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Books > Fiction > True stories
New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice The shocking story of the massacre of a group of Nepalese men working as Defense contractors for the United States Government during the Iraq War, and the widow who dedicated her life to finding justice for her husband and the other victims-a riveting tale of courageous heroes, corporate war profiteers, international business, exploitation, trafficking, and human rights in the age of global capitalism that reveals how modern power truly works. In August of 2004, twelve men left their village in Nepal for jobs at a five-star luxury hotel in Amman, Jordan. They had no idea that they had actually been hired for sub-contract work on an American military base in Iraq. But fate took an even darker turn when the dozen men were kidnapped and murdered by Islamic extremists. Their gruesome deaths were captured in one of the first graphic execution videos disseminated on the web-the largest massacre of contractors during the war. Compounding the tragedy, their deaths received little notice. Why were these men, from a remote country far removed from the war, in Iraq? How had they gotten there? Who were they working for? Consumed by these questions, award-winning investigative journalist Cam Simpson embarked on a journey to find answers, a decade-long odyssey that would uncover a web of evil spanning the globe-and trigger a chain of events involving one brave young widow, three indefatigable human rights lawyers, and a formidable multinational corporation with deep governmental ties. A heart-rending, page-turning narrative that moves from the Himalayas to the Middle East to Houston and culminates in an epic court battle, The Girl from Kathmandu is a story of death and life-of the war in Iraq, the killings of the twelve Nepalese, a journalist determined to uncover the truth, and a trio of human rights lawyers dedicated to finding justice. At its heart is one unforgettable young woman, Kamala Magar, who found the courage to face the influential men who sent her husband to his death-a model of strength hope, bravery, and an unbreakable spirit who reminds us of the power we all have to make a difference.
Anita Biressi examines the historical origins and development of true crime and its evolution into distinctive contemporary forms. Embracing a range of non-fiction accounts including true crime books and magazines, law and order television, and popular journalism, Biressi traces how they harness and explore current concerns about law and order, crime and punishment, and personal vulnerability.
After September 11, 2001 Las Vegas Police Sergeant Randy Sutton
began soliciting writing from law enforcement officers-his goal
being to bridge the gap between the police and those they serve,
with a book that offers a broad and thoughtful look at the many
facets of police life. Hundreds of active and former officers
responded from all over the United States: men and women from big
cities and small towns, some who had written professionally, but
most for the first time. Sutton culled the selections into five
categories: The Beat, Line of Duty, War Stories, Officer Down, and
Ground Zero.
Death in a Texas Desert is a fast-paced collection of 17 compelling true crime stories from the pages of the award-winning The Dallas Observer. From the "Phantom Killer" that haunted Texarkana in teh mid-1940s to the day of terror in 1991 when a crazed man began spraying bullets into Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, author Carlton Stowers recoutns the infamy and infamous from the crime files of Texas.
The Nazis asked him to swear allegiance to Hitler, betraying his country, his friends, and everything he believed in. He refused. Poland, 1939. Professional photographer Wilhelm Brasse is deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and finds himself in a deadly race to survive, assigned to work as the camp's intake photographer and take "identity pictures" of prisoners as they arrive by the trainload. Brasse soon discovers his photography skills are in demand from Nazi guards as well, who ask him to take personal portraits for them to send to their families and girlfriends. Behind the camera, Brasse is safe from the terrible fate that so many of his fellow prisoners meet. But over the course of five years, the horrifying scenes his lens capture, including inhumane medical "experiments" led by Josef Mengele, change Brasse forever. Based on the true story of Wilhelm Brasse, The Auschwitz Photographer is a stark black-and-white reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust. This gripping work of World War II narrative nonfiction takes readers behind the barbed wire fences of the world's most feared concentration camp, bringing Brasse's story to life as he clicks the shutter button thousands of times before ultimately joining the Resistance, defying the Nazis, and defiantly setting down his camera for good.
A powerful memoir of overcoming adversity that will inspire you to find strength from within and shape your own destiny. Bharti Dhir faced many challenges in her childhood that could have broken her. As a baby, she was abandoned at a roadside in the Ugandan heat, and miraculously found by a passerby. By divine guidance, Bharti's adoptive mother was led to her hospital cot and welcomed Bharti into their Punjabi-Sikh family. Despite experiencing sexism and racism as an Asian-African girl, and developing an incurable skin condition, Bharti found hope through the fear and prejudice. Then, in 1972 when Idi Amin expelled Asians from Uganda, Bharti's family were forced to flee to the UK. She remembers the horrific moment when her adoptive mother was ordered, at gunpoint, to abandon Bharti because of the colour of her skin. With incredible courage, she refused, risking their lives to protect Bharti as her own. Throughout her struggles, Bharti retained faith in a divine power within all of us that gives us strength, protects us and loves us unconditionally. Years later, now a social worker specializing in child protection, Bharti lives in the UK with an adopted daughter of her own and has found her true purpose and sense of self-worth.
'Hugely insightful and thought provoking . . . I read it from cover to cover in one go' - Emilia Fox 'With characteristic brilliance and admirable sensitivity, Wilson illuminates the complex causes of their often horrific crimes' - Professor Simon Winlow, Vice President of the British Society of Criminology Professor David Wilson has spent his professional life working with violent men - especially men who have committed murder. Aged twenty-nine he became, at that time, the UK's youngest ever prison Governor in charge of a jail and his career since then has seen him sat across a table with all sorts of killers: sometimes in a tense interview; sometimes sharing a cup of tea (or something a little stronger); sometimes looking them in the eye to tell them that they are a psychopath. Some of these men became David's friends; others would still love to kill him. My Life with Murderers tells the story of David's journey from idealistic prison governor to expert criminologist and professor. With experience unlike any other, David's story is a fascinating and compelling study of human nature.
From January through October 2003, a group of individuals engaged in an in-depth discussion of the death of one of the 20th century's most beloved figures, Marilyn Monroe. The result is "The DD Group," the highly detailed work of author David Marshall. It chronicles Monroe's final day and her tragic and puzzling demise. Using available information including police reports, vintage magazine and newspaper accounts, documentaries and biographies, and correspondence with some of the principals in the case, the group had one purpose--to reconstruct the events of Monroe's last summer and reach an understanding of what likely took place on August 4, 1962. By verifying sources, considering agendas, and, above all else, applying logic, the DD Group was able to weed through the conflicting and often contradictory reports. Through careful research and study, they arrived at the most comprehensive understanding of the events surrounding Monroe's disturbing death.
A mesmerizing narrative about the rise and fall of an unlikely
international crime boss
Here is the story of Sante Kimes, a cold-blooded, calculating killer who lived according to her own mad rules, conned her way into millions with logic, cunning, and subterfuge and left a cross-country trail of bodies. Dragging her brain-washed and beloved son into her devious and passionate acquisition of houses, furs, and cars, she indoctrinated the boy into the subtle craft of thievery -- and murder. The focus of this book is the trial and conviction of Sante and Kenneth Kimes for the bizarre murder of Irene Silverman, whose New York mansion they were attempting to steal. The fascination lies in the amazing story of Sante Kimes -- a woman whose sociopathic tendencies know no bounds -- and whose dedication to evil has few equals.
How would you feel if you were convicted of a crime you did not commit? Would you lie down and do nothing? Would you accept the truth that the judicial system played out for you? Would you fight for the truth? Would you seek justice that isn t there for you? Would you do everything in your power to fight for your freedom? Or would you just allow the judicial system to tear your world apart? These are some of the things that I had to answer in my book Justice or just Us . . . You Decide. Justice or Just Us is an up close and personal account of the inadequacies of the judicial system on racial profiling. No matter what walk of life you come from, this can happen to you. It takes place in Eastbay, California in the city of Devils Bay. I was a 41yr old African American disabled woman that was wrongfully accused of a crime I did not commit. Before this happened in my life my record was clean. The charges were 2 counts of battery on a couple (man and woman). This couple befriended me, stole from me, lied about me, used me, and wanted to sue me to get money. On their last few days at living above me, they decided to put their plan into action. I walked out of my house, and was dragged into the bushes underneath the stairs at the apartments and beaten by them. As I lay there I am screaming bloody murder for they both were beating on my body, as I was begging someone to call the police, my poor black body was being brutally beaten. The Police told them to press charges against me. The Caucasian Officer said to me How dare you come into my town thinking you can beat up on my white women . At that point I knew I was in for a long hard, drug out fight of my life. In my story I will show you the evidence, the transcripts, all paperwork pertaining to this incident and bring you through the process. All I ask is to look at the evidence and decide for yourself if this was a fair verdict. From the Misrepresentation of Attorneys, to witnesses testimonies, to the unfair treatment at the hospital, to the inadequate judges in the trial and appeal process, all the way through to the sentencing and home monitoring. This book will take you through from the incident to the trial and beyond."
A TOP 10 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 SPORTS BOOK AWARDS LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 The incredible true story of four ordinary working mums from Yorkshire who took on an extraordinary challenge and broke a world record along the way. Janette, Frances, Helen and Niki, though all from Yorkshire, were four very different women, all juggling full time jobs alongside being mothers to each of their 2 children. They could never be described as athletes, but they were determined to be busy and the local Saturday morning rowing club was the perfect place to go to have a laugh and a gossip, get the blood pumping in the open air, and feel invigorated. Brought together by their love of rowing, they quickly became firm friends, and it wasn't long before they cooked up a crazy idea over a few glasses of wine: together, they were going to do something that fewer people than had gone into space or climbed Everest had succeeded in doing. They were going to cross 3,000 miles of treacherous ocean in the toughest row in the world, The Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Yes, they had children and husbands that they would be leaving behind for two months, yes they had businesses to run, mortgages to pay, responsibilities. And there was that little thing of them all being in their 40s and 50s. But two years of planning, preparation, fundraising, training and difficult conversations later, and they found themselves standing on the edge of the San Sebastian harbour in the Canary Islands, petrified, exhilarated and ready to head up the race of their lives. This is the story of how four friends together had the audacity to go on a wild, terrifying and beautiful adventure, not to escape life, but for life not to escape them.
Roald Amundsen records his race to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Amundsen's expertise enabled him to succeed where his predecessors, and competitors, did not. His rival Captain Robert F. Scott not only failed to reach the Pole first, but due to poor preparation and miscalculation died with the rest of his party on their return trip. The South Pole remains one of the greatest and most important books on polar exploration.
'The wartime spy career of Mathilde Carre - aka "the Cat" and "Agent Victoire" - is so extraordinary it almost defies belief' The Times 'A truly astonishing story, meticulously and brilliantly told' Philippe Sands, author of The Ratline RESISTANCE, COLLABORATION AND BETRAYAL Occupied Paris, 1940. A woman in a red hat and a black fur coat hurries down a side-street. She is Mathilde Carre, codenamed 'the Cat', later known as Agent Victoire. She is charismatic, daring, and a spy; her story is one of heroism and survival against the odds. These are the darkest days for France, half-occupied by Nazi Germany, half-governed by the collaborationist Vichy regime; and dark days for Britain, isolated and under threat of invasion. Yet Mathilde is driven by a sense of destiny that she will be her nation's saviour. With little training or support, Mathilde and her Polish collaborator, Roman Czerniawski, create a huge web of agents in a matter of weeks to form the first great Allied intelligence network of the Second World War. They risk torture and execution to deliver their coded reports, London's sole source of reliable information about the Occupation. But the 'Big Network' is threatened at every turn and when the Germans inevitably close in Mathilde makes a desperate compromise. She enters a hall of mirrors in which any bond is doubtful and every action could be fatal. Nobody is certain where her allegiances lie - her German handler, the founder of the Resistance she ensnares and the British who eventually succeed in extracting her on a fast boat all have to make their own calculations. Is she a double, possibly even a triple agent, and, if so, can she be trusted to turn yet again? Victoire is the story of a passionate, courageous spy but also of a fragile hero, desperate to belong - a portrait of patriotism and survival in momentous times. Drawing on a wide range of new and first-hand material, Roland Philipps has written a dazzling tale of audacity, complicity and the choices made in wartime.
On May 24, 1977, Trudy Resnick Farber was abducted from her home by a masked, armed intruder, taken to a remote wooded mountainside and buried alive! A million dollar ransom demand was made for her release. The Day the Catskills Cried is the complete and true story concerning a horrific crime that shook the Catskill region of New York.
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