Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks

Keefe immerses the reader in the unique life circumstances of Dutch attorney Astrid Holleeder, who lives in hiding after testifying against a powerful criminal. Her situation includes elaborate safety protocols, such as seeking out “buildings with basement parking, in order to minimize her exposure during the brief transit to a bulletproof car” (24). She frequently uses disguises for her rare public sojourns. Astrid has testified against a gangster known as “The Nose”; Keefe emphasizes that her fear is rooted in personal experience: “she used to be his legal adviser […] more to the point, she is his younger sister” (25). Astrid remains tortured by her choice to turn her brother Wim Holleeder in and give evidence in his trial.

The Holleeder siblings grew up in a working-class neighborhood, and their father, an abusive man with alcoholism, worked for the Heineken brewery. Keefe notes that the Netherlands strikes many as a peaceful country, but that this stereotype obscures the prevalence of the drug trade through the country’s ports and the persistence of organized crime. Wim began by “providing muscle for landlords looking to evict squatters” (27) together with his childhood best friend, Cor van Hout. Cor soon charmed the other Holleeder sister, Sonja, who was comfortable in a subservient role to men, in contrast to Astrid’s drive for education and polish. Astrid’s plans to move to the United States were derailed, however, when the patriarch of the Heineken beer family, Freddy, was kidnapped in November of 1983 and held for ransom. Heineken was returned unharmed and the kidnappers escaped with much of the money. To Astrid’s shock, Wim and Cor were arrested for the crime.

During Keefe’s first rendezvous with Astrid, arranged by her publisher, Astrid explains that she understands why Wim kidnapped Heineken: avenging the siblings’ father, given the company’s central role in their lives. Wim and Cor fled to France and were eventually imprisoned there for three years. It became impossible for Astrid to resume the life she’d planned as she was now known as the sibling of a notable criminal.

At 19, Astrid became involved with an older artist and had a daughter; she later sought therapy to avoid perpetuating further trauma for her child. Wim and Cor served short sentences in Dutch prison, but were otherwise unscathed, in part because of the ransom money: They “went into prison as rich men and came out richer” (31), as their subordinates used the funds to build out their drug trade empire.

The entire Holleeder family now depended on organized crime for their livelihood. Astrid perfected the use of code phrases and outdoor meetings, to subvert police wiretaps. Astrid admits that her traumatic childhood kept her emotionally tied to her brother. As Wim expanded his empire into sex clubs, Astrid saw that were it not for her intellectual ambitions, she might have chosen sex work as an escape from her family. Instead, Astrid studied law only to discover that criminal defense was the only field where her family name was not a liability; soon, she became Wim’s attorney. Keefe notes, “even in the underworld, nepotism has its benefits” (33).

The next phase of the family drama began in 1996, when Cor, Sonja, and their children were victims of an assassination attempt. Cor refused to pay protection money to assure his safety, and he and Wim were on increasingly bad terms. Cor was shot to death in 2003, and Wim’s other associates also died under mysterious circumstances.

Wim was imprisoned from 2007 to 2012 for extortion. He became a kind of folk hero after his release, recording a rap song, appearing on Dutch television, and writing newspaper columns about his life of luxury. Keefe explains this public tolerance as a kind of “nativist nostalgia”—a willingness to celebrate a white criminal seen as a “dying breed” (37). As Astrid became more deeply implicated in Wim’s activities, she began to suspect he had ordered Cor’s murder.

In the present, Keefe joins surviving family members for brunch at Sonja’s apartment. Sonja continues to live off the Heineken ransom. Family members tell Keefe about their fear and loathing of Wim. Astrid recalls her increasing inability to let Wim go free: She ultimately decided to wear a wire to have evidence of his crimes in 2013.

Keefe reflects on the theme of The Enduring Nature of Family Bonds in literature and recent history. In Greek tragedy, the princess Antigone decides that the love of her brother is more important than any law. Keefe also recalls the anguish suffered by David Kaczynski when he realized his brother Ted was likely the infamous Unabomber. Wim was shocked by his 2014 arrest and by Astrid’s subsequent interviews with the press and leaks of the wiretaps she had conducted.

In her memoir Judas, Astrid writes that both she and Wim betrayed those they love. Astrid’s publisher sees the entire episode as more domestic drama, rooted in Astrid’s decision that “if he will be the best criminal, I will be the best witness” (45). The book has been optioned for film.

Keefe becomes curious about whether Astrid exaggerates the peril she faces. But he ultimately decides she is using him as protection: His book will help broadcast the extent of her evasive maneuvers to Wim, perhaps adding to her safety from a man arrested in 2016 in connection to an assassination attempt on his family.

Keefe visits Wim’s trial, where Wim paints himself as a minor figure victimized by his sisters. Astrid tells Keefe she is constantly anticipating Wim’s reaction to her testimony, and, although they have not spoken in years, she “felt as if she were still communicating with him” (49).

Astrid and Sonja are anxious that Wim may be acquitted, in part due to his dramatic outbursts that might sway a jury. His lawyers insist that Wim’s family should be seen as co-conspirators, not witnesses. Astrid frequently reminds Wim in court of her trove of evidence. She admits, however, that she would tell Wim, if she could, “that I still love him in spite of everything” (52). As of Keefe’s afterword, Wim is in prison and Astrid remains in hiding.