The Fat Mexican: The Bloody Rise Of The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, by Alex Caine

The one-percenters are the ones to watch out for. According to Alex Caine, author of the book The Fat Mexican, the Bandidos Motorcycle Club considers themselves part of the 1%, even having a patch in a diamond shape to signify themselves as one-percenters. 99% of motorcyclists, the Bandidos Club says, are law-abiding and 1% are not. The Bandidos, as part of the 1%, no longer consider themselves a part of society. The social contract is not their contract.

I’ve always been fascinated by these so called, “one-percenters,” not just in the biker world, but in the world as a whole. Crime in general fascinates me. Maybe that’s why I end up writing about it. Alex Caine paints his scene exceptionally well, giving first a brief history of the Bandidos, from their start in the United States, to their world wide-expansion and eventually in the 1990s, their move into Canada.

The core of the book focuses on the Canadian history of the Bandidos, from their emergence in Quebec assisting the Rock Machine club in a war against the Hells Angels and to their exit from Canada in 2007, when the remaining Bandidos patched over to the newly re-formed Rock Machine. The key event focused on is the Shedden massacre in Ontario in which eight Toronto Bandidos were killed by Winnipeg Bandidos. The details are sketchy, but the deaths appear to have been retaliation for drugs stolen from the Hells Angels by mistake.

I was intrigued by some of the vocabulary used, such as “church.” In the Bandidos’ slang “church” is a mandatory meeting of all members, not the religious service or the physical building. Also, there is the idea of being “patched-over.” This means having been part of a previous club, you join another. For example, after the 1990’s biker war in Quebec, the Rock Machine Club agreed to be patched-over. In other words, the Rock Machine Club was abolished and they became a charter of the Bandidos Club, wearing Bandidos patches. They changed gangs.

Whether you’re doing research for a new novel, like me, or just reading for pleasure, The Bloody Mexican is a thoroughly enjoyable read with plenty of fact and many uncertainties that keep you wondering.