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Books > Fiction > True stories > Crime
Taking up where 'Red Army General' left off, O'Neill begins with
Operation Mars, the massive undercover operation to trap United's
'top boys', and reveals the truth behind their headline-making
Crown Court trial and their eventual acquittal.
Death. It's not only inevitable and frightening, it's intriguing
and fascinating-especially today, when science continues to make
ever more stunning advances in the investigation of the oldest and
darkest of mysteries. To discover the how and why of death, unearth
its roots, and expose the mechanics of its grim handiwork is, at
least in some sense, to master it. And in the process, if a
criminal can be caught or closure found, so much the better.
Enter Robert Mann, forensic anthropologist, deputy scientific
director of the U.S. government's Central Identification
Laboratory, and, some might say, the Sherlock Holmes of death
detectives. When the dead reveal some of their most sensational,
macabre, and poignant tales, more often than not it's Mann who's
been listening. Now, in this remarkable casebook, he offers an
in-depth behind-the-scenes portrait of his sometimes gruesome,
frequently dangerous, and always compelling profession. In cases
around the world, Mann has been called upon to unmask killers with
nothing but the bones of their victims to guide him, draw out clues
that restore identities to the nameless dead, recover remains
thought to be hopelessly lost, and piece together the events that
can unlock the truth behind the most baffling deaths.
The infamous 9/11 terror attacks, which killed thousands; the
unplanned killing that inaugurated serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer's
grisly spree; mysterious military fatalities from World War II to
the Cold War to Vietnam, including the amazing case of the Vietnam
War's Unknown Soldier-all the fascinating stories are here, along
with photos from the author's personal files. Mystery hangings,
mass graves, errant body parts, actual skeletons in closets, and a
host of homicides steeped in bizarre clues and buried
secrets-they're all in a day's work for one dedicated detective
whose job begins when a life ends.
"From the Hardcover edition."
WINNER OF THE SUNDAY TIMES ALAN PATON AWARD
On 9 June 2003, a 43-year-old coloured man named Magadien Wentzel walked out of Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. Behind him lay a lifelong career in the 28s, South Africa's oldest and most reviled prison gang, for decades rumoured to have specialised in rape and robbery. In front of him lay the prospect of a law-abiding future, and life in a household of eight adults and six children, none of whom earned a living. Jonny Steinberg met Wentzel in prison in the dying months of 2002. By the time Wentzel was released, he and Steinberg had spent more than 50 hours discussing his life experiences.
The Number is an account of their conversations and of Steinberg's journeys to the places and people of Wentzel's past. Wentzel had lived a bewilderingly schizophrenic life, wandering to and fro between three worlds: the arcane universe of prison gangs, steeped in a mythology of banditry and retribution, where he was known as JR; the fringes of South Africa's criminal economy, where he lived by a string of stolen names and learned the arts of commercial fraud; and his scattered family which eked out a living int the coloured ghettos of the Cape flats. The Number visits each of those worlds in turn. It is a tale of modern South Africa's historic events seen through the eyes of the country's underclass.
Surprisingly, perhaps, it is neither a story of passivity nor despair, but of beguiling ingenuity and cool cynicism. Most of all, the book is an account of memory and identity, of Wentzel's project to make some sense of his bewildering past and something worthy of his future. When Steinberg met him, Wentzel was embarking on a quest to retrieve the name he had been given at birth. He was also beginning the daunting task of gathering together the estranged children he had sired into a nuclear family. It was an eccentric and painful venture for a man with his past, but it has led him to construct an account of himself that begs to be told.
Very few women are wartime rapists. Very few women issue commands
to commit sexual violence. Very few women play a role in making war
plans that feature the intentional sexual violation of other women.
This book is about those very few women. Women as Wartime Rapists
reveals the stories of female perpetrators of sexual violence and
their place in wartime conflict, legal policy, and the punishment
of sexual violence. More broadly, Laura Sjoberg asks, what do the
actions and perceptions of female perpetrators of sexual violence
reveal about our broader conceptions of war, violence, sexual
assault, and gender? This book explores specific historical case
studies, such as Nazi Germany, Serbia, the contemporary case of
ISIS, and others, to understand how and why women participate in
rape during war and conflict. Sjoberg examines the contrast between
the visibility of female victims and the invisibility of female
perpetrators, as well as the distinction between rape and genocidal
rape, which is used as a weapon against a particular ethnic or
national group. Further, she explores women's engagement with
genocidal rape and how some orchestrated the ethnic cleansing of
entire regions. A provocative approach to a sensationalized topic,
Women as Wartime Rapists offers important insights into not only
the topic of female perpetrators of wartime sexual violence, but to
larger notions of gender and violence with crucial cultural, legal,
and political implications.
One killer is horrible, but two--words cannot even begin to
describe the horror that two killers can bring. In fact, there's
only one thing worse: two killers in love This book profiles 15
couples you'd never want to go on a double date with This is volume
2 of the popular series
Guilty as charged. If reading true crime is a guilty pleasure, this
collection of stunning heists and unspeakable murders from the
front pages of history will leave no doubt about the verdict. Three
unsuspecting men's lives cut short at the hands of their lovers in
Gangland Chicago, a mysterious and murderous trapper chased across
unforgiving Arctic mountains in sub-zero temperatures, a notorious
band of outlaws' ill-fated bank robbery, a little-known but starkly
detailed look at Lizzie Borden's handiwork with her famous ax, a
body in a trunk and a suspect halfway across the world thinking
he's pulled it off are among the enticing and unsettling tales in
this arresting collection. Here are stories sure to intrigue and
shock readers and put them on the edges of their seats. That's the
point after all, and The Greatest Crime Stories Ever Told will not
disappoint. From a first-person account of the infamous Lufthansa
robbery that netted millions, to the beguiling society bank robber
so confident he broke into the same New York City bank twice to
pull off the biggest haul in history, to the mysterious and brutal
murders of a quiet farm family in a close-knit but suspicious
community that offered an unusual number of suspects, The Greatest
Crime Stories Ever Told is a fascinating and darkly enticing
contribution to the wildly popular true crime genre. Here are not
only the suspects, obvious or not, but the detectives who wanted
them in prison and were willing to put their own lives at risk to
do so. Did the perpetrators get away with their perfidies? Did the
rule of law prevail in the end? Were the right people caught and
prosecuted? Readers will have to decide for themselves.
Venture back to the Hudson Valley of 1912 in this unique look at a
salacious historical murder. The Grace murder was Walden's "Lizzie
Borden" case, and author Lisa Melville offers a fascinating
snapshot of a village's past as she chronicles one of the most
infamous murders of its time. Murder was a rare occurrence in the
small village of Walden, New York, 60 miles north of Manhattan. The
Grace case was scandalous, involving sex, lies and a violent murder
which rocked Walden, a small riverside community known for
manufacturing knives. The "Lizzie Borden" case is still one of the
most famous murder cases in America. The Grace case possessed
similarly startling characteristics to the Borden case in the
violence of the murder and family connection, but it also involved
bigamy. Grace not only abandoned his first wife and three children,
but he married a second woman and left her while she was pregnant
with their child. He also stole her family's money to make his
escape. Grace used this money to help finance a new life for
himself in Walden, a life that included yet another wife. Despite
the titillating facts of the murder, the Grace case has nearly been
forgotten. Until now.
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George N. Rumanes
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George N. Rumanes, who now lives in Los Angeles with his family,
is a writer who works in the film industry. His second novel, The
Man With The Black Worrybeads, a worldwide best seller, will be
filmed in Hollywood, Greece and North Africa.
During the past seven years, Mr. Rumanes wrote five original
camera ready screenplays and he is now finishing, Between the Palm
and the Cypress Trees, his next novel.
THE SCREENPLAYS:
The Land of Gods and Lovers
Vector One
Mystery George
Malvasia
Two Ladies and the Mob
A lifeless newborn baby is found discarded in a motel Dumpster.
Authorities quickly arrest the infant's teenage parents, charging
them with murder. Did Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson, in fact,
murder their own baby? Tammy Wynette died suddenly at a relatively
young age, and yet no autopsy was performed? Was someone trying to
hide the real cause of death? Did Sam Sheppard (later dubbed "The
Fugitive" based on a television series) really kill his wife? And
if not, who committed the murder? Things are not always as they
appear, as world-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht
shows in this riveting behind-the-scenes look at nine famous cases.
In the nationally known baby case involving Amy Grossberg and Brian
Peterson, Dr. Wecht reviews the evidence and comes to a startling
conclusion. In fascinating detail, he demonstrates how the tools of
forensic pathology often uncover murky, long-hidden secrets that
crack seemingly unsolvable crimes. Writing in the first-person Dr.
Wecht leads you into the heart of the investigation, focusing each
chapter on a single engrossing drama. He reveals the most startling
evidence that shows why JonBenet Ramsey's killer most likely came
from within her home, why O.J. Simpson probably had an accomplice
in the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman, shocking
revelations about Robert Berdella's grisly torture and sex-abuse
crimes against young men, and many intriguing facts about other
infamous cases. If you find the fictional plots of such dramas as
C.S.I. exciting, you will be amazed by the true stories told by Dr.
Wecht, with the help of two top-flight veteran reporters, Greg
Saitz and Mark Curriden, in this amazing real-life thriller. As
this intriguing page-turner proves, the science of forensic
pathology has changed the face of detective work forever. From the
Trade Paperback edition.
"This is an extraordinary and ground-breaking book, a wonderfully
creative mix of fact and theory, imagination and drama. Anyone with
an interest in law, history, or, for that matter, great
storytelling will fall in love with A Death at Crooked Creek. The
startling origin of the complex 'intention exception' to the
hearsay evidence rule becomes canvas on which a grand and
marvelously detailed tale is told. This is modern narrative at its
best: a marriage of spectacular writing and hard, documented truth
presented by a brilliant author who doubles as a gifted and
fastidious legal scholar and historian." -Andrew Popper, American
University One winter night in 1879, at a lonely Kansas campsite
near Crooked Creek, a man was shot to death. The dead man's
traveling companion identified him as John Hillmon, a cowboy from
Lawrence who had been attempting to carve out a life on the
blustery prairie. The case might have been soon forgotten and the
apparent widow, Sallie Hillmon, left to mourn-except for the
$25,000 life insurance policies Hillmon had taken out shortly
before his departure. The insurance companies refused to pay on the
policies, claiming that the dead man was not John Hillmon, and
Sallie was forced to take them to court in a case that would reach
the Supreme Court twice. The companies' case rested on a crucial
piece of evidence: a faded love letter written by a disappeared
cigarmaker, declaring his intent to travel westward with a "man
named Hillmon." In A Death at Crooked Creek, Marianne Wesson
re-examines the long-neglected evidence in the case of the Kansas
cowboy and his wife, recreating the court scenes that led to a
significant Supreme Court ruling on the admissibility of hearsay
evidence. Wesson employs modern forensic methods to examine the
body of the dead man, attempting to determine his true identity and
finally put this fascinating mystery to rest. This engaging and
vividly imagined work combines the drama, intrigue, and emotion of
excellent storytelling with cutting-edge forensic investigation
techniques and legal theory. Wesson's superbly imagined A Death at
Crooked Creek will have general readers, history buffs, and legal
scholars alike wondering whether history, and the Justices, may
have misunderstood altogether the events at that bleak winter
campsite.
Illuminates the life and image of one of New York City's most
fashionable criminals-Celia Cooney Ripped straight from the
headlines of the Jazz Age, The Bobbed Haired Bandit is a tale of
flappers and fast cars, of sex and morality. In the spring of 1924,
a poor, 19-year-old laundress from Brooklyn robbed a string of New
York grocery stores with a "baby automatic," a fur coat, and a
fashionable bobbed hairdo. Celia Cooney's crimes made national
news, with the likes of Ring Lardner and Walter Lippman writing
about her exploits for enthralled readers. The Bobbed Haired Bandit
brings to life a world of great wealth and poverty, of Prohibition
and class conflict. With her husband Ed at her side, Celia raised
herself from a life of drudgery to become a celebrity in her own
pulp-fiction novel, a role she consciously cultivated. She also
launched the largest manhunt in New York City's history,
humiliating the police with daring crimes and taunting notes.
Sifting through conflicting accounts, Stephen Duncombe and Andrew
Mattson show how Celia's story was used to explain the world, to
wage cultural battles, to further political interest, and above
all, to sell newspapers. To progressives, she was an example of
what happens when a community doesn't protect its children. To
conservatives, she symbolized a permissive society that gave too
much freedom to the young, poor, and female. These competing
stories distill the tensions of the time. In a gripping account
that reads like a detective serial, Duncombe and Mattson have
culled newspaper reports, court records, interviews with Celia's
sons, and even popular songs and jokes to capture what William
Randolph Hearst's newspaper called "the strangest, weirdest, most
dramatic, most tragic, human interest story ever told."
This glittering, "wild romp of a story, boldly and beautifully
told" (Neal Thompson, author of The First Kennedys) explores the
darkly intertwined fates of infamous socialite Ann Woodward and
literary icon Truman Capote, sweeping us to the upper echelons of
Manhattan's high society-where falls from grace are all the more
shocking. When Ann Woodward shot her husband, banking heir Billy
Woodward, in the middle of the night in 1955, her life changed
forever. Though she claimed she thought he was a prowler, few
believed the woman who had risen from charismatic showgirl to
popular socialite. Everyone had something to say about the
scorching scandal afflicting one of the most rich and famous
families of New York City, but no one was more obsessed with the
tale than Truman Capote. Acclaimed for his bestselling nonfiction
book In Cold Blood, Capote was looking for new material and
followed the scandal from beginning to end. Like Ann, he too had
ascended from nobody to toast of the town, but he always felt like
an outsider, even among the exclusive coterie of high society women
who adored him. He decided the story of Ann's turbulent marriage
would be the basis of his masterpiece-a novel about the dysfunction
and sordid secrets revealed to him by his high society
"swans"-never thinking that it would eventually lead to Ann's
suicide and his own scandalous downfall. "A 20th-century morality
tale of enduring fascination" (Laura Thompson, author of The
Heiresses), Deliberate Cruelty is a haunting cross between true
crime and literary history that is perfect for fans of Furious
Hours, Empty Mansions, and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
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