“HOLD-UP is a marriage of two types of cautionary memoir, the addict’s tale and the criminal’s professional reminiscences. Its ancestors include such worthy tomes as You Can’t Win by Jack Black, Where the Money Was by Willie Sutton, The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll and Life Plus 99 Years by Nathan Leopold. In fiction, William Burroughs’s Junky, William Fogle’s Drugstore Cowboy and Charles Fischer’s (sadly out-of-print) Trips cover similar ground. Hold-Up sits comfortably on the shelf in such worthy company. It stands out on its own merits, however, thanks to its author’s sharp, vivid voice and unsentimental view of both his addiction and his erstwhile career. There’s genuine grief at the loss of a number of friends and running companions, but no self-pity, and no happy ending, either; the only indication in the book of O’Neil’s eventual sobriety is the fact that he lived to write the thing down, and beautifully at that. And for that we can only be grateful.”
––Scott Phillips, author of THE ICE HARVEST

“There aren’t many books that when you finish them leave you silent and unable to reenter the world for a while—and Patrick O’Neil’s HOLD-UP is one of them. This is a life recorded that no one in their right mind would want—but it’s a sharp and precise look back by someone now in his right mind trying to make sense of a past that went well off its rails. HOLD-UP grabs the reader from page one and doesn’t let up until you’ve turned the last page and are left moved, disturbed and a little out of breath.”
––Rob Roberge, author of THE COST OF LIVING

“Patrick was a roadie for Dead Kennedys and road manager for Flipper, one of the best punk bands of the San Francisco Bay Area. He was a roadie, but mostly he was an addict. Fifteen years later, he’s robbing banks and supermarkets, surviving overdoses, and playing Sid & Nancy with his girlfriend Jenny… Patrick O’Neil recounts this long journey punctuated by lightning discharges of adrenaline. A nightmare-like creepy thriller: his life. Brutal!”
–– ROLLING STONE

REVIEWS for HOLD-UP

“Hold-Up (Patrick O’Neil)” Le passe-temps, November (2013)
“Patrick O’Neil/Hold-Up” Eireann Yvon, September (2013)
“Patrick O’Neil Hold-Up” rockart-titude, (2013)
“O’NEIL & O’NEILL, JUMEAUX DE DÉFONCE” La revue 813, Numéro 116, Juillet (2013)
“13e Note Editions/Hold-Up du Patrick O’Neil” CARNETS DU LIBRAIRE, Mai (2013)
“Noir-c-noir 585 HOLD-UP Patrick O’Neil, 13e NOTE EDITIONS” Radio PFM 99.9, Mai (2013)
“Meurtres, braquages, hérone et rock’n’roll : le cocktail polar qui tue ! La sélection noire de Philippe Blanchet” ROLLING STONE France, Mai (2013)
“Si vous restez de marbre c’est que vous êtes déjà mort” librarie passages, Avril (2013)
“Hold-Up – Patrick O’Neil” LES BUVEURS D’NCRE, Avril (2013)
“Hold-up de Patrick O’Neil, et pour quelques grammes de plus” Fnac.com, Mars (2013)
“LE CHOIX DE CHRISTOPHE DUPUIS” La Tete en Noir, N^o161, Mars/Avril (2013)