William Harrison Ainsworth 
Jack Sheppard 

A master of drinking, whoring, theft — and escape!While Jack Sheppard seems marked from birth for a terrible end, his wit and charm might just be able to cheat fate. Fate, however, seems eager to cheat him out of an honest living, when Jack begins visiting the notorious Black Lion, drinking den of the worst criminals in London. Soon he is one of the most famous scoundrels in the city — not for his crimes, but for the wonderful fact that not one of the King’s fine prisons can hold him. But Jack’s luck will have to run out eventually…