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Books > Fiction > True stories
During the 1990's Boston was a world leader in arts, culture,
higher education, and medicine. It was also a world leader in
organized crime. In this exciting account, former FBI supervisory
special agent David Nadolski tells the story of an unlikely
alliance between two diametrically opposed people-the con and the
FBI agent. While investigating a break-in at the Stone Library in
Quincy, MA that houses the personal book collection of John Quincy
Adams, the FBI gets a call from prison inmate, Anthony (Tony)
Romano, requesting to meet with the case agent on the burglary.
Romano provides a helpful tip that leads to the apprehension of the
thief and the recovery of four priceless, historically significant
books. Recognizing Tony's potential as an informant, Nadolski
begins to cultivate a relationship in hopes of recruiting Romano as
a criminal informant. Nadolski recruits Romano to play a very
dangerous game-infiltrate the Merlino gang, controlled by Carmello
Merlino, a career criminal who specialized in bank robberies,
armored car robberies, and home invasions. The Merlino gang also
became suspects in the largest art theft in history which took
place at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in Boston and remains
unsolved to this day. Romano, a former armed robber, agrees. With
sights set on the Loomis Fargo Armored Car Company money vault,
located south of Boston, the Merlino gang gets to work. Little did
they know, Romano, at great personal risk, was a wearing a wire and
recording their planning sessions. After two years of being joined
at the hip and learning to trust each other unconditionally,
special agent Nadolski and Romano run a successful criminal
investigation and undercover sting operation to catch four
dangerous criminals poised to launch one of the biggest armed
robberies of the twentieth century.
DESCRIPTION: Elmore Leonard meets Franz Kafka in the wild,
improbably true story of the legendary outlaw of Budapest. Attila
Ambrus was a gentleman thief, a sort of Cary Grant--if only Grant
came from Transylvania, was a terrible professional hockey
goalkeeper, and preferred women in leopard-skin hot pants. During
the 1990s, while playing for the biggest hockey team in Budapest,
Ambrus took up bank robbery to make ends meet. Arrayed against him
was perhaps the most incompetent team of crime investigators the
Eastern Bloc had ever seen: a robbery chief who had learned how to
be a detective by watching dubbed Columbo episodes; a forensics man
who wore top hat and tails on the job; and a driver so inept he was
known only by a Hungarian word that translates to Mound of
Ass-Head. BALLAD OF THE WHISKEY ROBBER is the completely bizarre
and hysterical story of the crime spree that made a nobody into a
somebody, and told a forlorn nation that sometimes the brightest
stars come from the blackest holes. Like The Professor and the
Madman and The Orchid Thief, Julian Rubinsteins bizarre crime story
is so odd and so wicked that it is completely irresistible.
Mention female spies, and most people think of Mata Hari. But
during the Roaring Twenties, Marguerite Harrison and Stan Harding
were the cause celebre: two beautiful, accomplished women whose
names were splashed across newspapers around the world. Almost a
century later, it is easy to understand the fascination with these
two remarkable women. Marguerite was a highly respectable and
recently widowed American journalist and socialite from Baltimore;
Stan was a runaway, a bohemian artist and dancer of British
heritage who left her wealthy, religious family to make a life for
herself in the expatriate community in Florence. The two women were
very different, yet both were strong-willed, independent and highly
ambitious women unafraid of taking risks. And both, as the Great
War ended and Central Europe dissolved into violent chaos, were
looking for adventure. Their paths first crossed in war-ravaged
Berlin during the Armistice and the the Spartacist Uprising in
1919. Fellow travellers, they became friends and, the evidence
suggests, lovers. Dodging bullets and interviewing colourful
characters in war-torn Europe led these intrepid women, separately,
to Bolshevik Russia, a country closed to outsiders since the
October Revolution of 1917. Their fateful meeting had repercussions
that spanned three decades, involving heads of state and
politicians in Britain, the United States and Soviet Russia. The
Lady is a Spy tells their forgotten story: that of two women who,
far in advance of their time, worked as foreign correspondents, who
operated as spies in dangerous shadowlands of international
politics, and who were both imprisoned in Lubyanka, one of the most
desperate places on earth. Their lives are reconstructed through
numerous primary sources, not only the poems, diaries and letters
of their friends and lovers, but also government documents
(including newly declassified US State Department papers) that
reveal the truth about their espionage careers and - in one case -
evidence of a shocking betrayal.
This is a collection of positive stories about wartime service
during one of the most negative and controversial periods in
American history. While the stories told here are relatively simple
and straight forward, they are also powerful, with the potential of
changing viewpoints, opinions, and even lives.
'A dark and devastating story that grips you from the very first
page' T. J. Emerson, author of The Perfect Holiday. What you don't
know can hurt you. Thirty years ago Anthony Mailer was a
seven-year-old boy trapped in Dr Galbraith's basement. Now he's a
journalist, a husband and a father. But no matter how far he's
come, at times he's still that scared little boy. In order to save
his marriage, he has to stop hiding from what happened and deal
with it once and for all. But digging into the past holds dangers
Anthony never imagined . . . A note from the author: While
fictional, this book was inspired by true events. It draws on the
author's experiences as a police officer and child protection
social worker. The story contains content that some readers may
find upsetting. It is dedicated to survivors everywhere. ________
What people are saying about The Father: 'The chill is tangible'
Owen Mullen 'Dark, disturbing, and brilliant. Kept me up all
night!' Diana Wilkinson 'A frightening book that lures us into the
darkness where monsters live. John Nicholl's knowledge of this
world from his years of police work makes his characters ring true'
Billy Hayes 'An emotional roller coaster...I couldn't stop reading
until I reached the end' McGarvey Black 'Dark and disturbing. One
to really get your pulse racing. This is a story you won't forget'
Ross Greenwood 'An outstanding piece of work by a truly masterful
storyteller' Anita Waller 'Disturbing and gripping . . . John
Nicholl's experience of police and child protection work adds truth
and reality to Anthony's search for closure' Phil Rowlands
22 high-profile contributors, from a wide range of backgrounds,
describe how they have all achieved extraordinary success in their
lives. Each then share, through their brilliantly inspirational
advice, precisely what we should do, to find success in ours
-------------- A FEW WISE WORDS is the perfect guide for young
people, young adults (and older adults too) on how to prepare for
our personal journey towards success, purpose, and fulfilment in
life. -------------- This book is for parents too - helping with
the vital role that we must play, to inspire our children to get
completely ready for the challenges and opportunities ahead
-------------- Compelling, down-to-earth, and beautifully
presented, A FEW WISE WORDS can help anyone to discover the best
version of themselves, while learning how to navigate their journey
ahead, with confidence and direction. -------------- WITH
CONTRIBUTIONS FROM: Sir Ben Ainslie -- Frank Arnesen -- Zak Brown
-- Ursula Burns -- Sir Roger Carr -- Sherry Coutu -- Pablo Ettinger
-- Mikhail Fridman -- Stephen Fry -- Dame Katherine Grainger --
Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson -- Anya Hindmarch -- Declan Kelly --
Baroness Martha Lane-Fox -- Joanna Lumley -- Dame Carolyn McCall --
Sir Keith Mills -- Vin Murria -- Danielle de Niese -- Rabbi Lord
Jonathan Sacks -- Shriti Vadera -- Sir Clive Woodward
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