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Books > Fiction > True stories > Crime
Mark Borovitz was a mobster, gangster, con man, gambler, thief, and a drunk. He's seen it all. In this inspiring memoir, he takes you on a journey from the streets to discovering his soul in a prison cell. When Mark was fourteen, his father died and his world came crashing down. He stole, gambled, and drank, beginning a twenty-year life of crime, all the while trying to be the good son, the good brother, the good boy, but his life only spun more out of control until the mob put a hit out on him. After his release from prison, the drinking and thieving continued until, at the edge of oblivion, he experienced a moment of true divine intervention, a startling revelation that saved his life. Mark Borovitz proved that you can change your life -- profoundly. He is now the rabbi at Beit T'Shuvah in Los Angeles, the House of Return, a rehabilitation facility for addicts of all kinds. The Holy Thief is the remarkable memoir of an amazing man. It is a true-life gangster story, a passionate love story, and a case of study in redemption. Regardless of your faith, you will find his story tragic, funny, uplifting, and inspirational.
On a spring evening in 1779, as she emerged from London's Covent Garden Theatre, a beautiful young woman was shot in the head at point-blank range by a man in a black suit. The brutal murder was even more shocking because of the victim's identity -- she was Martha Ray, live-in mistress to the Earl of Sandwich and devotee of the arts. The man accused of her murder was none other than James Hackman, a respected Anglican minister and Ray's former lover. The aftermath of the crime created an uproar in London high society, as aristocrats debated Hackman's motives. Had he intended to commit suicide, as he later claimed, but, in a moment of weakness, turned his gun on Ray instead? This riveting tale of a crime of passion re-creates the slaying and the clergyman's trial, which was the unrivaled media sensation of its time.
What if the man you'd loved for years transformed into a ruthless and relentless tormentor, stealing your freedom, threatening your sanity and your safety? This is not a fictional scenario. It is Kate Brennan's life. A well-respected writer and scholar, Kate was wary of getting involved when she met Paul, a wealthy, charismatic businessman with a great deal of free time, but his charm and determination eventually won her over. Once they moved in together, however, Kate discovered the sordid secrets lurking beneath the Mr. Right facade: the serial infidelities, the unbalanced psyche. When she ended their relationship, Paul dedicated himself to stalking her--using his limitless resources to track her movements, interfering with her work, arranging for people to break into her home--in a campaign of cruel harassment that has been Kate's unending nightmare for more than a decade . . . and which continues to this day. A shocking and visceral memoir that lays bare the twisted mind of a stalker, In His Sights is a gripping tale of one woman's descent into the dark side of love and her ongoing struggle to free herself.
Winner of the 2022 British Academy Prize for Global Cultural Understanding. Novelist Alia Trabucco Zeran has long been fascinated not only with the root causes of violence against women, but by those women who have violently rejected the domestic and passive roles they were meant by their culture to inhabit. Choosing as her subject four iconic homicides perpetrated by Chilean women in the twentieth century, she spent years researching this brilliant work of narrative nonfiction detailing not only the troubling tales of the murders themselves, but the story of how society, the media and men in power reacted to these killings, painting their perpetrators as witches, hysterics, or femmes fatales . . . That is, either evil or out of control. Corina Rojas, Rosa Faundez, Carolina Geel and Teresa Alfaro all committed murder. Their crimes not only led to substantial court decisions, but gave rise to multiple novels, poems, short stories, paintings, plays, songs and films, produced and reproduced throughout the last century. In When Women Kill, we are provided with timelines of events leading up to and following their killings, their apprehension by the authorities, their trials and their representation in the media throughout and following the judicial process. Running in parallel with this often horrifying testimony are the diaries kept by Trabucco Zeran while she worked on her research, addressing the obstacles and dilemmas she encountered as she tackled this discomfiting yet necessary project.
It was a crime that shocked the nation: the brutal murder in Chicago in 1924 of a child by two wealthy college students who killed solely for the thrill of the experience. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were intellectuals--too smart, they believed, for the police to catch them. When they were apprehended, state's attorney Robert Crowe was certain that no defense could save the ruthless killers from the gallows. But the families of the confessed murderers hired Clarence Darrow, entrusting the lives of their sons to the most famous lawyer in America in what would be one of the most sensational criminal trials in the history of American justice. Set against the backdrop of the 1920s--a time of prosperity, self-indulgence, and hedonistic excess in a lawless city on the brink of anarchy--For the Thrill of It draws the reader into a world of speakeasies and flappers, of gangsters and gin parties, with a spellbinding narrative of Jazz Age murder and mystery.
Here is the shocking true saga of the Irish American mob. In Paddy Whacked, bestselling author and organized crime expert T. J. English brings to life nearly two centuries of Irish American gangsterism, which spawned such unforgettable characters as Mike "King Mike" McDonald, Chicago's subterranean godfather; Big Bill Dwyer, New York's most notorious rumrunner during Prohibition; Mickey Featherstone, troubled Vietnam vet turned Westies gang leader; and James "Whitey" Bulger, the ruthless and untouchable Southie legend. Stretching from the earliest New York and New Orleans street wars through decades of bootlegging scams, union strikes, gang wars, and FBI investigations, Paddy Whacked is a riveting tour de force that restores the Irish American gangster to his rightful preeminent place in our criminal history -- and penetrates to the heart of the American experience.
Phil Chalmers has spent more than a decade visiting high security prisons to interview young offenders, his mission is to attempt to answer the questions we all are asking:
In "Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer," Phil explores the reasons why teens kill; the warning signs we must be looking for; and offers a game plan to keep our homes, schools, and communities safe. This book may help save your life or the life of a child you love What the experts say: "Phil Chalmers has interviewed the killers. He has corresponded with them extensively. He has exhaustively researched their crimes. There is no human being alive who knows more about these killers, and as you read this book, you will truly be taken "Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer."" Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (retired), murder expert, and author of "Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill " "This book has incredible knowledge and information that is invaluable to law enforcement, school resource officers, school personnel, and parents. Every single person who is in a school environment needs to read this book, and understand that some of the most horrific crimes that are being performed are being carried out by our children." Officer Russ Diehl, School Resource / DARE Officer, Brimfield Police Dept, Kent, Ohio "To go into the mind of a killer, you need to go into their hearts, and Phil has done just that. Phil's book raises your awareness of where we have gone wrong in society and how we can make major changes with simple steps." Joe Shillaci, Former Miami Homicide investigator and star of the A&E show "The First 48"
The true story that inspired the Sofia Coppola film Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom, Rachel Bilson: robbed. More than $3 million in stolen clothing, jewelry, shoes, and handbags reported missing. Who is behind one of the most brazen string of crimes in recent Hollywood history? Meet the Bling Ring: a band of club-hopping teenagers from the Valley with everything to lose. Over the course of a year, the members of the now infamous Bling Ring allegedly burglarized some of the biggest names in young Hollywood. Driven by celebrity worship, vanity, and the desire to look and dress like the rich and famous, these seven teenagers made headlines for using Google maps, Facebook, and TMZ to track the comings and goings of their targets. Many of the houses were unlocked. Alarms disabled. A "perfect" crime-- celebrities already had so much, why shouldn't the Bling Ring take their share? As the unprecedented case unfolded in the news, the world asked: How did our obsession with celebrities get so out of hand? Why would a group of teens who already had so much, take such a risk? Acclaimed Vanity Fair writer Nancy Jo Sales found the answer: they did it because each stolen T-shirt or watch brought them closer to living the Hollywood dream . . . and because it was terrifyingly easy. For the Bling Ring the motivation was something deeper than money--they were compelled by a compulsion to be famous. Gaining unprecedented access to the group of teens, Sales traces the crimes minute by minute and details the key players' stories in a shocking look at the seedy, and troubling, world of the real young Hollywood.
As heard on the HOW TO FAIL podcast with Elizabeth Day 'I was utterly floored by the emotional depth of About A Son - a book that reaches so deeply into the human experience that to read it is to be forever changed. It is an unflinching examination of grief, a painstaking deconstruction of injustice and a dispatch from the frontiers of the human heart' Elizabeth Day On the evening of Halloween in 2015, Morgan Hehir was walking with friends close to Nuneaton town centre when they were viciously attacked by a group of strangers. Morgan was stabbed, and died hours later in hospital. He was twenty years old and loved making music with his band, going to the football with his mates, having a laugh; a talented graffiti artist who dreamed of moving away and building a life for himself by the sea. From the moment he heard the news, Morgan's father Colin Hehir began to keep an extraordinary diary. It became a record not only of the immediate aftermath of his son's murder, but also a chronicle of his family's evolving grief, the trial of Morgan's killers, and his personal fight to unravel the lies, mistakes and cover-ups that led to a young man with a history of violence being free to take Morgan's life that night. Inspired by this diary, About a Son is a unique and deeply moving exploration of love and loss and a groundbreaking work of creative non-fiction. Part true crime, part memoir, it tells the story of a shocking murder, the emotional repercussions, and the failures that enabled it to take place. It shows how grief affects and changes us, and asks what justice means if the truth is not heard. It asks what can be learned, and where we go from here.
Prepare to be surprised and unnerved as the dark side of Charlotte is brought to life by native and longtime writer David Aaron Moore. Learn about Nellie Freeman, who nearly decapitated her husband with a straight razor in 1926. Discover how the ghosts of Camp Green infantrymen, the doughboys of World War I, still scream in the Southern night. Read about the seventy-one passengers who lost their lives as Eastern Airlines Flight 212 fell to the earth one foggy night in 1974. Come along and experience the grisly past of the City of Churches.
The Boston police officers who brutally beat Michael Cox at a deserted fence one icy night in 1995 knew soon after that they had made a terrible mistake. The badge and handgun under Cox's bloodied parka proved he was not a black gang member but a plainclothes cop chasing the same murder suspect his assailants were. Officer Kenny Conley, who pursued and apprehended the suspect while Cox was being beaten, was then wrongfully convicted by federal prosecutors of lying when he denied witnessing the attack on his brother officer. Both Cox and Conley were native Bostonians, each dedicating his life to service with the Boston Police Department. But when they needed its support, they were heartlessly and ruthlessly abandoned. A remarkable work of investigative journalism, "The Fence" tells the shocking true story of the attack and its aftermath--and exposes the lies and injustice hidden behind a "blue wall of silence."
Flamboyant mobster Arnold Rothstein was gambling and money. He was the inspiration for Meyer Wolfsheim in "The Great Gatsby" and Nathan Detroit in "Guys and Dolls." It was rumored he masterminded the 1919 World Series fix. He was Mr. Broadway, a king of corruption holding court from his private booth at Lindy's Restaurant. In this lively, sprawling biography, the inimitable Nick Tosches -- "one of the greatest living American writers" ("Dallas Observer") -- examines the myth and extraordinary legacy of Arnold Rothstein. It is an elegy to old New York that places an iconic, larger-than-life criminal kingpin firmly at the center of nothing less than the history of the entire Western world.
'Many of the world's great leaders request to come to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. They like it. I like it. We're comfortable.' - Donald Trump A bit too comfortable, perhaps. Donald Trump's opulent Palm Beach club Mar-a-Lago has thrummed with scandal since the earliest days of his presidency. Long known for its famous and wealthy clientele, the resort's guest list soon started filling with political operatives and power-seekers. Meanwhile, as Trump re-branded Mar-a-Lago "the Winter White House" and began spending weekends there, state business spilled out into full view of the club's members, and vast sums of taxpayer money and political donations began flowing into its coffers, and into the pockets of the president. The Grifters' Club is a breakthrough account of the corruption, intrigue, and absurdity that has been on display in the place where the president is at his most relaxed. In these pages, a team of prizewinning Miami Herald journalists reveal the activities and motivations of the strange array of charlatans and tycoons who populate its halls. Some peddle influence, some look to steal government secrets, and some just want to soak up the feeling of unfettered access to the world's most powerful leaders. With the drama of an expose and the edgy humor of a Carl Hiaasen novel, The Grifters' Club takes you behind the velvet ropes of this exclusive club and into its bizarre world of extravagance and scandal. _____ An astonishing look inside the gilded gates of Mar-a-Lago, the palatial resort where President Trump conducts government business with little regard for ethics, security, or even the law. This ground-breaking and shocking expose reads like a thriller. Perfect for fans of Fire and Fury, Team of Vipers and Fear.
Thoughts of Alabama invite images of Confederate jasmine and fertile cotton fields, sweet iced tea and southern hospitality. But even in paradise, evil sometimes creeps in. Some of the stories captured within the pages of this book are well known to the good folks of North Alabama; others are less familiar. The scandals of Lincoln's brother- in-law, the reign of terror created by Huntsville's Southwest Molester, the Decatur man who buried his wife's dismembered body under the fishpond and the beautiful Black Widow of Hazel Green- all of these stories and more are well researched and masterfully written by Huntsville author Jacquelyn Procter Reeves. True-crime fans will appreciate this treasury of stories spanning nearly two hundred years of North Alabama history.
Motor City Mafia: A Century of Organized Crime in Detroit chronicles the storied and hallowed gangland history of the notorious Detroit underworld. Scott M. Burnstein takes the reader inside the belly of the beast, tracking the bloodshed, exploits, and leadership of the southeast Michigan crime syndicate as never before seen in print. Through a stunning array of rare archival photographs and images, Motor City Mafia captures Detroit's most infamous past, from its inception in the early part of the 20th century, through the years when the iconic Purple Gang ruled the city's streets during Prohibition, through the 1930s and the formation of the local Italian mafia, and the Detroit crime family's glory days in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, all the way to the downfall of the area's mob reign in the 1980s and 1990s.
________________________________________ The bestselling true story and inspiration behind the hit Netflix show of how one underfunded FBI team became the first to explore the dark world of serial murderers. John Douglas is a former FBI Special Agent and expert in criminal profiling and behavioural science. He made a career of looking evil in the eye - and understanding it. No wonder that he was the inspiration for Special Agent Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, as well as the film's consultant on the reality of serial killers. Douglas invented and established the practice of criminal profiling, and submerged himself in the world of serial killers in a quest to understand why they killed, and to help prevent more innocent lives from being ended by future killers. As his serial crime unit developed from a derided two-bit operation in a dingy officer to one of the FBI's elite task forces, Douglas personally confronted the most terrible crimes of the age, including those of Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and the Atlanta child murderer. With the fierce page-turning power of a bestselling novel, yet terrifyingly true, Mindhunter is a true crime classic. ________________________________________ 'John Douglas knows more about serial killers than anybody in the world' - Jonathan Demme, director of The Silence of the Lambs 'A cracker of a book' - Esquire
AS NIGHT FALLS, A KILLER COMES TO LIGHT... 'An authentic, topical and terrifying thriller: one of Michael Connelly's very best.' THE TIMES 'The Dark Hours is yet another superb thriller from a writer at the top of his game' SUNDAY EXPRESS 'Consistently excellent ... The plotting is as skilful as ever, and the pacing as relentless' MAIL ON SUNDAY On New Year's Eve at the end of one of the hardest years in history, hundreds of revellers shoot their guns into the air in time-honoured LA tradition. But as the rain of lead comes down, a man is shot dead in the middle of a crowded street party. Detective Renee Ballard soon connects the bullet to an unsolved cold case last worked by legendary ex-LAPD detective Harry Bosch. As they investigate where the old and new cases connect, a new crime shatters the night shift. The Midnight Men are a pair of violent predators who stalk the city during the dark hours, and will kill to keep their identities secret. In a police department shaken to the core by pandemic and protests, both cases have the power to save Ballard's belief in the job - or take everything from her... * * * * * CRIME DOESN'T COME BETTER THAN CONNELLY. 'One of the very best writers working today' Sunday Telegraph 'The pre-eminent detective novelist of his generation' Ian Rankin 'A superb natural storyteller' Lee Child 'A master' Stephen King 'Crime thriller writing of the highest order' Guardian 'America's greatest living crime writer' Daily Express 'A crime writing genius' Independent on Sunday
Although regional crimes hardly ever make it to the national circuit, they will always remain with the families and communities of the victims and a part of the area's history. After working with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division as special agent/forensic photographer for twenty-four years, Rita Shuler has a passion for remembering the victims. In "Small-town Slayings," Shuler takes us back in time, showing differences and similarities of crime solving in the past and present and some surprising twists of court proceedings, verdicts and sentences. From an unsolved case that has haunted her for thirty years to a cold case that was solved after fifteen years by advanced DNA technology, Shuler blends her own memories with extensive research, resulting in a fast-paced, factual and fascinating look at crime in South Carolina. Rita Y. Shuler is also author of "Carolina Crimes" and "Murder in the Midlands,"
A three-year-old boy dies, having apparently fallen while trying to reach a bag of sugar on a high shelf. His grandmother stands accused of second-degree murder. Psychologist Susan Nordin Vinocour agrees to evaluate the defendant, to determine whether the impoverished and mentally ill woman is competent to stand trial. Vinocour soon finds herself pulled headlong into a series of difficult questions, beginning with: was the defendant legally insane on the night in question? As she wades deeper into the story, Vinocour traces the legal definition of insanity back nearly two hundred years, when our understanding of the human mind was in its infancy. "Competency" and "insanity", she explains, are creatures of legal definition, not psychiatric reality, and in criminal law, "insanity" has become a luxury of the rich and white. With passion, clarity, and heart, Vinocour examines the troubling intersection of mental health issues and the law.
"This is the Zodiac speaking. I like killing people because it is so much fun...the most thrilling experience..." This shocking true crime classic is now a major movie. A sexual sadist, the Zodiac's pleasure was torture and murder. He taunted the authorities with mocking notes telling where he would strike next. The official tally of his victims was six. He claimed 37 dead. He was never caught. Author Robert Graysmith tells the inside story of the hunt for the hooded killer, and finally reveals his possible true identity. The new movie "Zodiac" is based on this book. Directed by David Fincher ("Fight Club"), it stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Graysmith himself, Robert Downey Jr and Chloe Sevigny.
As the first person of mixed race with dreadlocks to be a reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation, on both television and radio (Today Programme, Six O'clock News, Panorama and The One Show) I helped re-write the rules on what makes an international BBC correspondent. I am an experienced undercover and investigative journalist and presenter on both prime-time television and international platforms such as Netflix. Yet it is being an inspiration to an under-served and diverse audience across the globe that inspires me. I broke the mold on what an international reporter looks like, sounds like and has as a background; I am proud of the fact that in doing so I inspire others. Less than a year later I began a new career as a journalist and broadcast reporter for the BBC, starting at the Today programme, the pinnacle of BBC Radio 4. I had a voice, and I was lucky enough to be allowed to use it. There were many other reporters, but none were ex prisoners, non had dreadlocks and non were mixed race. From this most prestigious and influential show I moved to television reporting in 2003 for BBC1's The Six O'Clock News. This is the pinnacle of prime-time television, and here I was, dreadlocks and mixed race, with a long stretch of my life lost to incarceration and fighting to prove my innocence. Not exactly the stereotypical BBC reporter! However, it was precisely this that propelled my career even further and between 2004 and 2006 I made hard hitting documentaries for BBC2 and BBC3, covering issues such as serial killers, knife crime, drugs, corrupt UN peacekeepers, enviromental crime and terrorism. One of my investigations played a pivotal part in freeing a man convicted of the assasination of a high profile BBC celebrity. The BBC recognised that I have tenacity, courage and the life experience that most investigative journalists can only read about, and I became a correspondent for the prestigious Panorama show. This is World's longest running current affairs TV series and once again I was the first ex-prisoner and person of colour, with dreadlocks, to have achieved such a position. This was a far cry from those years in prison cells, fighting to prove I did not commit the crimes of which I was accused. I was now able to use that experience and the skills it taught me of patience and perseverance to become a recognised household name. My work has taken me to some of the world's most dangerous places, but I thrive on it. At times I had to operate undercover to expose injustice and crime. I smuggled conflict diamonds to show how the system was corrupted, secretly filmed Congolese militia rebels to expose their ruthless tactics and threw light on the illegal international logging and deforestation of some of the World's most precious resources. In undertaking that particular assignment I risked my own life to save the life of an orangutan and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I currently host Inside the World's Toughest Prisons on Netflix. Even with my experiences of life inside behind me, and my position as a free and innocent man confirmed, it has been one hell of a discovery. People ask me why go back into maximum security prisons, as an innocent man, after fighting for so many years to get out? "I am scarred by my life experience but I have not allowed it to hold me back." |
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