We see mafias as vast, powerful organisations, harvesting billions of dollars across the globe and wrapping its tentacles around everything from governance to finance. But is this the truth? Travelling from mafia initiation ceremonies in far-flung Russian cities to elite gambling clubs in downtown Macau, Federico Varese sets off in search of answers. Using wiretapped conversations, interviews and previously unpublished police records, he builds up a picture of the real men and women caught up in mafia life, showing their loves and fears, ambitions and disappointments, as well as their crimes. Mafia Life takes us into the real world of organised crime, where mafia henchmen worry about their bad managers and have high blood pressure, assassinations are bungled as often as they come off, and increasing pressure from law enforcement means that a life of crime is no longer lived in the lap of luxury. As our world changes, so must the mafia. Globalisation, migration and technology are disrupting their traditions and threatening their revenue streams, and the mafiosi must evolve or die. Mafia Life is an intense and totally compelling look at an organisation and the daily life of its members, as it gets to grips with the modern world. Out now in paperback.

The explosive memoir of legendary DEA agents and the subject of the hit Netflix series Narcos, Steve Murphy and Javier F. Pena For the first time, legendary DEA operatives Steve Murphy and Javier F. Pena tell the true story of how they took down Pablo Escobar. Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar's brutal Medellin Cartel was responsible for trafficking tonnes of cocaines to North America and Europe in the 1980s and '90s. Colombia became a war zone as his sicarios mercilessly murdered thousands of people - competitors, police and civilians - to ensure he remained Colombia's reigning kingpin. With billions in personal income, Escobar bought off politicians and lawmen and became a hero to poorer communities by building houses and sports centres. He was untouchable. But when Escobar became one of America's most wanted, agents Steve Murphy and Javier F Pena were tasked with ending his reign of terror. For eighteen months, Steve and Javier lived and worked beside Colombian authorities, finding themselves in the crosshairs of sicarios who were targeting them for the $300,000 bounty Escobar placed on their heads. Undeterred, they risked the dangers, relentlessly and ruthlessly separating the drug lord from his resources and allies, tearing apart his empire, and sending him underground and on the run from enemies on both sides of the law. From their rigorous physical training and early assignments in Miami and Austin, to the Colombian mission that would make their names, Manhuntersis the jaw-dropping true story of how the world's most infamous narcoterrorist was finally put out of business. * "Riveting. A must-read for anyone interested in one of the major campaigns on the war on drugs." Publishers Weekly "A thriller-esque account...keep[s] the pages turning." Kirkus Reviews "A gripping insider account of the hunt for Pablo Escobar. Brilliant, bold, and no holds barred, this is an impeccable true crime story, told by the two brave men who risked everything to bring down the world's first narco-terrorist. A five-star read!" Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author of 'Spymaster' "Manhunters is a riveting account of two brave DEA Agents who put their lives, along with their families lives, on the line to fight the war on drugs in the US and Colombia. A must read on the take down of Pablo Escobar and the part they played in the investigation." Joe Pistone, a.k.a. Donnie Brasco "A fast-paced tale by two agents for the DEA who had the inside track on bringing down the most wanted man in recent U.S history." Bruce Porter, New York Times bestselling author of 'Blow' and 'Snatched' "Manhunters is a gripping story about two true patriots who were the difference makers in the final hunt for Pablo Escobar. They are heroes to a world that was otherwise held captive by the evil of the planet's first narco-terrorist. Their bravery is unparalleled, and we owe them a great deal of gratitude for their selfless sacrifices. It is an honor to know them and their story." ?Robert Mazur, New York Times bestselling author of The Infiltrator "Steve and Javier's experience on the front lines of the war on drugs over the last thirty years made them an invaluable source of information for us. Their contacts, both foreign and domestic, allowed us to put together a narrative of one of the most complex, poorly reported, and misunderstood chapters in our recent past." Eric Newman, Executive Producer, 'Narcos' "Steve Murphy and Javier Pena recount their involvement in the pursuit and ultimate victory over a savvy and ruthless killer who declared an uncivil war against his own country. Never failing to credit Colombian heroism in this gripping struggle, Murphy and Pena offer fresh details of the chase for Pablo Escobar that resulted in his defeat and reclamation of the country from the deadly forces of narco-terrorism. A must-read for any fan of Narcos!" Chris Brancato, Executive Producer, 'Narcos' "Steve Murphy and Javier Pena are the real deal; true heroes of the drug war. Manhunters outlines the most important operation in the history of DEA; the killing of the most brutal and notorious drug lord in the world, Pablo Escobar. They give an incredible account of that day in Medellin, Colombia, when Pablo was killed by Colombian police that were supported, advised, and trained by these two American warriors who were on the scene when it all happened. This book is a great read and a critical account of DEA's finest hour." LTG (Ret.) William G. Boykin, Former Commander of U.S. Army Special Forces and Founding Member of Delta Force "Manhunters grabs you from the first page and gives you a front-row seat into the harrowing inter-agency and international hunt for the brutal narcotrafficker Pablo Escobar. Two unlikely heroes recount their stories in a way that is both compelling and captivating." Congresswoman Mary Bono "A compelling read about the adventures of two true American law enforcement heroes who ultimately took on the world's first narco-terrorist, the world's most wanted criminal, the world's largest cocaine baron, Pablo Escobar, and won! They include accounts of other investigations, personal challenges, and the sacrifices made not only by them but their families as well." Barbara Comstock, former VA congresswoman

Winner of the Washington State Book Award for Memoir "Extraordinarily suspenseful and truly gut-wrenching. . . . A must-read."--Gillian Flynn, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Gone Girl In this superb work of literary true crime--a spellbinding combination of memoir and psychological suspense--a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search to understand the darkness inside us. "Well, well, Claudia. Can I call you Claudia? I'll have to give it to you, when confronted at least you're honest, as honest as any reporter. . . . You want to go into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want a peek into yours. It is only fair, isn't it?"--Kendall Francois In September 1998, young reporter Claudia Rowe was working as a stringer for the New York Times in Poughkeepsie, New York, when local police discovered the bodies of eight women stashed in the attic and basement of the small colonial home that Kendall Francois, a painfully polite twenty-seven-year-old community college student, shared with his parents and sister. Growing up amid the safe, bourgeois affluence of New York City, Rowe had always been secretly fascinated by the darkness, and soon became obsessed with the story and with Francois. She was consumed with the desire to understand just how a man could abduct and strangle eight women--and how a family could live for two years, seemingly unaware, in a house with the victims' rotting corpses. She also hoped to uncover what humanity, if any, a murderer could maintain in the wake of such monstrous evil. Reaching out after Francois was arrested, Rowe and the serial killer began a dizzying four-year conversation about cruelty, compassion, and control; an unusual and provocative relationship that would eventually lead her to the abyss, forcing her to clearly see herself and her own past--and why she was drawn to danger.

This exciting true-crime compendium brings together the details of a range of more than 50 challenging criminal cases that were either only recently solved or remain unsolved despite intensive investigations and appeals to the public. Many investigations end up as 'cold cases' when files are closed, but DNA advances and other new forensic technologies are causing more and more dormant files to be reopened. DNA has also overturned many guilty verdicts, and each time a prisoner has his or her conviction quashed, another unsolved crime is created. Famous Cold Cases presents each case in a dossier format that describes the crime and lays out the clues collected by investigators. Each chapter concentrates on a specific criminal activity and has numerous vivid case examples arranged chronologically and boxes highlighting famous cases, techniques used to solve them, why the trails went cold - and how, in some cases, the crime was solved. From murders and assassinations to kidnappings, robberies and fraud, Famous Cold Cases invites the reader to review each case, analyze the evidence and arrive at the most probable solution.

Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981.  Was it murder or self-defense?  For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares.  John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction.  Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.

It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight.  These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience.  Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city has become a modern classic.

The Daughters of Juarez will be the first, major non-fiction work to examine the Juarez murders. In it, authors Rodriguez, Montane and Pulitzer will focus on retelling the stories of these missing women, and of their families' plight to find the killer or killers responsible. As this story begins to land on the front pages of national papers such as The New York Times, The Daughters of Juarez will become a staple of required reading, for years to come.

Six women - mothers, daughters, sisters - gone missing. Inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, this is the story of two sisters, both of whom could be the next victims. Arcade and Daffodil are twin sisters born one minute apart. With their fiery red hair and thirst for an escape, they form an unbreakable bond nurtured by their grandmother's stories. Together they disappear into their imagination and forge a world where a patch of grass reveals an archaeologist's dig, the smoke emerging from the local paper mill becomes the dust rising from wild horses galloping deep beneath the earth, and an abandoned 1950s convertible transforms into a time machine that can take them anywhere. But no matter how hard they try, Arc and Daffy can't escape the generational ghosts that haunt their family. And so, left to fend for themselves in the shadow of their rural Ohio town, the two sisters cling tight to one another. Years later, as the sisters wrestle with the memories of their early life, a local woman is discovered dead in the river. Soon, more bodies are left floating in the water, and as the killer circles ever closer, Arc's promise to keep herself and her sister safe becomes increasingly desperate - and the powerful riptide of the savage side more difficult to survive. Drawing from the true story of women killed in Chillicothe, Ohio, acclaimed novelist and poet Tiffany McDaniel has written a moving literary testament and fearless elegy for missing women everywhere. PRAISE FOR TIFFANY McDANIEL'S BETTY 'A coming-of-age story filled with magic in language and plot' Observer 'Breahtaking' Vogue 'I felt consumed by this book. I loved it, you will love it' Daisy Johnson 'A page-turning Appalachian coming-of-age story told in undulating prose that settles right into you' Naoise Dolan 'Vivid and lucid, Betty has stayed with me' Kiran Millwood Hargrave

The true story of the life and mysterious murder of the most talked-about and glamorous member of Kenya' s notorious Happy Valley set. Since Josslyn Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll, was discovered dead in his car with a bullet through his head just outside Nairobi in 1941, speculation has not ceased as to the culprit and motive for his murder. The authorities seemed satisfied with the highly sensationalised trial of the only suspect, Jock Broughton, the cuckolded husband of Erroll's last lover, Diana. A not-guilty verdict was returned after a baffling display of confusing evidence and clumsy police work. Trzebinski, who has lived in Kenya for 30 years, was not satisfied with the conflicting gossip on the case, none of whose evidence adds up, including that of the celebrated White Mischief by James Fox. In this gripping evocation of a glamorous, decadent and sinister life, Trzebinski uses her renowned biographer's skill to unlock the mystique surrounding the man, and the mystery enveloping his death. Her investigations lead her to astonishing conclusions about the true motive for his murder and a conspiracy of confusion that finds its source in Whitehall's War Office.

An anthology of the work of Tony Parker. Described as the "Mayhew of his times", his work spans the 1960s to the 1990s and he speaks intimately to all kinds of offenders, inadequates, professional criminals, sex offenders, frauds and false pretence merchants. This collection of Tony Parker's work, selected by him shortly before his death in 1996, provides the very essence of his contribution. The introduction by Professor Terence Morris locates Parker within the criminological tradition. There are six major parts to the book: "Inadequates" - the stage army of offenders who keep returning to prison; "Villainy" - a way of life on professional criminals; "Some Answers to a Question What Should a Judge Do With You?"; "Nonces" - on sex offenders; "Frauds and False Merchants"; "At Deaths Door" - those sentenced to death or to life imprisonment for murder. In the final section, some of Tony Parker's prescriptions for interviewing are set out and Lyn Smith concludes with some reflections on his methodology.

CLASH OF THE CLANS is a story that traces the emergence of the Irish mafia from the streets of Dublin to the highest echelons of global organised crime and right into the heart of professional boxing. When a weigh-in turns into a gangland bloodbath, the tables begin to turn on the powerful Kinahan Organised Crime Group. But is it too late to tame the beast or can the law finally catch up with the mob? Bestselling author and award-winning crime journalist Nicola Tallant brings the reader on her own journey of discovery as she delves into the dangerous underworld where a golden era of cocaine turned a brat pack of street dealers into an international mafia. With a unique insight into the rise of mob and its reach into boxing through a tapestry of confidential informants and some too-close-for-comfort experiences, Tallant brings to life one of the most extraordinary stories in modern organised crime. Following the trail from the local authority estates of the Irish capital to the gilded mansions of Dubai, Clash of the Clans: The Inside Story of the Kinahan-Hutch Gangland Feud powers through the intriguing tale of the cocaine cowboys and the rivalries that threaten to bring down an empire.

This anthology, selected by Tony Parker shortly before his death in 1996, provides the very essence of his quite distinctive contribution to criminology. In it he speaks intimately to all kinds of people including offenders, inadequates, professional criminals, sex offenders, frauds and false pretence merchants and prisoners on death row. Lyn Smith concludes with some reflections on his methodology.
This collection celebrates an outstanding body of work and provides a fascinating insight into the criminal mind and experience. It will be compelling reading not only for those studying criminology, probation or prison studies, but also for the interested general reader.

A gripping tale of personal revolution by a man who went from Crips co-founder to Nobel Peace Prize nominee, author, and antigang activist

When his L.A. neighborhood was threatened by gangbangers, Stanley Tookie Williams and a friend formed the Crips, but what began as protection became worse than the original gangs. From deadly street fights with their rivals to drive-by shootings and stealing cars, the Crips' influence -- and Tookie's reputation -- began to spread across L.A. Soon he was regularly under police surveillance, and, as a result, was arrested often, though always released because the charges did not stick. But in 1981, Tookie was convicted of murdering four people and was sent to death row at San Quentin in Marin County, California.

Tookie maintained his innocence and began to work in earnest to prevent others from following his path. Whether he was creating nationwide peace protocols, discouraging adolescents from joining gangs, or writing books, Tookie worked tirelessly for the rest of his life to end gang violence. Even after his death, his legacy continues, supported by such individuals as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Snoop Dogg, Jesse Jackson, and many more.

This posthumous edition of "Blue Rage, Black Redemption" features a foreword by Tavis Smiley and an epilogue by Barbara Becnel, which details not only the influence of Tookie's activism but also her eyewitness account of his December 2005 execution, and the inquest that followed.

By turns frightening and enlightening, "Blue Rage, Black Redemption" is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and an invaluable lesson in how rage can be turned into redemption.

Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty, the former CIA operative known as "X," offers a history-shaking perspective on the assassination of president John F. Kennedy. His theories were the basis for Oliver Stone's controversial movie "JFK." Prouty believed that Kennedy's death was a coup d'etat, and he backs this belief up with his knowledge of the security arrangements at Dallas and other tidbits that only a CIA insider would know (for example, that every member of Kennedy's cabinet was abroad at the time of Kennedy's assassination). His discussion of the elite power base he believes controlled the U.S. government will scare and enlighten anyone who wants to know who was really behind the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

From the co-author of KGB: The Inside Story and an acknowledged authority on the subject comes "the most important book ever written about American intelligence."--David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers and Hitler's Spies

"Spieler offers a portrait of an erratic, unstable woman with a protean capacity to shift identities, with the 1960s and '70s as a dramatic backdrop. Fans of true crime accounts or contemporary history will savor this." Publishers Weekly President Gerald Ford suffered two attempts on his life during his term in office: one by a young woman in Charles Manson's Family, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, and the other by a far more unlikely candidate-an average middle-aged mother of five-Sara Jane Moore. After thirty years in contact with Moore in prison, journalist Geri Spieler deconstructs her life in Housewife Assassin, tracing the path from Moore's small-town upbringing in West Virginia to that fateful moment when she tried to assassinate the president. Throughout Moore's dodgy life she hid her identity and misled those around her. Through the turbulent 60s and 70s, she married five times, abandoned children, faked amnesia, befriended Patty Hearst's father, became a revolutionary, and worked as an FBI informant turned double agent feeding information to the underground radicals, all before the assassination attempt. From Spieler's insider correspondence and independent research, including interviews with President Ford himself, she confirms details (the gunshot missed the President's head by six inches) and debunks others (Sara Jane did not "shoot wild" as the press had reported) to deliver a compelling profile of a society lady turned elusive assassin.

An Austro-Hungarian with a dark streak, Victor Lustig was a man of athletic good looks, with a taste for larceny and foreign intrigue. He spoke six languages and went under nearly as many aliases in the course of a continent-hopping life that also saw him act as a double (or possibly triple) agent. Along the way, he found time to dupe an impressive variety of banks and hotels on both sides of the Atlantic; to escape from no fewer than three supposedly impregnable prisons; and to swindle Al Capone out of thousands of dollars, while living to tell the tale. Undoubtedly the greatest of his hoaxes was the sale, to a wealthy but gullible Parisian scrap-metal dealer, of the Eiffel Tower in 1925. In a narrative that thrills like a crime caper, best-selling biographer Christopher Sandford tells the whole story of the greatest conman of the twentieth century.

In this incredible and moving memoir, a mother tells of her fight for justice to convict her daughter's murderer for a crime that he thought could never be punished. When her 22-year-old daughter, Julie, went missing in the night, Ann Ming was certain she had been murdered. Three months later she found her child's decomposing body behind a bath panel. A violent local man, Billy Dunlop, was tried for her murder but a series of blunders allowed him to walk free. Knowing he could not be tried again under the law of Double Jeopardy, he callously bragged about his 'perfect crime'. But Dunlop had not reckoned on Ann Ming... This is the extraordinary story of a fight for justice which she never gave up. A moving account of courage and determination, showing how much a mother's love can achieve.

A #1 Wall Street Journal, Amazon Charts, USA Today, and Washington Post bestseller. #1 New York Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen's shocking and empowering true-crime story of three sisters determined to survive their mother's house of horrors. After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle's talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now. For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother's dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders. Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor's story of absolute evil-and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and Tori risked their lives to fight for. Sisters forever, victims no more, they found a light in the darkness that made them the resilient women they are today-loving, loved, and moving on.

Delve into the dark and dangerous side of humanity with this intriguing collection of artifacts and ephemera relating to some of the world's most infamous criminals and criminal acts. From an 18th Century hangman's noose to Charles Manson's cremation ashes, a document signed by Lizzie Borden and the circular saw confiscated from the home of The Kansas City Butcher - many of these pieces will be shown outside private collections for the very first time. This unique book offers a rare opportunity to explore numerous personal archives, showcasing murder weapons, crime scene photography, police files, diaries, letters and other criminal ephemera, alongside the fascinating and often disturbing stories behind them. Meet the collectors with unique and privileged access to dozens of dangerous and disturbed perpetrators, including Gacy, Bundy, Dahmer, Ramirez, Berkowitz and Shawcross, and discover new insights into their troubling psychology and infamous crimes.

For decades osteopathic physician Larry Nassar built a sterling reputation as the go-to doctor for America's Olympians while treating hundreds of others at his office on Michigan State University's campus. Parents and coaches entrusted their children to Nassar's care-only for him to use that trust to manipulate and sexually abuse hundreds of girls and young women under the guise of medical treatment. In Start by Believing, John Barr and Dan Murphy confront Nassar's acts, as well as the epic institutional failures and individuals who enabled him--failures whose consequences continue to play out in the legal system. It is an account of a corrupted culture with rules and rituals all its own: the dysfunctional and high-pressured world of club level and elite gymnastics, where young girls are trained in atmospheres of fear and intimidation; a world where Larry Nassar was protected by enablers more interested in an institution's image than the well-being of young people. Above all, this book is the story of the women, individuals of uncommon grit and perseverance-including an unlikely pairing of a once-shy Christian mother and an outspoken former Olympic medallist-who bravely spoke out and brought a criminal and his enablers to justice.

For these men and women, it isn't just a job. It's a calling. PROTECT They are our eyes. Our ears. Our protectors. Those who wear a badge, doing their best to help people. SERVE These cops serve their communities. They serve their country. They're in the business of saving lives-even at the risk of their own. DEFEND These patrol officers and K9 handlers, sheriffs and detectives reveal what it's really like to wear the uniform, to carry the weight of the responsibility they've been given. American Cops is the extraordinary first-person account of America's police force. _____________________________ Praise for James Patterson 'The master storyteller of our times' Hillary Rodham Clinton 'James Patterson is the gold standard by which all others are judged' Steve Berry 'No one gets this big without natural storytelling talent' Lee Child 'Nobody does it better' Jeffrey Deaver 'James Patterson is The Boss. End of.' Ian Rankin