Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read (November 17, 1954 - October 9, 2013) was an Australian mobster who was born in Melbourne, Victoria. During his criminal career in the Melbourne mafia scene, he was convicted of many crimes, including armed robbery, assault, attempted murder, arson, impersonating a police officer and kidnapping. Read retired from a life of crime and wrote a series of fiction books based on his life as a criminal.