The introduction in the book talks about what we might understand by the term "professional criminal or crime". What images we have of a professional criminal, compared with that of a non-professional, what type of people and crimes we perceive as professional.In chapter one Bad Business gives various accounts of criminal activity, whether it be that of "The Craftsman" (Safecracker), the thief or the dealer. It looks into the world of each and gives accounts of criminals in their field of criminal activity, using a case-study approach. It allows you to look at the crime from the criminals' point of view and uses a lot of quotes from the criminals themselves. This makes the chapter a very interesting read, because it is not just speculation, but actual accounts of crimes from the people who committed them. It also explains in this chapter how a person is taught how to commit a certain crime and talks about a sort of apprenticeship, hence the chapter title "Apprentices to Dealers".
Chapter two and three go on to talk about violence in the criminal world, and looks at the life of people who are feared by others, talking about their childhood and leading up to the present day. We can see from these chapters how violence can be part of everyday life for some people, although it may be difficult for some of us to comprehend, violence can be used in this world for almost any reason, even if there is no reason. Chapter two focuses mainly on two men, Danny and Chris, who are father and son, who give accounts of their home life and the "work" they do, and how they became involved in crime. Chapter three tells the story of Jimmy and his involvement in violence throughout his life.
Chapter four looks at the life of three men in the car sales industry, one especially who "fixes up cars" in his back-street workshop, and the forecourt owners, all of which is a cover-up for a stolen car operation. It makes you aware of the fact that although they are committing crimes in the eyes of the law, they do not actually class themselves as criminals. This chapter also shows that although are criminal activities taking place, not everyone working for the "car salesmen" are fully aware, and as far as they are concerned the business is perfectly legitimate. This chapter also gives the impression that some criminals can consider themselves a celebrity, and perhaps this is true in certain cases, such as the Kray Twins. But this chapter gives an example of someone who is very keen to tell the researcher about his career and seems to like the idea of someone being interested, for research purposes, about what he does.
Bad Business lets us see how crime has changed over the years and allows us to make comparisons. There are quotations from criminals who have also noticed a change and for that reason have given up their criminal activities and have retired.
The book is an extremely lively and interesting read and keeps you wanting to find out more. You can imagine that the researcher has put himself into some extremely interesting situations, and has met some very strange characters, all of whom have made this book a varied and wonderful insight into the criminal world. It shows us that criminals are people as well, and that not all criminals are malicious or cruel, but have been shown a way to make money the best way they know how (in some cases). We also hear about the violent crimes, which, I think if you are not a violent person, you can not really understand why people commit such acts, or what they actually get out of it.
I would thoroughly recommend this book, it is a good read, but also easy to absorb, and it addresses a topic which many people are interested in for various reasons, whether it be professional or personal. We always have and always will have crime in our society, and although we may not like to think about some of the violence which goes on in the criminal world, this book addresses other issues which we forget about and brings to light the fact that crime, for some people, is a way of life and the only life they have known.