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Books > Fiction > True stories > Crime
In 1969, James Nelson confessed to murder, served a prison sentence, then applied to be ordained as a minster in the Scottish Church (The Kirk). The case split the church in two, and challenged the institution to consider its most basic functions, obligations and duties. Part of the problem was that James Nelson's crime was no ordinary crime. The bible has a lot to say about murder, but not about this particular variety of murder. Stuart Kelly uses the case of Nelson to write a compelling history of the church in Scotland, of biblical and literary accounts of forgiveness and sin. The Minister and The Murderer is a gripping piece of literary detective work weaving textual analysis with memoir and narrative non-fiction. This is a book of soul-searching and speculation, deep thinking and fine writing. It is a knotty, riveting and mind-expanding investigation of truth and faith.
With an introduction by Rory Stewart Winner of the Guardian First Book award, a first-hand account one of the defining outrages of modern history. All at once, as it seemed, something we could have only imagined was upon us - and we could still only imagine it. This is what fascinates me most in existence: the peculiar necessity of imagining what is, in fact, real. In 1994, the Rwandan government orchestrated a campaign of extermination, in which everyone in the Hutu majority was called upon to murder everyone in the Tutsi minority. Close to a million people were slaughtered in a hundred days, and the rest of the world did nothing to stop it. A year later, Philip Gourevitch went to Rwanda to investigate the most unambiguous genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Hailed by the Guardian as one of the hundred greatest nonfiction books of all time, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families is a first-hand account one of the defining outrages of modern history, an unforgettable anatomy of Rwanda's decimation. As riveting as it is moving, it is a profound reckoning with humanity's betrayal and its perseverance.
From John Douglas-the legendary FBI criminal profiler, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for the Netflix show Mindhunter-comes a chilling journey inside the mind and crimes of Larry Gene Bell, one of the most dangerous serial killers Douglas confronted, and the desperate effort to identify and catch him. On May 31, 1985, two days before her high school graduation, Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home in South Carolina. Based on the crime scene and the abductor's repeated and taunting calls to the family, law enforcement quickly realized they were dealing with a sophisticated and highly dangerous criminal. A letter arrived the next day entitled "Last Will & Testament," in which Shari, knowing she was to be murdered, wrote bravely and achingly of her love for her parents, siblings, and boyfriend, saying that while they would miss her, she knew they would persevere through their faith. The abduction rocked her quiet town, triggering a massive manhunt and bringing in the FBI, which enlisted profiler John Douglas. A few days later, a phone call told the family where they could find Shari's body. Then nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her yard, confirming the harsh realization that Smith's murder was no random act. A serial killer was evolving, and the only way to stop him would be to use the study of criminal behavior to anticipate his next move before he could kill again. Douglas devised a risky and emotionally fraught strategy to use Shari's lookalike older sister Dawn as bait to draw out the unknown subject. Dawn and her parents courageously agreed. One of the most haunting investigations of Douglas's storied career, this case details how the eerily accurate profile he created-alongside his carefully crafted and stage-managed manipulation of the killer's psychology-combined with dedicated police work and cutting-edge forensic science to end a reign of criminal terror. As Shari's family took incredible personal risks to lure her killer from the shadows, Douglas and the FBI pushed criminal profiling to its limits, culminating in one of his most dramatic and effective confrontations with a sadistic and remorseless killer.
Booby Kent was a bully--a steroid-pumped 20-year-old who dominated his peers in their comfortable, middle-class Ft. Lauderdale beach community through psychological, physical and sexual abuse. But on a summer night in 1993, Bobby was lured to the edge of the Florida everglades with a promise of sex and drugs. . .and was never seen alive again. The tormentor had become the victim in a bizarre and brutal act of vengeance carried out with ruthless efficiency and cold-blooded premeditation by seven of his high school acquaintances--including his lifelong best friend--and instigated by one overweight, underloved teenager who believed her life would be perfect. . .if only Bobby Kent were dead. BULLY is a riveting story of adolescent rage and bloody revenge--all the more harrowing and horrific because its true.
"Absorbing . . . Riveting . . . A legal thriller."--Kevin Boyle, "The New York Times Book Review" Following the Civil War, Colfax, Louisiana, was a town like many where African Americans and whites mingled uneasily. But on April 13, 1873, a small army of white ex-Confederate soldiers, enraged after attempts by freedmen to assert their new rights, killed more than sixty African Americans who had occupied a courthouse. Seeking justice for the slain, one brave U.S. attorney, James Beckwith, risked his life and career to investigate and punish the perpetrators--but they all went free. What followed was a series of courtroom dramas that culminated at the Supreme Court, where the justices' verdict compromised the victories of the Civil War and left Southern blacks at the mercy of violent whites for generations. "The Day Freedom Died" is a riveting historical saga that captures a gallery of characters from presidents to townspeople, and re-creates the bloody days of Reconstruction, when the often brutal struggle for equality moved from the battlefield into communities across the nation.
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.
"This book is a veritable powerhouse that shatters, in one instant, the wall of lies and deceit that took decades to build upon our impressionable minds. Stamper's ability to explain complex legal and political information in a comprehensive yet concise manner is without equal. Like a master sculptor he has chipped away the 'Words of Art and Deception' to reveal the inescapable and undeniable Truth. This book has single-handedly bared the cleverly crafted schemes of a Power-lusting Elite." Paul Nash, DC, ND, CCN, ACU, Holistic Medicine, Minneapolis "If only a portion of what this researcher has discovered is verifiable, we as a nation of free people must hang our heads in shame. The future generations will not forgive us or forget the terrible injustice we have let befall them." Fred Diaulas, Professor of Ethics, University of North Florida "In 1954 I began my legal practice as an assistant district attorney in the city of Miami. We switched from common law pleading to statutory pleading and no one asked why. Now I know the answer, and it depresses me to no end." Ralph G. Mitchell, JD, Attorney at Law, St. Augustine, Florida.
WPC Bloggs is a real-life Bridget Jones - with handcuffs, CS gas and sensible shoes. 'Diary of an On-Call Girl' offers an hilarious, insider's look at modern day policing - the first to be written by a serving woman officer - where days are spent dealing with bolshy teenagers, violent drunks and wolf-whistling yobs.
This title presents a major investigation into the biggest drug smuggling empire in Europe and the ruthless crime clans who control international heroin trafficking.
"North Soho 999" is a surprisingly topical non-fiction account of the murder that came to symbolise the crimewave threatening to overwhelm post-war London. Set in bomb-scarred London in 1947, it is the untold story of a Soho robbery and shooting carried out by a 17 year-old and his two young accomplices. The crime sparked worldwide press coverage and was associated with a single, potent image; a photograph of the dying man stretched across the pavement. Much of the press reaction at the time focused on the breakdown of law and order, rising youth crime, the spread of illegal firearms and the deterrent value of capital punishment - concerns that are frequently echoed today. "North Soho 999" concentrates on the hunt for the killers and the subsequent trial, with Willetts' approaching the story very much as Truman Capote did in his classic, "In Cold Blood". One of this country's biggest and most extraordinary murder-hunts, it brought together the pioneering forensic pathologist, Sir Bernard Spilsbury; the hangman, Albert Pierrepoint; the crusading journalist, Duncan Webb; and the Scotland Yard detective, Bob Fabian whose dazzling detective work led to the creation of "Fabian of the Yard", the world's first hit television cop show. It also led to a major appeal by "The Daily Mail" on behalf of the murder victim's family, questions in Parliament and the making of the film, "The Blue Lamp", a huge box office success starring Dirk Bogarde. Paul Willettts' last book, "Fear and Loathing in Fitzrovia", the biography of Julian Maclaren-Ross, received wide critical acclaim and was selected as a 'Book of the Year' by several national newspapers. Paul Willetts lives in Norwich.
In this vivid account, Ron Chepesiuk tells the story of the organised crime in Harlem through in-depth profiles of the major gangs and motley gangsters whose exploits made them legends.
Credited with superhuman intellect and abilities, the serial sex killer emerged in the 1980s as a dominant figure in American popular culture. In a decade marked by conservative politics and fundamental Protestantism, the serial killer was accused of attacking the traditional values underpinning American society and was used to manipulate public fear for political gain. Using government reports, trial transcripts, and correspondence, "Better to Reign in Hell" examines the people and events that led to and perpetuate this panic, notably President Ronald Reagan, the New Right, the FBI, and the media. As well as detailing high-profile cases such as those of Son of Sam and Ted Bundy, the book features interviews with law enforcement officers and convicted serial killers.
Among the most dangerous criminals of the public enemies era was a
man who has long hidden in history's shadows: Tom Brown. In the
early 1930s, while he was police chief of St. Paul, Minnesota,
Brown became a secret partner of the infamous Barker gang. He
profited from their violent crimes, he protected the gang from
raids by the nascent FBI--and while he did all this, the gangsters
gunned down cops and citizens in his hometown.
This is the shocking story of a doctor who was addicted to murder: a man who wickedly abused the trust of his patients with horrifying results. He was a pillar of the community: attentive, kind, never too busy to chat. Yet behind this charming facade lay Britain's most prolific serial killer, with at least 200 victims. Small, bespectacled Dr Shipman was making house calls - and then committing murder with bloodcurdling expertise and professionalism. He saw himself as playing God. This sensational book looks behind the man and reveals how, throughout his 25-year campaign of evil, Shipman continued to be a doting husband and father, trusted and adored by the majority of his patients. Evil Beyond Belief looks at how he was able to get away with murder for so long and - most important of all - why he was driven by a twisted, insatiable lust for death. It also looks at the events leading up to Shipman's suicide and examines the effect that this dramatic event had on the families of his numerous victims.
Northumberland Murder & Crime features twelve historic criminal cases that not only shocked the North East, but made headlines throughout the country. Spanning a period of nearly one hundred years, this book opens with the killing of Thomas Hamilton, whose body was discovered lying at the foot of the town's walls at Berwick-upon-Tweed. We have the wicked conspiracy by police officers at Edlingham, near Alnwick, resulting in two innocent men serving ten years' imprisonment; the case of John Dickman, hanged for shooting a man on the railway; Jocker Amos, who shot three people dead at the Sun Inn, Bedlington; Evelyn Foster, who burnt to death on the Ottercaps; and Albert Edward Matheson, who murdered 15-year-old Gordon Lockhart and buried his remains under the boxing ring at St James's Boxing and Wrestling Hall, Newcastle. Drawing on a wide selection of sources and illustrated with more than fifty images, this collection will appeal to everyone interested in true crime and the shadier side of Northumberland's past.
The twelve-year rampage of "Missoula Mauler" Wayne Nance-and the shocking end to his murder spree To his neighbors, Wayne Nance, a furniture mover from Missoula, Montana, appeared to be an affable, considerate, and trustworthy guy. No one knew that Nance was the "Missoula Mauler," a psychopath responsible for a series of sadistic sex slayings that rocked the idyllic town between 1974 and 1986. Nance's only requirement for murder was accessibility-a preacher's wife, a teenage runaway, a female acquaintance, a married couple. Putting on a friendly facade, he could easily gain his victims' trust. Then, one September night, thirty-year-old Nance pushed his luck, preying on a couple who lived to tell the tale. A true story with an incredible twist, written by former Wall Street Journal editor John Coston and complete with photos, To Kill and Kill Again reveals the disturbing compulsions of a charming serial killer who fooled everyone he knew, stumped the authorities, terrified a community, and nearly got away with it.
The story of the American Mafia is not complete without a chapter on Kansas City. Events unfolding in this city affected the fortunes of all the 'families', & shaped the entire underworld. In this book, Frank Hayde ties in every major name in organised crime as well as the corrupt Kansas City police force.
"Tragedy in Tin Can Holler" is a captivating must read true story of a family's past transgressions revealing a serial killer during the great depression, incest and child abuse, lies and betrayals and domestic violence buried for decades! The vicious murder of the author's mother haunted her for 48 years, but discovering the truth about her mother's murder was just the tip of the iceberg. Her story is spell-bounding as she unveils the hidden secrets that shocked the residents of 3 counties in southeast Tennessee.
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.
A veteran of the NYPD, Derrick Parker served as the lead detective in the Rap Intelligence Unit, the first special force devoted to hip hop crime. For over 20 years he covered the hip hop beat and uncovered the brutal truth behind some of music's most notorious crimes. This book tells Parker's amazing story. |
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