Seaside —The Friends of the Seaside Library will host Anthony Curcio and Dane Batty, authors of “Heist and High,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11. The event will take place in the Community Room. Following the discussion, there will be book sales and signings.

The media called him the “Craigslist Robber” and said the heist was like “The Thomas Crown Affair.” The detective who caught Anthony Curcio noted that the robbery had all the preparation of a top-notch heist by an experienced criminal. Curcio descended from a football star with a life full of promise to an armored car robber with a hellish addiction to prescription pain pills.

The main event of this story is the Brinks armored car robbery that happened in Monroe, Washington in 2008. It was dramatized on a segment of the ABC’s “20/20.” Through an ad on Craigslist, Curcio got more than a dozen men to dress in blue landscaper’s outfits, similar to what he wore during the robbery. The extras were instructed to show up at the bank just before the Brinks truck arrived, thereby providing cover for Curcio’s get away. He made off with about $400,000 and used an inner tube in a nearby stream to make his escape. As this odd story unfolds, readers get to know the manic-depressive golden boy who took the stolen money to Las Vegas, got caught, went to prison and who finally made peace with the fact that it was his addiction to pills that caused his life to spiral out of control.

Dane Batty is the author of the true crime novel “Wanted: Gentleman Bank Robber.” Batty’s book was given to Curcio while he was in prison. Curcio was impressed with Batty’s grasp of the subject matter, which eventually led to a writing collaboration that culminated into the “Heist and High.” Batty is also the founder of Nish Publishing Company in Portland.

Seaside Public Library is located at 1131 Broadway. For more information, call 503-738-6742 or visit www.seasidelibrary.org