

Trevor Malloy is just your average dead-inside council admin from the crumbling northern town of Smackleton—single, depressed, and one Greggs sausage roll away from a breakdown. Then one night, he smokes crack. Now he’s hurtling face-first into the seedy underbelly of small-town Britain: from pimping his girlfriend out of a stolen ice cream van to launching a crypto-dogging empire called DoggChain. Along the way, he botches robberies, runs a cactus porn studio in a garden centre, sells fake funerals to real pensioners, and starts an OnlyFans agency for people with extremely niche fetishes.

In the early hours of a September morning, one of Britain’s most beloved natural landmarks, the iconic Sycamore Gap tree, was deliberately and coldly felled. The world-famous tree, nestled beside Hadrian’s Wall in the heart of Northumberland, had stood for centuries as a symbol of serenity, history, and connection. Its loss sent shockwaves through the public, igniting anger, sorrow, and an urgent call for justice. This book tells the full, unflinching story behind that shocking act.

Based on real events, The Pressure Cooker Bomber is a chilling, fictionalized retelling of a true crime story that shook a nation. It delves into the psychological and social forces that drive extremism while providing an unflinching look at the aftermath—for victims, for families, and even for those who perpetrate such acts.

Trevor’s back on the streets and this time, he’s not just on crack… he’s on spice. After serving a slapstick 18-month sentence (of which he served only 12 for “good-ish behaviour”), Trevor reunites with Chanelle his pipe-smoking partner-in-crime and sometime prostitute, sometime businesswoman — outside prison. They return to their spiritual home: Wetherspoons, where £1.99 can still buy you a pint and a sense of delusion. But things have changed. Trevor’s got a new addiction. Chanelle’s got new ideas. And Britain’s most dysfunctional couple are about to unleash hell all over again.

Step inside the minds of the most cold-blooded murderers in British history. In Volume 1 of the Notorious series, acclaimed true crime author Stu Armstrong brings you face-to-face with the UK’s most infamous killers—men and women whose crimes shook the nation and left trails of horror, grief, and unanswered questions in their wake.

Osman Warning is a gripping, thought-provoking book that explores the chilling consequences of a threat to life and the ripple effect it has on an ordinary family. Inspired by the real-life case of the Osman family, this fictionalized account follows the journey of Yasmin and Ali Osman as they struggle to protect themselves and their loved ones from a seemingly unstoppable danger. As the family grapples with mounting fear, paranoia, and a shattered sense of safety, they must rely on each other and the support of their community.

Ever since the 1950s, through its heyday of the '70s & '80s, the Spanish Costas and Islands have been synonymous with figures from the British Underworld. Some on the run, some just for sun and fun, Spain has been magnetic to British criminals.

Narco—what exactly does the word mean? Originally, narco was simply short for narcotics, but since President Reagan's "War on Drugs" in the 1980s, a narco is the word adopted by the Drug Enforcement Agency and is simply referred to a person who traffics or deals in illegal narcotics. Since the Netflix series, the word has slipped not only into popular culture but also the dictionary, very often thought of as the billionaire cartel bosses of South America such as Mexico's El Chapo of the Sinaloa Cartel, and perhaps the most famous of all, Columbia Medellin Cartel boss Pablo Escobar.

Mary Bell’s name to this day is infamous in Newcastle upon Tyne. Aged only 11 in 1968, she murdered two young boys, one aged three and one aged four, in Scotswood, an area of the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne. In both instances, Mary Bell told the victim that he had a sore throat, which she would massage to make them better before her hands became tighter when she would strangle them to death.

The Diaries of a Doorman Volume 3 - Bouncing in the Sun is set in the Canary Islands back in the 1990s where Stu worked and lived in the murky world of Doormen. This was a time and a place where the line between bouncer and villain was often blurred.

This is the story of the legend of unlicensed boxing in England, growing up to follow in the footsteps of his murdered father, going into the fight game. A journey from a boy to a true fighting man, out to avenge the murder of his father, and literally fighting for not only his life, but the lives of his family. Full of twists and turns at every point, based on the true story of a legend of unlicensed boxing, and a true fighting man.

The 2010 Northumbria Police manhunt was the biggest ever police operation in Britain. It was conducted across Tyne and Wear and Northumberland with the objective of apprehending fugitive Raoul Moat, the former Newcastle nightclub bouncer who had just been released from Durham jail. After killing one person and wounding two others in a two-day shooting spree in July 2010, the 37-year-old went on the run for nearly a week. The manhunt concluded when Moat committed suicide, having shot himself in the town of Rothbury, Northumberland, following a six-hour standoff with armed police.

Doormen & Divas is the fourth and final book in Stu Armstrong’s highly successful The Diaries of a Doorman series of books. Once again, Armstrong is back with his unique and humorous writing style as he recalls more tales from his life as a bouncer. Gritty, truthful, funny, sad, tragic, and bizarre stories are recounted by Armstrong that will have you gripping the edge of your seat one minute and fall off of it laughing the next. As a doorman for over 20 years, Stu has seen a lot - maybe too much!

A collection of true short stories based on the years that I have worked on the doors in the UK and abroad. This book is a real insight into the funny, tragic, and completely bizarre people and experiences encountered by a doorman.

Back by popular demand as the next installment of The Diaries of a Doorman series of books, Bouncers & Bravado is a further collection of true short stories based on the years that Armstrong has worked the doors in the UK and abroad. This book is another real insight into the funny, tragic, and completely bizarre people and experiences encountered by a doorman. Yes, maybe there is a bit of artistic license in there, but only a bit. Names have been changed to protect the innocent and the guilty!

Bare-knuckle boxing is now a sport in its own right, after emerging from the shadows over the last decade in the UK, and now stateside in the USA. Bare-knuckle boxing is now the world's fastest growing combat sport. But the purest form of pugilism has its critics, and many of them all quote the same things: “It's brutal." "It’s dangerous." "It's illegal.” And each of those statements is totally incorrect! Find out exactly why bare-knuckle boxing is medically proven to be safer than gloved boxing.

For the first time, the lid is lifted on the world's fastest growing combat sport, Bare Knuckle Boxing, written by Stu Armstrong, who has worked in the centre of the sometimes controversial sport. The purest form of pugilism is a nest of vipers with of the most with dirty tricks, and secrets at every turn.

Martin Keane thought the worst was behind him. A reformed man with a steady job, a loving partner, and a young son, he had left behind the reckless violence of his past. But when a relentless online troll begins tormenting his family, the facade of normal life begins to crack. At first, it's just cruel words on a screen. Then it escalates—threats, humiliation, and psychological warfare pushing Martin to his breaking point.

In Clubs and Cartels, Jake “Brick” Donnelly, a hardened nightclub bouncer and former bare-knuckle fighter, finds himself thrust into a violent underworld he’s long tried to avoid. Haunted by his brutal past and spiraling into cocaine addiction to numb his demons, Jake's life unravels as he becomes entangled with Tony Farah, a notorious local crime kingpin controlling the city’s underbelly.