When you next sit down at your local coffee shop, look around you: there may just be a professional hitman sitting at the next table. As author Mark Shaw reveals in this highly original and informative book, the ‘upper world’ sails perilously close to the underworld.

Hitmen For Hire takes the reader on a journey like no other, navigating a world of hammermen (hitmen), informers, rogue policemen, taxi bosses, gang leaders and crooked businessmen. The book examines a system in which contract killings have become the norm, looking at who arranges hits, where to find a hitman, and even what it is like to be a hitman – or woman.

Since 1994, South Africa has witnessed some spectacular underworld killings associated with various industries and sectors. Drawing on over a thousand cases, from 2000 to 2016, Shaw reveals how these murders have an outsized impact on the evolution of both legal and illegal economic activity.

It was one of the most brutal criminal acts of the post-apartheid era, and its consequences devastating.

Thousands of people died between 2011 – 2019 resulting from one senior police officer’s crime: his decision to sell millions of rands’ worth of guns. Colonel Christiaan Prinsloo, former head of the Gauteng firearm license division, and his network of cronies sold guns decommissioned by the SAPS to South Africa’s gang lords. The sale of such weapons led to a killing spree of unprecedented proportions.

Based on interviews with police and the criminal underworld, this book tells the story of this callous crime for the first time. Shaw explores how the illegally sold guns got into the hands of South Africa’s crime bosses. The book describes the bloodbath that ensued and uncovers accounts of rampant corruption within the police and in the gun-licensing system, probing the government failure that has been instrumental in arming the country’s gangsters.

"Investigative reporting at its best. Mark Shaw's original work into the questionable deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Kilgallen is now focused on the many unanswered questions left by the Warren Commission's inquiry into the JFK assassination. Fighting for Justice has to be read." -Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino Packed with shocking new evidence, Fighting for Justice exposes the cover-ups of the JFK assassination and the murders of Dorothy Kilgallen and Marilyn Monroe, while revealing for the first time the corrupt inner workings of the Warren Commission based on the firsthand "whistleblower" account of an actual Commission member never identified before. How does an explosive "whistleblower" account from a Warren Commission (WC) member never identified before destroy once and for all the biggest lie in American history, the "Oswald Alone" theory? On what basis did the member admit, "It's more than Oswald. There is internal corruption on the Commission. I do not agree with the Report"? Is the "whistleblower" the same one who surreptitiously passed Jack Ruby's WC testimony to journalist Dorothy Kilgallen prior to its release date? And how did President Lyndon Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover strong arm the commission to prevent any investigation of the truth about who killed JFK and why? Based on fifteen years of research, answers to these questions and more are uncovered in Fighting for Justice, bestselling author and noted historian Mark Shaw's improbable journey to exposing cover-ups of the JFK assassination while proving Marilyn Monroe and Kilgallen were murdered.

An inspiring and essential book for everyone interested in improving the way they write. - Brian Minards, School of Advertising, Academy of Art University, San Francisco Writing copy is often assumed to be a natural talent. However, there are simple techniques you can employ to craft strong written content with ease. This revised edition teaches the art of writing great copy for digital media, branding, advertising, direct marketing, retailing, catalogues, company magazines and internal communications, and aspects of writing for social media are integrated throughout. There are also new interviews and case studies. Using a series of exercises and up-to-date illustrated examples of award-winning campaigns and communication, *Copywriting, Third Edition takes you through step-by-step processes that can help you to write content quickly and effectively.

If there had been no cover-up of Robert Kennedy's complicity in the murder of Marilyn Monroe in 1962 and he had been prosecuted based on compelling evidence at the time, the assassination of JFK by Bobby's enemies would not have happened-changing the course of history and preventing the murder of media icon Dorothy Kilgallen. In a breakthrough book that is sure to be relevant for years to come, bestselling author (The Reporter Who Knew Too Much) and distinguished historian Mark Shaw investigates the connection between the mysterious deaths of motion picture screen siren Marilyn Monroe, President John F. Kennedy, and What's My Line? TV star and crack investigative reporter Dorothy Kilgallen. A former noted criminal defense attorney and network legal analyst, Shaw provides an illuminating perspective as to how Robert Kennedy's abuse of power during the early 1960s resulted in the murders of Marilyn, JFK, and Dorothy. Praise for Mark Shaw Books The Reporter Who Knew Too Much "The compelling story of Dorothy Kilgallen, the celebrated journalist once called 'the most powerful female voice in America.'" -Nick Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and Casino Denial of Justice "A worthy sequel to the mysterious whodunit that snuffed out the brave reporter, Denial of Justice is a true crime thriller that seeks to undo the label attached to Ms. Kilgallen's untimely demise. Mark Shaw has done an admirable and exemplary job in his work. Do not miss!" -San Francisco Book Review

Was What's My Line TV Star, media icon, and crack investigative reporter and journalist Dorothy Kilgallen murdered for writing a tell-all book about the JFK assassination? If so, is the main suspect in her death still at large? These questions and more are answered in former CNN, ESPN, and USA Today legal analyst Mark Shaw's 25th book, The Reporter Who Knew Too Much. Through discovery of never-before-seen videotaped eyewitness interviews with those closest to Kilgallen and secret government documents, Shaw unfolds a "whodunit" murder mystery featuring suspects including Frank Sinatra, J. Edgar Hoover, Mafia Don Carlos Marcello and a "Mystery Man" who may have silenced Kilgallen. All while by presenting through Kilgallen's eyes the most compelling evidence about the JFK assassinations since the House Select Committee on Assassination's investigation in the 1970s. Called by the New York Post, "the most powerful female voice in America," and by acclaimed author Mark Lane the "the only serious journalist in America who was concerned with who killed John Kennedy and getting all of the facts about the assassination," Kilgallen's official cause of death reported as an overdose of barbiturates combined with alcohol, has always been suspect since no investigation occurred despite the death scene having been staged. Shaw proves Kilgallen, a remarkable woman who broke the "glass ceiling" before the term became fashionable, was denied the justice she deserved, that is until now. More about the book may be learned at thereporterwhoknewtoomuch.com or thedorothykilgallenstory.org.

Covid-19 is reshaping and challenging governments, societies and economies in previously unimaginable ways--but gangsters and profiteers have adapted. They have found new routes for illegal commodities, from narcotics to people. Shortages, lockdowns and public attitudes have brought the underworld and upperworld closer together, as criminals strive to meet needs, maximise opportunities and fill governance vacuums. Unscrupulous fraudsters are touting fake remedies to desperate people: counterfeit drugs, and trafficked wildlife used in traditional medicine. Social distancing and restrictions have seen online transactions and cyber-ops replacing or supplementing physical shipments, opening opportunities for scammers and hackers. Heavy-handed state responses have created new illicit markets by prohibiting the sale of particular goods and services, while some elites have capitalised on the pandemic for personal or political gain. Covid has cast a long shadow over the rule of law. Criminal Contagion uncovers its extraordinary impacts on the global illicit economy, and their long-term implications.

At the very dawn of the country’s brave new democracy, Cape Town was at war. Pagad, which started as a community protest action against crime, had mutated into a sinister vigilante group wreaking death and destruction across the city. Between 1996 and 2001, there were more than 400 bombs – most famously at the popular Planet Hollywood restaurant at the V&A Waterfront – and there were countless targeted hits on drug lords and gang bosses.

The police were at their wits end. The new ANC government was alarmed. The citizens of Cape Town were living in fear.

Mark Shaw tells the incredible tale of how the police’s response pulled together former foes – struggle cadres and the apartheid security apparatus – to break the Pagad death squads. It is a story that has never been told in full and was not possible until recently, when many were released from prison or had retired and were finally willing to talk openly about this revealing chapter in South Africa’s recent history.

Why is What's My Line? TV star and Pulitzer-Prize-nominated investigative reporter Dorothy Kilgallen one of the most feared journalists in history? Why has her threatened exposure of the truth about the JFK assassination triggered a cover-up by at least four government agencies and resulted in abuse of power at the highest levels? Denial of Justice-written in the spirit of bestselling author Mark Shaw's gripping true crime murder mystery, The Reporter Who Knew Too Much-tells the inside story of why Kilgallen was such a threat leading up to her unsolved murder in 1965. Shaw includes facts that have never before been published, including eyewitness accounts of the underbelly of Kilgallen's private life, revealing statements by family members convinced she was murdered, and shocking new information about Jack Ruby's part in the JFK assassination that only Kilgallen knew about, causing her to be marked for danger. Peppered with additional evidence signaling the potential motives of Kilgallen's arch enemies J. Edgar Hoover, mobster Carlos Marcello, Frank Sinatra, her husband Richard, and her last lover, Denial of Justice adds the final chapter to the story behind why the famous journalist was killed, with no investigation to follow despite a staged death scene. More information can be found at www.thedorothykilgallenstory.com.

'It will terrify you but it's a story you must know.' - Mandy Wiener It was one of the most brutal criminal acts of the post-apartheid era, and its consequences were devastating. At least a thousand people died between 2011 and 2019 as a result of one senior police officer's criminal decision to sell a huge cache of guns. Colonel Christiaan Prinsloo, former head of the Gauteng firearm license division, and his network of cronies sold guns decommissioned by the SAPS to South Africa's gang lords. The sale of these weapons led to a killing spree of unprecedented proportions. Based on interviews with police and the criminal underworld, this book tells the story of this callous crime for the first time. Shaw explores how the illegally sold guns got into the hands of South Africa's crime bosses. The book describes the bloodbath that ensued and uncovers accounts of rampant corruption within the police and in the gun-licensing system, probing the government failure that has been instrumental in arming the country's gangsters.