Rocketbelt quest led to murder; quest to build a Buck Rogers-style flying rocketbelt led to assault, kidnapping and murder, reveals new book The Rocketbelt Caper

An obsessive quest to build a real-life Buck Rogers-style flying machine called a rocketbelt led to theft, deception, assault, a bizarre kidnapping, a ten million dollar lawsuit and a horrifically brutal murder, reveals a new book.

The Rocketbelt Caper by Paul Brown (ISBN 9780955218378) tells the incredible true story of the Rocketbelt 2000, a jetpack-type device built by friends Brad Barker, Larry Stanley and Joe Wright in Texas in the 1990s. The friends successfully completed and flew the rocketbelt, but then became embroiled in a feud. The Rocketbelt 2000 was stolen, Barker was kidnapped, Stanley was attacked with a hammer, and Wright was tragically murdered. Brown's book tells of the search for the rocketbelt and the investigation into Wright's murder.

'Probably the least amazing thing about this story is that these guys succeeded in building and flying their rocketbelt,' says Paul Brown. 'What happens next is one of the strangest true stories I've ever come across, and I was compelled to find out more and write the book.'

In the book Brown also reveals the real history of the rocketbelt device, originally developed by the Nazis during World War II, and then tested for the US Army in the 1960s.

'I was fascinated to learn that rocketbelts were real and not just a movie or television prop,' says Brown. 'The book reveals that people all over the world are continuing to build rocketbelts - maybe one day we'll all have one!'

A movie based on the Rocketbelt 2000 story, Pretty Bird starring Paul Giamatti (Sideways) and Billy Crudup (Almost Famous), will be released in 2008.

The Rocketbelt Caper by Paul Brown (ISBN 9780955218378) is published by Tonto Press and is available from all good book shops including Amazon worldwide, priced UK £8.99.

Further details, photos and videos can be found on the website: www.rocketbeltcaper.co.uk


The Rocketbelt Caper
by Paul Brown
Release date: October 2007
Published by Tonto Press
RRP: £8.99 ISBN: 9780955218378
Format: Paperback, 224 pages + 16 colour photo pages
Tonto Press books are available from all good bookshops