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Books > Fiction > True stories > Crime
"Chicago Tribune" editor Bill O'Connell O'Connell explores one of
the most heinous but least publicized crimes in Illinois history:
the 1968 abduction, sexual assault, and murder of fourteen-year-old
David Stukel by fourteen-year-old bullies Billy Rose Sprinkle and
James Perruquet. O'Connell-David Stukel's Little League
teammate-recalls the victim's idyllic childhood and takes readers
into the minds of the murderers and inside the homes, hearts, and
photo albums of the victim's family, whose grief is palpable a
generation after the crime. His research includes parole
interviews, inmate psychological reports and conversations with the
families of the murderers and the family of the victim.
"Fourteen" is a masterfully crafted, thoroughly insightful
account of the years leading up to, and the four decades since, the
unconscionable and unprovoked slaying of an innocent
ninety-five-pound high school freshman.
* PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY * The compelling and moving memoir of
forensic psychiatrist Dr Duncan Harding
Using the Peruvian internal armed conflict as a case study, this
book examines wartime rape and how it reproduces and reinforces
existing hierarchies. Jelke Boesten argues that effective responses
to sexual violence in wartime are conditional upon profound changes
in legal frameworks and practices, institutions, and society at
large.
Previously published as Becky, this is the heartbreaking story
behind the murder of 16-year-old Bristol schoolgirl Becky Watts, a
crime that shocked the nation and tore a family in two. A
vulnerable and shy girl, Becky Watts was brutally murdered and
dismembered by her own step-brother on 19 February 2015. As her
father Darren discovered the horrific details of what happened to
his darling girl, his world fell apart. Writing about the darkest
hours, Darren uncovers what Becky's relationship with her
step-brother Nathan, a child he had raised as his own son, was
really like. He recalls the devastation of discovering the truth
about the depravity with which Becky was torn from him in the
safety of her own home. And he recounts the torment of the legal
battle to see his step-son sentenced to life behind bars. Both
heartfelt and haunting, searingly honest and unflinching, this is
the ultimate story of a family tragedy.
When you think of serial killers throughout history, the names that
come to mind are ones like Jack the Ripper and Ted Bundy. But what
about Tillie Klimek, Moulay Hassan, Kate Bender? The narrative
we're comfortable with is the one where women are the victims of
violent crime, not the perpetrators. In fact, serial killers are
thought to be so universally, overwhelmingly male that in 1998, FBI
profiler Roy Hazelwood infamously declared in a homicide
conference, 'There are no female serial killers'. Lady Killers,
based on the popular online series that appeared on Jezebel and The
Hairpin, disputes that claim and offers fourteen gruesome examples
as evidence. Though largely forgotten by history, female serial
killers such as Erzsebet Bathory, Nannie Doss, Mary Ann Cotton, and
Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova rival their male counterparts in
cunning, cruelty, and appetite for destruction. Each chapter
explores the crimes and history of a different subject, and then
proceeds to unpack her legacy and her portrayal in the media, as
well as the stereotypes and sexist cliches that inevitably surround
her. The first book to examine female serial killers through a
feminist lens with a witty and dryly humorous tone, Lady Killers
dismisses easy explanations (she was hormonal, she did it for love,
a man made her do it) and tired tropes (she was a femme fatale, a
black widow, a witch), delving into the complex reality of female
aggression and predation. Featuring 14 illustrations from Dame
Darcy, Lady Killers is a bloodcurdling, insightful, and
irresistible journey into the heart of darkness.
Few women seek the profession of law enforcement and even less stay
until retirement. In Crossing the Line, the eighth woman ever to
retire from the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia offers
an in-depth glimpse into her life as a female police officer. When
Connie Novak was hired by the Fairfax County Police in 1979, there
were 700 sworn officers, of which just thirty were women. As Novak
chronicles the good and the evil, the lighthearted and the insane,
the humorous and the sad, she allows others to see what really goes
on behind the yellow police tape. From boot camp where she was
clobbered with a right hook and learned how to shoot a handgun and
shotgun, to the bulletproof vest that made her look like Dolly
Parton, to the gun belt that bruised her hips on a regular basis,
Novak tells a fascinating story of how she balanced a shift-based
career where personal sacrifice is expected with the demands of
motherhood where little people depended on her for everything.
Crossing the Line offers a compelling look into an honorable
profession where officers must be lifesavers, marriage counselors,
judges, and parents-all while keeping their emotions in check. This
is real life.
In this astonishing account, Iceberg Slim reveals the secret inner
world of the pimp, and the smells, sounds, fears and petty triumphs
of his world. A legendary figure of the Chicago underworld, this is
his story: from defending his mother against the men in their lives
to becoming a giant of the streets. A seething tale of brutality,
cunning and greed, Pimp is a harrowing portrait of life on the
wrong side of the tracks, and a rich warning from a true survivor.
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