'John Douglas is the FBI's pioneer and master of investigative profiling' Patricia Cornwell GET INSIDE THE MINDS OF PSYCHOPATHS WITH THE GODFATHER OF CRIMINAL PROFILING In The Killer Across the Table, legendary FBI criminal profiler and number one bestselling author John Douglas delves deep into the lives and crimes of four complex predatory killers, offering never-before-revealed details about his profiling process and divulging the strategies used to crack some of his most challenging cases. In this riveting work of true crime, Douglas spotlights four very different criminals he's confronted over the course of his career, and explains how they helped him to put together the puzzle of how psychopaths and predators think. Taking us inside the interrogation room and demonstrating the unique techniques he uses to understand the workings of the most terrifying and incomprehensible minds, The Killer Across the Table is an unputdownable journey into the darkest reaches of criminal profiling and behavioural science from a man who knows serial killers better than anyone else. As Douglas says: 'If you want to understand the artist, look at his art.' If you want to understand what makes a murderer, start here.

The thirteenth entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from the "prolific and talented" (Publishers Weekly) Ann Rule focuses on crime victims who had no idea they were in life-threatening danger, often from the very people they trusted the most. In this collection's featured case, a family man dedicated to naturopathic healing embarks on a passionate affair with a flight attendant, but his jealous rages frighten her. When she finally leaves after a brutal attack, she has no idea that her tormentor would reappear in her life-with deadly consequences. Other cases include: a woman who masterminds her husband's murder just to gain his inheritance; the sadistic criminal whose prison release damages a presidential campaign and ends in a bitter double tragedy; the shocking DNA link between a horrifying crime and a cold case; and finally, the man who crisscrosses the world in deadly pursuit of a beautiful woman. Once again, the country's best true crime writer brings her "absolutely riveting...psychologically perspective" (Booklist) insight to a chilling look how sometimes those we love the most can be the most dangerous.

In December 1937, four respectable young men in their twenties, all products of elite English public schools, conspired to lure to the luxurious Hyde Park Hotel a representative of Cartier, the renowned jewelry firm. There, the "Mayfair men" brutally bludgeoned diamond salesman Etienne Bellenger and made off with eight rings that today would be worth approximately half a million pounds. Such well-connected young people were not supposed to appear in the prisoner's dock at the Old Bailey. Not surprisingly, the popular newspapers had a field day responding to the public's insatiable appetite for news about the upper-crust rowdies and their unsavory pasts. In Playboys and Mayfair Men, Angus McLaren recounts the violent robbery and sensational trial that followed. He uses the case as a hook to draw the reader into a revelatory exploration of key interwar social issues from masculinity and cultural decadence to broader anxieties about moral decay. In his gripping depiction of Mayfair's celebrity high life, McLaren describes the crime in detail, as well as the police investigation, the suspects, their trial, and the aftermath of their convictions. He also* examines the origins and cultural meanings of the playboy-the male 1930s equivalent of the 1920s flapper; * includes in his cast of characters such well-known figures as Noel Coward, Evelyn Waugh, the Churchills, Robert Graves, Oswald Mosley, and Edward VIII; and* convincingly links disparate issues such as divorce reform, corporal punishment, effeminacy, and fascism. The trial is fascinating, not simply because of its four young louts but because it revealed for the first time in the media troubling aspects of British society which had escaped serious scrutiny. An original and exciting cultural history of 1930s Britain, this innovative book and the exploits of its dissolute playboys will appeal to true-crime readers and historians alike.

From the journalist behind hit Netflix documentary Fyre comes an eye-opening look at the con artists and serial scammers of the digital age-and why we can't stop falling for them. 'Juicy, sharp, savage and wildly entertaining' CAT MARNELL, New York Times bestselling author of How to Murder Your Life We live in an age where scams are the new normal. A charismatic entrepreneur sells thousands of tickets to a festival that never happened. Respected investors pour millions into a start-up centered around fake blood tests. Reviewers and celebrities flock to London's top-rated restaurant that's little more than a backyard shed. These unsettling stories of today's viral grifters have risen to fame and hit the front-page headlines, yet the curious conundrum remains: Why do these scams happen? Drawing from scientific research, marketing campaigns, and exclusive documents and interviews, Vice reporter Gabrielle Bluestone delves into the irresistible hype that fuels our social media ecosystem, whether it's from the trusted influencers that peddled Fyre or the consumer reviews that sold Juicero. A cultural examination that is as revelatory as it is relevant, Hype pulls back the curtain on the manipulation game behind the never-ending scam season-and how we as consumers can stop getting played. 'Scams are hot right now, and Bluestone covers the hottest here.' BOOKLIST

A dramatic and compelling true-crime psychological thriller

This incredible story shows how John Douglas tracked and participated in the hunt for one of the most notorious serial killers in U.S. history. For 31 years a man who called himself BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) terrorized the city of Wichita, Kansas, sexually assaulting and strangling a series of women, taunting the police with frequent communications, and bragging about his crimes to local newspapers and TV stations. After disappearing for nine years, he suddenly reappeared, complaining that no one was paying enough attention to him and claiming that he had committed other crimes for which he had not been given credit. When he was ultimately captured, BTK was shockingly revealed to be Dennis Rader, a 61-year-old married man with two children.

This book is an in-depth exploration of four fascinating true crime cases from the files of Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D. Coauthored by crime writer Dawna Kaufmann, it explores both the technical and the human sides of murder-and includes new and shocking revelations for each case. Presented first is the puzzling death of a wealthy self-help guru at the hands of "The Harlem Kevorkian" and the case's latest legal ramifications. Next is the abduction of a little girl, held captive within shouting distance of her loved ones, and her killer's bizarre trial. The third case is the story of a relative who refused to give up on solving the vicious murder of a popular dentist when law enforcement tried to cover up the crime. Last is an unimaginable tale of two heroic grandparents who worked to save a baby from the depths of evil.

This is the true-crime bestseller that was the basis for Martin Scorsese's film masterpiece GoodFellas, which brought to life the violence, the excess, the families, the wives and girlfriends, the drugs, the payoffs, the paybacks, the jail time, and the Feds...with Henry Hill's crackling narration drawn straight out of Wiseguy and overseeing all the unforgettable action. "Nonstop...absolutely engrossing" (The New York Times Book Review).

Read it and experience the secret life inside the mob--from one who's lived it.

Murder Along the Cape Fear is the story of Fayetteville and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during the twentieth century. Seen through the eyes of a native son, this is the tale of one - a distinguished historian - who lived through some of it and heard about much of it from friends and relatives. In this hundred-year journey the town was profoundly impacted by the establishment of Fort Bragg 10 miles to its west. Throughout this hundred-year history, murder seems to be the scarlet thread that stitched the town into infamy. The book demonstrates that Fayetteville was by no means innocent prior to the coming of Fort Bragg. Nor did all of the crime and evil emanate from Fort Bragg after 1918. As for murder, there was an abundance of killing that had no connection with Fort Bragg, but the most sensational murder case of the century involved Jeffrey MacDonald, a Green Beret Army captain and physician who received three life terms in federal prison for killing his pregnant wife and two daughters. While many other Fort Bragg soldiers were involved with murders along the Cape Fear, murders were also committed by transient civilians and local citizens like the famous inventor of the M-1 carbine, Marshall "Carbine" Williams, and Velma Barfield, who poisoned her mother and three other people. In all, about two dozen murder cases-some highly publicized and some not-are woven into this story about a North Carolina town in the twentieth century. Engagingly told, this book is a wonderful blend of history, lore, and murder.

Hailed in Italy as the best book ever written about the mafia in any language, "Cosa Nostra" is a fascinating, violent, and darkly comic account that reads like fiction and takes us deep into the inner sanctum of this secret society where few have dared to tread.In this gripping history of the Sicilian mafia, John Dickie uses startling new research to reveal the inner workings of this secret society with a murderous record. He explains how the mafia began, how it responds to threats and challenges, and introduces us to the real-life characters that inspired the American imagination for generations, making the mafia an international, larger than life cultural phenomenon. Dickie's dazzling cast of characters includes Antonio Giammona, the first "boss of bosses''; New York cop Joe Petrosino, who underestimated the Sicilian mafia and paid for it with his life; and Bernard "the Tractor" Provenzano, the current boss of bosses who has been hiding in Sicily since 1963.

'Exceptional . . . This thoughtful and engrossing book is as much about law as it is about minds' THE TIMES What drives someone to commit murder? What makes some people lash out on those that they love? Can we predict whether a child will grow into a violent adult, and what can we do to prevent it? These are just some of the questions that forensic psychiatrist Dr Taj Nathan interrogates every day in his work with violent offenders. Stories about violent or deviant behaviour are the subject of sensational headlines or inflated dramatic portrayals, but infinitely more complex and intriguing are the real people behind labels like 'psychopath', 'sex offender' or 'serial killer'. Taking us from secure hospital wards to high-security prisons to courtrooms, Dangerous Minds offers compelling and deeply compassionate accounts of ten people whose lives have been shaped by violence. From the impact of traumatic events in childhood to the evolutionary and cultural influences on the emergence of the social mind, this book is an insider's account of the origins of violence that asks its readers to re-evaluate all that they think they know about the people society deems most dangerous.

Christopher Berry-Dee, criminologist and bestselling author of books about the serial killers Aileen Wuornos and Joanne Dennehy, turns his uncompromising gaze upon women who not only kill, but kill repeatedly. Because female murderers, and especially serial murderers, are so rare compared with their male counterparts, this new study will surprise as well as shock, particularly in the cases of women like Beverley Allitt, who kill children, and Janie Lou Gibbs, who killed her three sons and a grandson, as well as her husband. Here too are women who kill under the influence of their male partners, such as Myra Hindley and Rosemary West, and whose lack of remorse for their actions is nothing short of chilling. But the author also turns his forensic gaze on female killers who were themselves victims, like Aileen Wuornos, whose killing spree, for which she was executed, can be traced directly to her treatment at the hands of men. Christopher Berry-Dee has no equal as the author of hard-hitting studies of the killers who often walk among us undetected for many years, and who in so many cases seem to be acting entirely against their natures.

During the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century a growing number of ordinary citizens had the feeling that all was not as it should be. Men who were making money made prodigious amounts, but this new wealth somehow passed over the heads of the common people. As this new breed of journalists began to examine their subjects with scrutiny, they soon discovered that those individuals were essentially "simple men of extraordinary boldness." And it was easy to understand how they were able to accomplish their sinister purposes: "at first abruptly and bluntly, by asking and giving no quarter, and later with the same old determination and ruthlessness but with educated satellites who were glad to explain and idealize their behavior."[i] "Nothing is lost save honor," said one infamous buccaneer, and that was an attitude that governed the amoral principles and extralegal actions of many audacious scoundrels. Relying on secondary sources, magazine and newspaper articles, and personal accounts from those involved, this volume captures some of the sensational true stories that took place in the western United States during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. The theme that runs through each of the stories is the general contempt for the law that seemed to pervade the culture at the time and the consuming desire to acquire wealth at any cost-what Geoffrey C. Ward has called "the disposition to be rich." ------------------------------------------------------------ End Notes Introduction [i]Louis Filler, Crusaders for American Liberalism (Yellow Springs, OH: Antioch Press, 1964), 14.

When an eleven year old James Renner fell in love with Amy Mihaljevic, the missing girl seen on posters all over his neighbourhood, it was the beginning of a lifelong obsession with true crime. That obsession leads James to a successful career as an investigative journalist. It also gave him PTSD. In 2011, James began researching the strange disappearance of Maura Murray, a UMass student who went missing after wrecking her car in rural New Hampshire in 2004. Over the course of his investigation, he uncovers numerous important and shocking new clues about what may have happened to Maura, but also finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations with little regard for his own wellbeing. As his quest to find Maura deepens, the case starts taking a toll on his personal life, which begins to spiral out of control. The result is an absorbing dual investigation of the complicated story of the All- American girl who went missing and James' own equally complicated true crime addiction. James Renner's True Crime Addict is the story of his spellbinding investigation of the missing person's case of Maura Murray, which has taken on a life of its own for armchair sleuths across the web. In the spirit of David Fincher's Zodiac, it is a fascinating look at a case that has eluded authorities and one man's obsessive quest for the answers.

In 1954, two college students were hiking along a creek outside of Boulder, Colorado, when they stumbled upon the body of a murdered young woman. Who was this woman? What had happened to her? The initial investigation turned up nothing, and the girl was buried in a local cemetery with a gravestone that read, "Jane Doe, April 1954, Age About 20 Years." Decades later, historian Silvia Pettem formed a partnership with law enforcement and forensic experts and set in motion the events that led to Jane Doe's exhumation and eventual identification, as well as the identity of her probable killer. The new Kindle version includes an Epilogue--with updated information on how the mystery finally was solved.

NOW A MAJOR SKY ATLANTIC SERIES 'Unputdownable . . . fantastic and terrifying.' Nihal Arthanayake, RADIO 5 The astonishing true story of 'one of the most startling police corruption scandals in a generation' (New York Times) Baltimore, 2015. Riots were erupting across the city. Drug and violent crime were surging, with homicides reaching their highest level in over two decades. For years, Sgt Wayne Jenkins and his elite team of plain-clothed officers - the Gun Trace Task Force - had been the city's lauded heroes, working to get drugs and guns off the streets. But all the while they had been stealing drugs and money and gaming the system. Because who would believe the dealers, the smugglers or the people who had simply been going about their daily business over the word of the city's elite task force? 'A work of journalism that not only chronicles the rise and fall of a corrupt police unit, but can stand as the inevitable coda to the half-century of disaster that is the American drug war.' David Simon

Largely forgotten now, Frankie Yale was an influential New York mobster of the early 20th century whose proteges included future leaders of New York's five Mafia families and Chicago's outfit. His influence extended to Chicago, where he personally committed two of the city's most notorious underworld assassinations and waged a five-year war to wrest control of Brooklyn's docks from Irish rivals. His murder marked New York City's first use of a Tommy gun in gangland warfare, the same weapon used in Chicago's St. Valentine's Day massacre seven months later. Yale's passing destabilized Gotham's Mafia, paving the way for an upheaval that modified and modernized the structure of American syndicated crime for the next six decades. Despite Yale's prominence during his life, this is the first biography to survey his life and career.

In 2013, a series of high-profile court cases sent shockwaves through the West Midlands town of Telford. Seven men, all from the town's Pakistani heritage community, were jailed for selling vulnerable young girls for sex. The convictions made national news, but for one girl the chilling headlines were all too real. Holly Archer was just fourteen when her life changed forever after becoming embroiled in a frightening web of exploitation and abuse. Enduring countless violent rapes and death threats, she was forced to sleep with several men a night. As her abusers' grip tightened, she fell into despair, twice becoming pregnant. Hours after her last GCSE exam, Holly took an overdose in a desperate attempt to end the nightmare that had become her life. Her escape eventually came when, old enough to leave home, she fled to Birmingham. She moved house every six months, fearing her abusers would hunt her down. She eventually found the strength to return to Telford shortly after giving birth to a daughter, around the same time the police launched an investigation into the exploitation of young girls in the town. She underwent hours of rigorous police interviews but in the end decided she could not face her abusers in court. Nonetheless, seven men were convicted of sex offences and jailed as a result of the investigation. Holly slowly began to pick up the pieces of her life and was given a job with a rape prevention charity. Having survived her ordeal, she now tells her full, shocking story for the first time. I Never Gave My Consent is a courageous yet uplifting memoir of someone who faced the cruelest of circumstances. Perfect for readers of Cathy Glass.

In Black Dahlia Avenger II, bestselling author and veteran homicide detective Steve Hodel presents his six-year follow-up investigation 2006-2011] into Los Angeles's 1947 Black Dahlia and other serially connected 1940s Lone Woman Murders. After the 2003 publication of his NYT bestseller and MWA Edgar nominated true-fact crime book, Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder, and receiving a "CASE SOLVED" legal opinion from many of LA's top law enforcement officials-which included a then active Head Deputy District Attorney and LAPD's Chief of Detectives-Hodel didn't stop there. In this investigative sequel he presents his careful deconstruction of the Dahlia Legend-exposing and correcting the Black Dahlia Murder's Three Greatest Urban Myths: Myth No. 1-"It was a standalone murder." Myth No. 2-"There was a 'Missing or Lost Week'" Myth No. 3-"The case was never solved." Some of BDA II's new investigative findings: The obtaining of the killer's full DNA PROFILE which can now be made available for law enforcement testing and comparison to multiple Cold Case unsolved crimes. Discovery of the Hollywood residence where the BLACK DAHLIA MURDER was committed along with physical evidence connecting the killer to the house and to the vacant lot where he later transported and posed the victim's body. Identification of "The Baron," George Hodel's house guest and an accomplice overheard and tape-recorded by detectives discussing "crimes and payoffs" on the 1950 DA/LAPD bugging tapes. New expert medical testimony and evidence photos proving-"A Doctor Did It." Complete original and unabridged 1950 DA-Hodel Black Dahlia Bugging Transcripts. 146 pages.] THE HUSTON LETTERS- Personal correspondence between famed film director, John Huston and his ex-wife, Dorothy Huston Hodel the author's mother] covering the years 1948-1957. In these private letters Dorothy shared with John the day to day personal fear and terror she was experiencing living with George Hodel, as the doctor threatened her and the children with physical harm in the months just prior to his fleeing the country. A World Class Surrealist Photographer reveals his first-hand knowledge of the murders. Over 300 photographs and crime exhibits including the 1969 Sowden House 17-Photo Historical Survey About the Author: STEVE HODEL is a retired LAPD homicide detective and a licensed P.I.and has specialized in criminal investigations for the past 49-years. During his twenty-four years service with LAPD he was assigned to Hollywood Homicide where for eighteen-years he worked on more than three hundred murder cases and achieved one of the highest "solve rates" on the force. He retired as a Detective III the highest attainable rank in the Detective Bureau] and resides in his hometown of Los Angeles. Show less

Cathy was just sixteen, and living on her own, when she met a charming older man called Peter Tobin. She saw him as a knight in shining armour, a man who made her feel safe. He saw a vulnerable girl whose troubled childhood made her the perfect victim. This considerate man, who appeared so normal to anyone who met him, became first controlling, then violent, and Cathy found herself trapped in a terrifyingly abusive marriage. Eventually, for the sake of her young son, she found the strength to escape and over the years managed to create a good life for her boy, making sure he never had the memories of fear and daily trauma she had suffered. Still Tobin remained a threatening presence in the background. Then, turning on the television set in 2006, she screamed with horror when a familiar face appeared on the news. Her ex-husband, her son's father, was a serial killer. Writing with complete honesty, Cathy describes her marriage, and how the past continued to haunt her until she stood in court, a witness against the man who could so easily have murdered her too. Totally compelling Escape From Evil is the story of a woman who survived the worst nightmare of all.