iBooks Top True Crime Ebooks

The top most popular and best selling true crime ebooks at the Apple iBookstore. Chart of the top true crime ebook best sellers updated daily.

Chart list of the top true crime ebook ebook best sellers was last updated:

Top True Crime Ebook Best Sellers

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London Falling - Patrick Radden Keefe Cover Art

London Falling

London Falling A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling, prizewinning author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain , a spellbinding account of a family devastated by the sudden death of their nineteen-year-old son, only to discover that he had created a secret life which drew him into the dangerous criminal underworld that lies beneath London’s glittering surface “Another blockbuster feat of reportage. . . . I sprinted through this addictive book in three days and gasped more than once at the true story’s twists and turns.” — Esquire A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR In the early morning of November 29th, 2019, surveillance cameras at the headquarters of MI6, Britain’s spy agency, captured video of a young man pacing back and forth on a high balcony of Riverwalk, a luxury tower on the bank of the river Thames. At 2:24 a.m., he jumped into the river. In a quiet London neighborhood several miles away, Rachelle Brettler was worried about her son. Zac had told her that he had gone to stay with a friend for the weekend, but then he did not come home. Days later, a police car pulled up and two officers relayed the dreadful news: Her son was dead. In their unbearable grief, Rachelle and her husband, Matthew, struggled to understand what had happened to Zac. He had had his troubles, but in no way seemed suicidal. As they would soon discover, however, there was a lot they did not know about their son. Only after his death did they learn that he had adopted a fictitious alter ego: Zac Ismailov, son of a Russian oligarch and heir to a great fortune. Under this guise, Zac had become entangled with a slippery London businessman named Akbar Shamji and a murderous gangster known as Indian Dave. As the Brettlers set about investigating their son’s death, they were pulled into a different and more dangerous London than the one they’d always known, and came to believe that something much more nefarious than a suicide had claimed Zac’s life. But to their immense frustration, Scotland Yard seemed unable—or unwilling—to bring the perpetrators to justice.  In a bravura feat of reporting and writing, Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles the Brettlers’ quest, peeling back layers of mystery and exposing the seedy truths behind the glamorous London of posh mansions and private nightclubs, a city in which everything is for sale, and aspirational fantasies are underwritten by dirty money and corruption. London Falling is a mesmerizing investigation of an inexplicable death and a powerful narrative driven by suspense and staggering revelations. But it is also an intimate and deeply poignant inquiry into the nature of parental love and the challenges of being a parent today, a portrait of a family trying to solve the riddle not just of how their son died, but of who he really was in life.

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The Wager - David Grann Cover Art

The Wager

The Wager A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon , a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager , showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire. A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker , TIME , Smithsonian , NPR, Vulture, Kirkus Reviews “Riveting...Reads like a thriller, tackling a multilayered history—and imperialism—with gusto.” — Time "A tour de force of narrative nonfiction.” — The Wall Street Journal On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes – they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann’s recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O’Brian, his portrayal of the castaways’ desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance , and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann’s work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.

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Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe Cover Art

Say Nothing

Say Nothing A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW AN FX LIMITED SERIES STREAMING ON HULU • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • From the author of London Falling— a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions. One of The New York Times ’s 20 Best Books of the 21st Century • A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years "Masked intruders dragged Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of 10, from her Belfast home in 1972. In this meticulously reported book—as finely paced as a novel—Keefe uses McConville's murder as a prism to tell the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Interviewing people on both sides of the conflict, he transforms the tragic damage and waste of the era into a searing, utterly gripping saga." — New York Times Book Review " Reads like a novel. . . . Keefe is . . . a master of narrative nonfiction. . . . An incredible story. "—Rolling Stone A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, and more! Jean McConville's abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes. Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders. From radical and impetuous I.R.A. terrorists such as Dolours Price, who, when she was barely out of her teens, was already planting bombs in London and targeting informers for execution, to the ferocious I.R.A. mastermind known as The Dark, to the spy games and dirty schemes of the British Army, to Gerry Adams, who negotiated the peace but betrayed his hardcore comrades by denying his I.R.A. past-- Say Nothing conjures a world of passion, betrayal, vengeance, and anguish.

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Blizzard of Lies - Dave Wedge Cover Art

Blizzard of Lies

Blizzard of Lies Karen Read, John O'Keefe, and the Shocking Unsolved Murder in Cop Town, USA by Dave Wedge

One of PEOPLE’s Best Books of 2026 "This is, hands down, one of the best works of crime nonfiction to hit shelves in years." — Booklist "A propulsive recap of a fascinating case." — Publishers Weekly "Essential true crime reading." — Kirkus New York Times Bestseller In January 2022, a Boston police officer turned up dead in the snow, seemingly a victim of a simple hit-and-run. But Officer John O’Keefe’s death kicked off a scandalous whodunit that invited federal scrutiny and triggered nationwide outrage. The explosive story of O’Keefe’s death, and the subsequent accusation and trial of his girlfriend Karen Read, ignited one of the most high-profile true crime mysteries in decades. The apparently open-and-shut manslaughter case quickly devolved into a chaotic mixture of lies, institutional corruption, and police cover-ups that threw the Massachusetts law enforcement scene into turmoil. And Read’s 2025 acquittal left O’Keefe’s death an unresolved mystery, with more questions than answers. With dramatic twists including a rogue journalist, a mistrial, and polarizing public protests—along with revelations that called several other murder cases into question— Blizzard of Lies is a Boston-area veteran reporter’s detailed and immersive account of one of the most controversial crime stories of his career. Featuring interviews with people on both sides of the case, including law enforcement, Read and her legal team, and the O’Keefe family, investigative journalist Dave Wedge shares inside stories and new details on: • John O’Keefe’s turbulent relationship with Karen Read • Evidence excluded from the courtroom • Additional cases now in jeopardy because of misconduct uncovered during Read’s trial • Heroic acts from O’Keefe’s policing career • The O'Keefe family’s civil suit and ongoing pursuit of the truth The definitive narrative of a controversial, headline-grabbing tragedy, Blizzard of Lies dispels the myths and misinformation around John O’Keefe’s death to chronicle a vivid account of a complex case and the lasting emotional toll on all involved.

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Compton Street Legend: Notorious Keffe D’s Street-Level Accounts of Tupac and Biggie Murders, Death Row Origins, Suge Knight, Puffy Combs, and Crooked Cops - Duane 'Keefe D' Davis & Yusuf Jah Cover Art

Compton Street Legend: Notorious Keffe D’s Street-Level Accounts of Tupac and Biggie Murders, Death Row Origins, Suge Knight, Puffy Combs, and Crooked Cops

Compton Street Legend: Notorious Keffe D’s Street-Level Accounts of Tupac and Biggie Murders, Death Row Origins, Suge Knight, Puffy Combs, and Crooked Cops by Duane 'Keefe D' Davis & Yusuf Jah

The infamous Suge Knight, former Death Row Records CEO, and Keffe D are the only living eyewitnesses to the deadly confrontation on the Las Vegas strip between the occupants of our two vehicles. A violent confrontation that led to the deaths of two of Hip-Hop's biggest stars (Tupac Shakur & Christopher 'Notorious B.I.G.' Wallace) and changed Hip-Hop history forever. There's a strict code on the streets. One that real street players live, kill, and die by. Compton Street Legend reveals the street-level code violations and the explosive consequences when the powerful worlds of the streets, entertainment, and corrupt law enforcement collide.       More than twenty years after the premature deaths of Tupac and Biggie there have been numerous TV specials, documentaries, books, magazine and newspaper, and social media dedicated to the subject. But at the end of the day, none of the private investigators, retired police officers, informants, Hip-Hop heads, actors, or academics that have weighed in on the topic truly know what happened and the reasons behind it, because none of them were there. Duane 'Keffe D' Davis, a native of Compton, California, admittedly lived most of his life as a gangster; a real gangster that did the shit that real gangsters do. He rose up the gang-banging ranks to become a shot-caller for the notorious Southside Compton Crips, while running a multi-million dollar, multi-state drug empire. Keffe D has been a central figure in both the Tupac Shakur and Biggie murders for the past 20 years.  COMPTON STREET LEGEND will add valuable information about two of the biggest "unsolved" crimes in American history. It will serve as the missing piece of the puzzle that Hip-Hop Fans have been waiting for.  On the surface, COMPTON STREET LEGEND will look like a story based on violence and hate, it is actually a story about Love, Family, Brotherhood, Loyalty, Trust, and Honor.  It's time to set the story straight. Fasten your seatbelts.  

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Above the Ground - Dan Lawton Cover Art

Above the Ground

Above the Ground A True Story of the Troubles in Northern Ireland by Dan Lawton

"The fascinating true story of [Kevin Barry] Artt . . . and how his life was pummeled and turned upside down by being dragged unjustly into 'the Troubles.'" — Los Angeles Daily Journal The account of a man convicted for a murder that he did not commit, Above the Ground: A True Story of the Troubles in Northern Ireland takes readers through one of the darkest periods in Northern Ireland's history, highlighting themes of injustice, perseverance, and hope through Kevin Barry Artt's escape and struggle. In this deep and exposing novel, readers are shown for the first time, the true story of the murder of British prison official Albert Miles by Irish Republican Army assassins and the best efforts of former IRA men and the British government to keep hidden the secrets of their dirty war during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. No matter where you stand regarding the bloody conflict, Above the Ground will have you turning the pages to keep revealing the truth. Filled with courtroom drama and true crime, you will not want to put this new release down! "Lawton's account, honed by years on Kevin Barry Artt's legal team, brings an advocate's insight and dedication to exposing injustice. A must-read for anyone interested in Irish history, true crime, or courtroom drama." — The Irish Echo  "A startling, memorable forensic analysis and account of British rule in Ireland." —Seamus Deane, Irish historian and writer "One of the best books ever written by an American about Northern Ireland and a must-read for those interested in promoting peace." —Nancy Soderberg, former deputy assistant to President Clinton for national security affairs and author of The Superpower Myth

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The Last Kilo - T. J. English Cover Art

The Last Kilo

The Last Kilo Willy Falcon and the Cocaine Empire That Seduced America by T. J. English

“T.J. English hits the bullseye again. This is true crime writing at its most gripping and immediate — a riveting epic about crooked cops, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and politicians who corrupted a continent and got snow to flow out of the tropics. The Last Kilo is a revelation.” —Nicholas Pileggi, author of Goodfellas and Casino From true-crime legend T. J. English, the epic, behind-the-scenes saga of “Los Muchachos,” one of the most successful cocaine trafficking organizations in American history—a story of glitz, glamour, and organized crime set against 1980’s Miami crime. Despite what Scarface might lead one to believe, violence was not the dominant characteristic of the cocaine business. It was corruption: the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges, and politicians who made the drug world go round. And no one managed that carousel of dangerous players better than Willy Falcon. A Cuban exile whose family escaped Fidel Castro’s Cuba when he was eleven years old, Falcon, as a teenager, became active in the anti-Castro movement. He began smuggling cocaine into the U.S. as a way to raise money to buy arms for the Contras in Central America. This counter-revolutionary activity led directly to Willy’s genesis as a narco. He and his partners built an extraordinary international organization from the ground up. Los Muchachos, the syndicate founded by Falcon, thrived as a major cocaine distribution network in the U.S. from the late 1970’s into the early 1990’s. At their height, Los Muchachos made more than a hundred million dollars a year. At the same time, Willy, his brother Tavy Falcon, and partner Sal Magluta became famous as championship powerboat racers. Cocaine, used by everyone from A-list celebrities to lawyers and people in law enforcement, came to define an era, and for a time, Willy Falcon and those like him—major suppliers, of whom there were only a few—became stars in their own right. They were the deliverers of good times, at least until the downside of persistent cocaine use became apparent: delusions of grandeur, psychological addiction, financial ruin. Thus, the War on Drugs was born, and federal authorities came after Falcon and his crew with a vengeance. Willy found himself on the run, his marriage and family life in shambles, the halcyon days of boat races and lavish trips to Vegas and parties at the Mutiny night club seemingly a distant memory. T. J. English has been granted unprecedented access to the inner workings of Los Muchachos, sitting down with Willy Falcon and his associates for many lengthy interviews, and revealing never-before-understood details about drug trafficking. A classic of true-crime writing from a master of the genre,  The Last Kilo  traces the rise and fall of a true cocaine empire—and the lives left in its wake. This definitive true crime account reveals: A Narco Empire: Based on unprecedented access and lengthy interviews with Willy Falcon himself, revealing never-before-understood details about his organization, Los Muchachos. The Real Miami Vice: Step into the world of A-list celebrities, championship powerboat racers, and the infamous Mutiny night club, all fueled by a tidal wave of cocaine in the 1980s. A Story of Corruption: Discover the dirty cops, agents, lawyers, judges, and politicians who made the drug world go round—and how Willy Falcon managed them all. The War on Drugs: Go inside the federal takedown of Falcon and his crew, a sprawling investigation that marked the end of an era of glitz, glamour, and excess.

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Trail of the Lost - Andrea Lankford Cover Art

Trail of the Lost

Trail of the Lost The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail by Andrea Lankford

From an award-winning former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author’s quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up with an eclectic group of unlikely allies.  ​   As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. But though she had the support of the agency, Andrea grew frustrated with the service's bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, and left the force after twelve years. Two decades later, however, she stumbles across a mystery that pulls her right back where she left off: three young men have vanished from the Pacific Crest Trail, the 2,650-mile trek made famous by Cheryl Strayed's Wild , and no one has been able to find them. It’s bugging the hell out of her.   Andrea’s concern soon leads her to a wild environment unlike any she’s ever encountered: missing person Facebook groups. Andrea launches an investigation, joining forces with an eclectic team of amateurs who are determined to solve the cases by land and by screen: a mother of the missing, a retired pharmacy manager, and a mapmaker who monitors terrorist activity for the government. Together, they track the activities of kidnappers and murderers, investigate a cult, rescue a psychic in peril, cross paths with an unconventional scientist, and reunite an international fugitive with his family. Searching for the missing is a brutal psychological and physical test with the highest stakes, but eventually their hardships begin to bear strange fruits—ones that lead them to places and people they never saw coming.   Beautifully written, heartfelt, and at times harrowing,  TRAIL OF THE LOST  paints a vivid picture of hiker culture and its complicated relationship with the ever-expanding online realm, all while exploring the power and limits of determination, generosity, and hope. It also offers a deep awe of the natural world, even as it unearths just how vast and treacherous it can be.    On the  TRAIL OF THE LOST , you may not find what you are looking for, but you will certainly find more than you seek. ** THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ** 

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Under the Banner of Heaven - Jon Krakauer Cover Art

Under the Banner of Heaven

Under the Banner of Heaven A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air , this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now a n acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song. ” — San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities.  At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

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Sisters of the Midnight Sun - Rebecca Wright Stevens Cover Art

Sisters of the Midnight Sun

Sisters of the Midnight Sun A Murder in Arctic Alaska by Rebecca Wright Stevens

“I am completely gripped by Sisters of the Midnight Sun . . . The book is excellent.” —Jessica Grose, The New York Times The stunning true story of a double homicide in the vibrant native Alaskan Iñupiat community at the arctic edge of the United States—written by the public defender at its center Rebecca Wright is a defense attorney living in the Lower 48 when she suddenly finds herself a widow and an empty nester. In need of a radical change, she accepts a public defender position in Utqiagvik on Alaska’s North Slope, an oil-rich area the size of Wyoming where the Iñupiat community holds great cultural, political, and economic power. Though she’ll always be a tanik—an outsider—she works hard to gain the trust and friendship of the folks who call this singular place home. When two well-known sisters, Bernice and Wanda Ipalook, are found murdered, Wright is tasked with representing Amos Lane, a drifter on the short-list of murder suspects. Criminal charges are looming. But this is summer in northern Alaska, the season of the midnight sun, when twenty-four-hour sunlight makes it difficult for witnesses to confirm the time—or even the day—they last saw the sisters, Amos, or anyone else. Wright must navigate an unreliable client, a prosecution willing to entrap her to get a conviction, a budding romance, and a community that believes Amos might deserve a different form of justice from what the tanik legal system can provide. Weaving a detailed portrait of Utqiagvik alongside Wright’s complex self-portrait of an outsider in an isolated community, Sisters of the Midnight Sun is a riveting true account that brings to vivid life a land at the edge of the habitable world.

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Small Sacrifices - Ann Rule Cover Art

Small Sacrifices

Small Sacrifices by Ann Rule

Ann Rule 's shocking and powerful account of the destructive forces that drove Diane Downs , a beautiful young mother, to shoot her three young children in cold blood.

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To Love and To Kill - M. William Phelps Cover Art

To Love and To Kill

To Love and To Kill by M. William Phelps

A bizarre love triangle leads to a brutal murder in Florida in this true-crime story by the New York Times bestselling author of One Breath Away . The missing-persons case of Heather Strong, a young, beautiful suburban mother, baffled Florida detectives. When the file was handed to a veteran investigator, he knew Heather was dead. The challenge was to find her body—and whoever killed her. Soon, a sordid triangle of sex, jealousy, and rage came to light. The killers were cunning, manipulative, depraved—and they were as close to Heather as a man and a woman could possibly be. Vividly recreated by master investigative journalist M. William Phelps, this riveting account of seething small-town passions is a classic tale of crime and justice. Praise for M. William Phelps “One of America's finest true-crime writers.” —Vincent Bugliosi, New York Times bestselling author of Helter Skelter “Phelps is the Harlan Coben of real-life thrillers.” —Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author of Tell No Lies Includes sixteen pages of dramatic photos

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We Keep the Dead Close - Becky Cooper Cover Art

We Keep the Dead Close

We Keep the Dead Close A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper

Dive into an exhilirating true crime narrative of an unsolved 1969 murder at Harvard and an obsession and love for a girl who dreamt of rising among men. "A tour de force of investigative reporting." —Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Alexander Hamilton "Exhilarating and seductive." —Ariel Levy, New York Times bestselling author of The Rules Do Not Apply You have to remember, he reminded me, that Harvard is older than the U.S. government. You have to remember because Harvard doesn't let you forget. 1969: the height of counterculture and the year universities would seek to curb the unruly spectacle of student protest; the winter that Harvard University would begin the tumultuous process of merging with Radcliffe, its all-female sister school; and the year that Jane Britton, an ambitious twenty-three-year-old graduate student in Harvard's Anthropology Department and daughter of Radcliffe Vice President J. Boyd Britton, would be found bludgeoned to death in her Cambridge, Massachusetts apartment. Forty years later, Becky Cooper a curious undergrad, will hear the first whispers of the story. In the first telling the body was nameless. The story was this: a Harvard student had had an affair with her professor, and the professor had murdered her in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology because she'd threatened to talk about the affair. Though the rumor proves false, the story that unfolds, one that Cooper will follow for ten years, is even more complex: a tale of gender inequality in academia, a 'cowboy culture' among empowered male elites, the silencing effect of institutions, and our compulsion to rewrite the stories of female victims. We Keep the Dead Close is a memoir of mirrors, misogyny, and murder. It is at once a rumination on the violence and oppression that rules our revered institutions, a ghost story reflecting one young woman's past onto another's present, and a love story for a girl who was lost to history. FINALIST FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS BOOK PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION NATIONAL BESTSELLER Named One of The Best Books of 2020 by NPR's Fresh Air * Publishers Weekly * Marie Claire * Redbook * Vogue * Kirkus Reviews * Book Riot * Bustle A Recommended Book by The New York Times * The Washington Post * Booklist * The Boston Globe * Amazon * Goodreads * Buzzfeed * Town & Country * Refinery29 * BookRiot * CrimeReads * Glamour * Popsugar * PureWow * Shondaland

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The Bed Trick - Izabella Scott Cover Art

The Bed Trick

The Bed Trick Sex and Deception on Trial by Izabella Scott

A riveting, brilliant account of a court case in which a woman accused her best friend of impersonating a man during sex, and won—a study of desire, performance, truth, and the stories we tell about ourselves in public, online, in love, and in law. A woman falls in love with a man. His name is Kye Fortune. They meet online and begin spending time together every weekend, in hotel rooms or at her apartment. Kye is doting, and funny, and handsome—at least in his photos, since he won’t let her see him in person (she agrees to wear a blindfold, even during sex). Years go by before the blindfold slips off, and she’s shocked to encounter not a man named Kye but a woman named Gayle Newland, who happens to be her best friend. A woman named Gayle Newland falls in love with another woman, her best friend. Both of them are closeted. Their relationship must be kept a secret. Together they invent a persona known as Kye Fortune, to make their relationship bearable, make it normal. It’s a role-play, a script they write together, with props (a dildo, a blindfold). Eventually Gayle’s best friend breaks character and turns on her. These two stories collided in a famous court case in Manchester. The trial captured national attention and challenged some of our most basic assumptions about sex, consent, gender, and identity. In her riveting and forensic examination, Izabella Scott interrogates the case from every conceivable angle, exposing the slippery side of consent law, the many myths and archetypes that crowd the courtroom, and the shifting rules of deceptive sex to ask: Whose narratives are heard? Who is seen as a credible victim and what is considered a credible crime? The Bed Trick is a lucid, vivid story about stories—their limits, their merits—and the ways we lie in love, in life, and in law.

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The Snakehead - Patrick Radden Keefe Cover Art

The Snakehead

The Snakehead An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe

In this thrilling panorama of real-life events, the bestselling author of London Falling investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York’s Chinatown managed a multi-million dollar business smuggling people. “Reads like a mashup of The Godfather and Chinatown , complete with gun battles, a ruthless kingpin and a mountain of cash. Except that it’s all true.” — Time Keefe reveals the inner workings of Sister Ping’s complex empire and recounts the decade-long FBI investigation that eventually brought her down. He follows an often incompetent and sometimes corrupt INS as it pursues desperate immigrants risking everything to come to America, and along the way, he paints a stunning portrait of a generation of illegal immigrants and the intricate underground economy that sustains and exploits them. Grand in scope yet propulsive in narrative force, The Snakehead is both a kaleidoscopic crime story and a brilliant exploration of the ironies of immigration in America.

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The Old Man and the Gun - David Grann Cover Art

The Old Man and the Gun

The Old Man and the Gun And Other Tales of True Crime by David Grann

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a mesmerizing collection of true-crime stories that includes "The Old Man and the Gun"—the inspiration for the movie starring Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek, along with two other riveting tales. "The Old Man and the Gun" is the incredible story of a bank robber and prison escape artist who modeled himself after figures like Pretty Boy Floyd and who, even in his seventies, refuses to retire. "True Crime" follows the twisting investigation of a Polish detective who suspects that a novelist planted clues in his fiction to an actual murder. And "The Chameleon" recounts how a French imposter assumes the identity of a missing boy from Texas and infiltrates the boy's family, only to soon wonder whether he is the one being conned. In this mesmerizing collection, David Grann shows why he has been called a "worthy heir to Truman Capote" and "simply the best narrative nonfiction writer working today," as he takes the reader on a journey through some of the most intriguing and gripping real-life tales from around the world. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager !

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Raised by a Serial Killer - April Balascio Cover Art

Raised by a Serial Killer

Raised by a Serial Killer Discovering the Truth About My Father by April Balascio

The untold story behind the hit true crime podcast The Clearing , this “engrossing and absolutely terrifying read” ( San Francisco Chronicle ) traces one daughter’s moving quest to understand the truth about her father, the serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards, while confronting cold cases, unsolved murders, and the haunting mysteries of her larger-than-life childhood. One evening in 2009, April Balascio was searching online, as she had been every night, for unsolved murders in the towns her family had lived growing up, when she stumbled across the latest investigations into the “Sweetheart Murders” cold case. All at once, the buried memories of her father’s dark history were awakened, and she knew she had to take action. She picked up the phone to call a detective and the rest is infamous true crime history. In her unflinching memoir, Balascio bravely reveals an astonishing tale of a lifetime of manipulation, unexplained upheavals, and silent fear. Some part of her had always known what her father was capable of, but the full truth of how she came to these revelations is as riveting as it is quietly terrifying. Through searing storytelling, dedicated research, and intimate insight, Raised by a Serial Killer is a gripping, courageous memoir unlike any other.

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The Good Nurse - Charles Graeber Cover Art

The Good Nurse

The Good Nurse A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder by Charles Graeber

This New York Times bestselling book is the mesmerizing basis for the movie starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain that takes you inside the mind of America's most prolific serial killer, whose 16-year long "nursing" career left hundreds dead. “The best book(s) I read this year” (top ten books, EW ) —Stephen King Registered nurse Charlie Cullen was dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 400 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history. Now, in a riveting piece of investigative journalism nearly ten years in the making, Charles Graeber gives us the unbelievable true story. The Good Nurse weaves an urgent and terrifying tale of madness, humanity and heroism, utilizing previously unseen police records, wire-trap recordings, interviews, and jailhouse conversations with Cullen himself—all provided by the homicide detectives who worked around the clock, and the nurse who had to choose between protecting her colleague and stopping a potential serial killer. For years Cullen continued to work and kill, shielded by a hospital system that, by accident or design, successfully protected the institution while failing to protect patients. The Good Nurse is a searing indictment of a crushing and dehumanizing for-profit medical system, and an inspiring human story of the previously unknown individuals who chose to risk their jobs and lives to do the right thing. Mesmerizing and irresistibly paced, this book will make you look at hospitals and the people who work in them in an entirely different way. Edgar Award Nomination, Mystery Writers of America BBC (Top Ten Books of the Year) “The Best Journalism of the Year." — The Daily Beast “The most terrifying book published this year. It is also one of the most thoughtful ... call it literary true crime ...” — Kirkus Reviews ("Best Books of the year")

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Carlo Gambino - Frank Dimatteo Sr. & Michael Benson Cover Art

Carlo Gambino

Carlo Gambino Boss of Bosses by Frank Dimatteo Sr. & Michael Benson

The stunning blood-soaked saga of a real-life Godfather—Don Carlo Gambino—the quiet gangster with a whispery voice who struck fear into his enemies as he rose to the top of the Mafia family ladder, told by an insider who lived in that world, knew those families, and met Gambino face-to-face. . . He was one of the four Mafia leaders who inspired Mario Puzo’s  The Godfather —and perhaps, next to Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mob boss of them all. Born into a mafioso family in Sicily, Carlo Gambino came to America illegally as a stowaway in 1921. Jumping ship in Virginia, he joined his cousins in Brooklyn, and the Sicilian gangs that ruled the streets. By 1931, he was a soldier in Joe “The Boss” Masseria’s war with the Castellammarese clan, a bloody rivalry between Old World crime families that ended with the creation of the Five Families system by Luciano. Over the next three decades, Gambino rose higher in the ranks after a series of brutal Mob hits and executions. In 1957, following the murder of Albert “Lord High Executioner” Anastasia, Gambino took over—becoming the biggest crime boss in America. This is the life and times of an underworld legend. Packed with shocking details and firsthand insights, Carlo Gambino: Boss of Bosses is the definitive account of this real-life Godfather, written by someone who grew up in that world and met Gambino personally. Author Frank DiMatteo’s chilling recollections of his encounters with Gambino add a rare human dimension to one of the greatest crime sagas ever told. It is the story of a quietly understated Mob boss who allegedly orchestrated some of the Mafia’s most infamous hits—including the barbershop shooting of Anastasia—but who miraculously served time only for tax evasion. For better or worse, Gambino’s story is the story of America, filled with ambition, fueled by greed, and riddled with bullets.

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Catch the Devil - Pamela Colloff Cover Art

Catch the Devil

Catch the Devil A True Story of Murder, Deception, and Injustice on the Gulf Coast by Pamela Colloff

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The riveting, true story of an audacious con man who helped send another man to death row for a murder he did not commit “Incendiary, emotionally devastating. [This] is a feat of dogged reporting, bravura storytelling, and clear-eyed moral conscience." —Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing and London Falling “Unfolding in cinematic detail, Catch the Devil offers a riveting and disturbing account of the potentially fatal consequences of a criminal legal system that is more concerned with securing convictions than determining the truth and delivering justice.” —NPR For more than three decades, Paul Skalnik roamed the Gulf Coast lying about who he was. He passed himself off as a fighter pilot, a high-rolling oilman, a criminal defense attorney, an undercover agent, and a terminal cancer patient. In these guises he married nine women—some at the same time. When Skalnik got caught, as he invariably did, he would run a different con. Locked up with other men awaiting trial, he claimed they confessed their crimes to him. Then he peddled those stories to prosecutors. In Pinellas County, Florida, he became a frequent witness for the state, thinking nothing of exaggerating men’s wrongdoing or implicating the innocent to help prosecutors win convictions. In return, the state rewarded him with his freedom, fueling his growing sense of invincibility. Soon he was not just committing fraud; he was preying on girls in their teens or barely into adolescence. In 1985, Jim Dailey, a down-on-his-luck Vietnam veteran, was implicated in the murder of a fourteen-year-old girl and landed in the Pinellas County Jail with Skalnik. No forensic evidence or motive linked Dailey to the killing, but Skalnik’s account of his "confession" helped put Dailey on death row. Skalnik, meanwhile, walked free. More than three decades later, after another man took responsibility for the killing, Pamela Colloff, reporting for the New York Times Magazine and ProPublica, visited Skalnik and asked him if he would recant his testimony. He refused. By then, Skalnik had caused untold damage: to the women and girls he exploited, to the dozens of men he helped imprison, and to Jim Dailey, who went on to receive an execution date. In this mesmerizing debut, Pamela Colloff spins a dark tale of a remorseless and brilliant liar made lethal by a system more concerned with winning convictions than finding the truth.

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In Cold Blood - Truman Capote Cover Art

In Cold Blood

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Truman Capote’s masterpiece of true crime, intensely researched and vividly atmospheric—“as it if were happening before [the reader’s] very eyes” ( Time ) “Harrowing . . . The best documentary account of an American crime ever written. . . . The book chills the blood and exercises the intelligence.”— The New York Times Book Review On November 15th, 1959, Richard Eugene Hickock and Perry Edward Smith brutally murdered the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. This superb work, an exhaustively researched narrative of the lives of the family and the men who killed them, created a sensation when it was first published, serially, in The New Yorker in 1965. Perry Smith is one of the great dark characters of American literature, full of contradictory emotions. “I thought he was a very nice gentleman,” he says of Herb Clutter. “Soft-spoken. I thought so right up to the moment I cut his throat.” Told in chapters that alternate between the Clutter household and the approach of Smith and Hickock in their black Chevrolet, then between the investigation of the case and the killers’ flight, Capote’s account is so detailed that the reader comes to feel almost like a participant in the events.

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Wiseguy - Nicholas Pileggi Cover Art

Wiseguy

Wiseguy The 25th Anniversary Edition by Nicholas Pileggi

Nicholas Pileggi’s vivid, unvarnished, journalistic chronicle of the life of Henry Hill—the working-class Brooklyn kid who knew from age twelve that “to be a wiseguy was to own the world,” who grew up to live the highs and lows of the mafia gangster’s life—has been hailed as “the best book ever written on organized crime” ( Cosmopolitan ). This is the true-crime bestseller that was the basis for Martin Scorsese’s film masterpiece GoodFellas, which brought to life the violence, the excess, the families, the wives and girlfriends, the drugs, the payoffs, the paybacks, the jail time, and the Feds…with Henry Hill’s crackling narration drawn straight out of Wiseguy and overseeing all the unforgettable action. “Nonstop...absolutely engrossing” ( The New York Times Book Review ). Read it and experience the secret life inside the mob—from one who’s lived it.

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Serial Killers - Charlotte Greig Cover Art

Serial Killers

Serial Killers by Charlotte Greig

From perverse acts of cannibalism and dark sexual fantasies to vicious acts motivated by greed and a simple lust for blood, this book reveals the methods and motivations of some of the world's most notorious serial killers, including Juan Corona, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, Pee Wee Gaskins, and Ivan Milat. Whatever the personal stories that emerge from this line-up of twisted individuals, Serial Killers is a compelling testament, and warning, of the potential of human behaviour for true horror and pure evil.

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Under and Alone - William Queen Cover Art

Under and Alone

Under and Alone The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang by William Queen

In 1998, William Queen was a veteran law enforcement agent with a lifelong love of motorcycles and a lack of patience with paperwork. When a “confidential informant” made contact with his boss at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, offering to take an agent inside the San Fernando chapter of the Mongols (the scourge of Southern California, and one of the most dangerous gangs in America), Queen jumped at the chance, not realizing that he was kicking-starting the most extensive undercover operation inside an outlaw motorcycle gang in the history of American law enforcement. Nor did Queen suspect that he would penetrate the gang so successfully that he would become a fully “patched-in” member, eventually rising through their ranks to the office of treasurer, where he had unprecedented access to evidence of their criminal activity. After Queen spent twenty-eight months as “Billy St. John,” the bearded, beer-swilling, Harley-riding gang-banger, the truth of his identity became blurry, even to himself. During his initial “prospecting” phase, Queen was at the mercy of crank-fueled criminal psychopaths who sought to have him test his mettle and prove his fealty by any means necessary, from selling (and doing) drugs, to arms trafficking, stealing motorcycles, driving getaway cars, and, in one shocking instance, stitching up the face of a Mongol “ol’ lady” after a particularly brutal beating at the hands of her boyfriend. Yet despite the constant criminality of the gang, for whom planning cop killings and gang rapes were business as usual, Queen also came to see the genuine camaraderie they shared. When his lengthy undercover work totally isolated Queen from family, his friends, and ATF colleagues, the Mongols felt like the only family he had left. “I had no doubt these guys genuinely loved Billy St. John and would have laid down their lives for him. But they wouldn’t hesitate to murder Billy Queen.” From Queen’s first sleight of hand with a line of methamphetamine in front of him and a knife at his throat, to the fearsome face-off with their decades-old enemy, the Hell’s Angels (a brawl that left three bikers dead), to the heartbreaking scene of a father ostracized at Parents’ Night because his deranged-outlaw appearance precluded any interaction with regular citizens, Under and Alone is a breathless, adrenaline-charged read that puts you on the street with some of the most dangerous men in America and with the law enforcement agents who risk everything to bring them in.

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The Last Time We Saw Her - Robert Scott Cover Art

The Last Time We Saw Her

The Last Time We Saw Her by Robert Scott

Deeply Loved, Sadly Missed Blonde, 19-year-old Brooke Wilberger was raised in a close-knit religious family. On a summer morning in Oregon, while cleaning lampposts at an apartment complex managed by her sister, Brooke vanished. One moment she was there, the next moment all that was left were her flip flops and the echo of her scream. Her family suffered five long years to learn that their worst fears were true. Brooke's life had been snatched brutally away by Joel Courtney, a serial predator who said he hadn't meant to kill her. But the stories of other women made it clear that Courtney was pure evil. . . Includes dramatic photos. Praise for Robert Scott and Shattered Innocence "Compelling and shocking. . .a ground-breaking book." --Robert K. Tanenbaum "Fascinating and fresh. . .a fast-paced, informative read." --Sue Russell

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Dead of Night - Gary C. King & Sheila Johnson Cover Art

Dead of Night

Dead of Night by Gary C. King & Sheila Johnson

Beautiful, beloved college sophomore Brianna Denison was home for the holidays in Reno, Nevada. After a long night out, she crashed on a friend's couch. It would be the last time the child psychology major was seen alive. Her strangled body was found in a field nearly a month later. But Brianna was not the first victim of a murderer with a disturbing fetish, and the patience to search for his favorite prey--petite, vulnerable brunettes. In unflinching detail Gary C. King recounts the hunt for James Biela, an ex-Marine turned rapist and killer. The investigation would lead authorities to a maze of troubled relationships, crucial DNA evidence, and ultimately a death sentence--bringing this shocking true-life thriller to a chilling end. . . Praise For Gary C. King's True Crime Books "A page?turner for true?crime fans." ??Vincent Bugliosi "Will leave you gasping." --Jack Olsen "Thorough, thoughtful, and unforgettable." ?? Inside Detective magazine Includes 16 Pages Of Dramatic Photos

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Bestial - Harold Schechter Cover Art

Bestial

Bestial The Savage Trail of a True American Monster by Harold Schechter

FROM SOCIAL OUTCAST TO NECROPHILE AND MURDERER -- HIS APPALLING CRIMES STUNNED AN ERA. San Francisco, the 1920s. In an age when nightmares were relegated to the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe and distant tales of the Whitechapel murders, a real-life monster terrorized America. His acts of butchery have proved him one of history's fiercest madmen. As an infant, Earle Leonard Nelson possessed the power to unsettle his elders. As a child he was unnaturally obsessed with the Bible; before he reached puberty, he had an insatiable, aberrant sex drive. By his teens, even Earle's own family had reason to fear him. But no one in the bone-chilling winter of 1926 could have predicted that his degeneracy would erupt in a sixteen-month frenzy of savage rape, barbaric murder, and unimaginable defilement -- deeds that would become the hallmarks of one of the most notorious fiends of the twentieth century, whose blood-lust would not be equaled until the likes of Henry Lee Lucas, John Wayne Gacy, and Jeffrey Dahmer. Drawing on the "gruesome, awesome, compelling reporting" (Ann Rule) that is his trademark, Harold Schechter takes a dark journey into the mind of an unrepentant sadist -- and brilliantly lays bare the myth of innocence that shrouded a bygone era.

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From Russia with Blood - Heidi Blake Cover Art

From Russia with Blood

From Russia with Blood The Kremlin's Ruthless Assassination Program and Vladimir Putin's Secret War on the West by Heidi Blake

The untold story of how Russia refined the art and science of targeted assassination abroad: “A compelling rendering of Putin’s frightening extensions of power into Europe and the United States” (Associated Press).  They thought they had found a safe haven in the green hills of England. They were wrong. One by one, the Russian oligarchs, dissidents, and gangsters who fled to Britain after Vladimir Putin came to power dropped dead in strange or suspicious circumstances. One by one, their British lawyers and fixers met similarly grisly ends. Yet, one by one, the British authorities shut down every investigation — and carried on courting the Kremlin. The spies in the riverside headquarters of MI6 looked on with horror as the scope of the Kremlin's global killing campaign became all too clear. And, across the Atlantic, American intelligence officials watched with mounting alarm as the bodies piled up, concerned that the tide of death could spread to the United States. Those fears intensified when a one-time Kremlin henchman was found bludgeoned to death in a Washington, D.C. penthouse. But it wasn't until Putin's assassins unleashed a deadly chemical weapon on the streets of Britain, endangering hundreds of members of the public in a failed attempt to slay the double agent Sergei Skripal, that Western governments were finally forced to admit that the killing had spun out of control. Unflinchingly documenting the growing web of death on British and American soil, Heidi Blake bravely exposes the Kremlin's assassination campaign as part of Putin's ruthless pursuit of global dominance — and reveals why Western governments have failed to stop the bloodshed. The unforgettable story that emerges whisks us from London's high-end night clubs to Miami's million-dollar hideouts ultimately renders a bone-chilling portrait of money, betrayal, and murder, written with the pace and propulsive power of a thriller. Based on a vast trove of unpublished documents, bags of discarded police evidence, and interviews with hundreds of insiders, this heart-stopping international investigation uncovers one of the most important — and terrifying — geopolitical stories of our time.

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Better Off Dead - Michael Fleeman Cover Art

Better Off Dead

Better Off Dead A Sordid True Story of Sex, Sin and Murder by Michael Fleeman

The true story of the love triangle murder of Robert Limon—from the New York Times bestselling author of Missing . . . and Presumed Dead . In Better off Dead , Michael Fleeman strips away the pleasant veneer of the Silver Lakes neighborhood in California's high desert to tell a shocking story about a headline-grabbing crime. A conversation with handsome young firefighter Jonathan Hearn leads Sabrina Limon, a vivacious blond mother of two, into a steamy affair that has them hooking up once and twice a week at her home, his home, and out in hidden spots in the vast Mojave. To the outside world, Sabrina and her husband Robert, a hard-working railroad mechanic, seemed matched by their love of family, friends and good times.But the partying had gotten out of control for Sabrina. There was boozing and wife-swapping and group sex. Once a turn-on, it now left Sabrina feeling debased, dehumanized, spiritually adrift. Robert won't talk about it, consumed by his work, boat, truck and porn. Until one hot August night, Robert is found dead of two gunshots in a pool of blood. False leads send police into dead ends until a tip arrives from a most unexpected place. For Sabrina, it's a stunning betrayal that hurtles the case back to a perfect little place in the desert. With informants, undercover cops and wiretaps, investigators discover a romance fueled by lies and dangerous fantasies—ultimately leading to a devious murder plot . . .

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The Informant - Kurt Eichenwald Cover Art

The Informant

The Informant A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald

From an award-winning New York Times investigative reporter comes an outrageous story of greed, corruption, and conspiracy—which left the FBI and Justice Department counting on the cooperation of one man . . . It was one of the FBI's biggest secrets: a senior executive with America's most politically powerful corporation, Archer Daniels Midland, had become a confidential government witness, secretly recording a vast criminal conspiracy spanning five continents. Mark Whitacre, the promising golden boy of ADM, had put his career and family at risk to wear a wire and deceive his friends and colleagues. Using Whitacre and a small team of agents to tap into the secrets at ADM, the FBI discovered the company's scheme to steal millions of dollars from its own customers. But as the FBI and federal prosecutors closed in on ADM, using stakeouts, wiretaps, and secret recordings of illegal meetings around the world, they suddenly found that everything was not all that it appeared. At the same time Whitacre was cooperating with the Feds while playing the role of loyal company man, he had his own agenda he kept hidden from everyone around him—his wife, his lawyer, even the FBI agents who had come to trust him with the case they had put their careers on the line for. Whitacre became sucked into his own world of James Bond antics, imperiling the criminal case and creating a web of deceit that left the FBI and prosecutors uncertain where the lies stopped and the truth began. In this gripping account unfolds one of the most captivating and bizarre tales in the history of the FBI and corporate America. Meticulously researched and richly told by New York Times senior writer Kurt Eichenwald, The Informant re-creates the drama of the story, beginning with the secret recordings, stakeouts, and interviews with suspects and witnesses to the power struggles within ADM and its board—including the high-profile chairman Dwayne Andreas, F. Ross Johnson, and Brian Mulroney—to the big-gun Washington lawyers hired by ADM and on up through the ranks of the Justice Department to FBI Director Louis Freeh and Attorney General Janet Reno. A page-turning real-life thriller that features deadpan FBI agents, crooked executives, idealistic lawyers, and shady witnesses with an addiction to intrigue, The Informant tells an important and compelling story of power and betrayal in America.

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Fire Lover - Joseph Wambaugh Cover Art

Fire Lover

Fire Lover A True Story by Joseph Wambaugh

The hunt for the most prolific American arsonist of the twentieth century — in this Edgar Award–winning true crime story that's "stranger than fiction" ( The New York Times ) . From Joseph Wambaugh, the #1 New York Times –bestselling author of such classics as The Onion Field and The Choirboys , comes the extraordinary story of the chase for the "Pillow Pyro," led by one ambitious firefighter. Growing up in Los Angeles, John Orr idolized law enforcement. However, after being rejected by both the LAPD and LAFD, he settled for a position with the Glendale Fire Department. There, he rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a fire captain and one of Southern California's best-known and most respected arson investigators. But Orr led another, unseen life, one that included womanizing and an insatiable thirst for recognition.   While Orr busted a slew of petty arsonists, there was one serial criminal he could not track down. Nothing was safe from the so-called Pillow Pyro's obsession. Homes, retail stores, and fields of dry brush all went up in flames. His handiwork led to millions of dollars worth of property damage and the deaths of four innocent bystanders. But after years of evading the police, he made a mistake—one that would turn Orr's life upside down.   The Washington Post raves, "When [Joseph Wambaugh] talks about the culture of cops versus the culture of firemen, we get no speculation, only hard-earned details." Based on meticulous research, interviews, case records, and thousands of pages of court transcripts, Fire Lover is Wambaugh at his best.

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My Sweet Angel - John Glatt Cover Art

My Sweet Angel

My Sweet Angel The True Story of Lacey Spears, the Seemingly Perfect Mother Who Murdered Her Son in Cold Blood by John Glatt

Lacey Spears made international headlines in January 2015 when she was charged with the “depraved mind” murder of her five-year-old son Garnett. Prosecutors alleged that the 27-year old mother had poisoned him with high concentrations of salt through his stomach tube. To the outside world Lacey had seemed like the perfect mother, regularly posting dramatic updates on her son’s harrowing medical problems. But in reality, Lacey was a text book case of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome. From the time he was an infant, she deliberately made Garnett sick to elicit sympathy from medical professionals, as well as her hundreds of followers on Facebook and other social media. When a Westchester County jury found her guilty of killing Garnett in April 2015, she was sentenced to twenty years to life in prison. Using Lacey’s own never-before-seen Facebook, Twitter, and blog posts, an exclusive prison interview with Lacey herself, as well as interviews with her family and the three police investigators who broke the case, My Sweet Angel gives the definitive account of this extraordinary case that shocked the world. The Lacey Spears story will be the subject of an hour-long special on Discovery ID , featuring author John Glatt, and CBS 48-Hours is working on a primetime special on the case.

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Chin - Larry McShane Cover Art

Chin

Chin The Life and Crimes of Mafia Boss Vincent Gigante by Larry McShane

VINCENT “CHIN” GIGANTE’S STORY IS TOLD IN THE FILM  THE ALTO KNIGHTS , WRITTEN BY NICHOLAS PILEGGI AND DIRECTED BY BARRY LEVINSON The first-ever and definitive biography of one of the Mafia's greatest--and deadliest--bosses, Vincent "Chin" Gigante, the Genovese Family crime overlord who ruled a sprawling criminal empire for a quarter century with an iron--and deadly--fist. Vinnie "Chin" Gigante displayed signs of insanity that stunned the public, stymied the police and the F.B.I., and secured his power for decades. Was he really crazy? Or crazy like a fox? He started out as a professional boxer--until he found his true calling as a ruthless contract killer. Hand-picked by Vito Genovese to run the Genovese Family when Vito was sent to prison, Chin raked in more than $100 million for the Genovese family and routinely ordered the murders of mobsters who violated the Mafia code--including John Gotti. At the height of his power, he controlled an underworld empire of close to three hundred made men, making the Genovese Family the most powerful in the U.S. And yet Vincent "Chin" Gigante was, to all outside appearances, certifiably crazy. He wandered the streets of Greenwich Village in a ratty bathrobe and slippers. He urinated in public, played pinochle in storefronts, and hid a second family from his wife. On twenty-two occasions, he admitted himself to a mental hospital--evading criminal prosecution while insuring his continued reign as "The Oddfather." It took nearly thirty years of endless psychiatric evaluations by a parade of puzzled doctors for federal authorities to finally bring him down.

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Murder in Sin City - Jeff German Cover Art

Murder in Sin City

Murder in Sin City Death of a Casino Boss by Jeff German

An investigative journalist's true crime account of the murder of the gambling executive and the trial of his accused girlfriend and her new boyfriend. The reckless heir to the Horseshoe Club fortune, fifty-five-year-old Vegas casino boss Ted Binion lived the high life constantly teetering on the edge—surrounding himself with guns, heroin, cash, babes and mobsters. But it was a beautiful ex-stripper and her new lover who gave him the final, fatal push over the side. The gripping true story of the fall of a powerful man that culminated in the most publicized murder in Las Vegas history—an almost perfect crime undone by the unbelievable greed of its perpetrators—Jeff German's  Murder in Sin City  is a stunning account of human deterioration and depravity, a neon-tinged view of the poisonous rot that festers beneath the Vegas glitter. Now a Lifetime original movie,  Sex and Lies in Sin City .

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The Mexican Mafia - Tony Rafael Cover Art

The Mexican Mafia

The Mexican Mafia by Tony Rafael

It has been called the most dangerous gang in American history. In Los Angeles alone it is responsible for over 100 homicides per year. Although it has fewer than 300 members, it controls a 40,000-strong street army that is eager to advance its agenda. It waves the flag of the Black Hand and its business is murder. Although known on the streets for over fifty years, the Mexican Mafia has flown under the radar of public awareness and has flourished beneath a deep cover of secrecy. Members are forbidden even to acknowledge its existence. For the first time in its history, the Mexican Mafia is now getting the attention it has been striving to avoid. In this briskly written and thoroughly researched book, Tony Rafael looks at the birth and the blood-soaked growth of this criminal enterprise through the eyes of the victims, the dropouts, the cops and DAs on the front lines of the war against the Mexican Mafia. The first book ever published on the subject, Southern Soldiers is a pioneering work that unveils the operations of this California prison gang and describes how it grew from a small clique of inmates into a transnational criminal organization. As the first prison gang ever to project its power beyond prison walls, the Mexican Mafia controls virtually every Hispanic neighborhood in Southern California and is rapidly expanding its influence into the entire Southwest, across the East Coast, and even into Canada. Riding a wave of unchecked immigration and seemingly beyond the reach of law enforcement, the Mexican Mafia is poised to become the Cosa Nostra of twenty-first-century America.

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Dangerous Attraction: The Deadly Secret Life Of An All-american Girl - Robert Scott Cover Art

Dangerous Attraction: The Deadly Secret Life Of An All-american Girl

Dangerous Attraction: The Deadly Secret Life Of An All-american Girl by Robert Scott

An all-American girl next door is murdered by her skinhead boyfriend in this true crime tale of a tragic walk on the wild side.   Twenty-year-old Katrina Montgomery was blessed with beauty, brains, and a loving family. Yet something drew her to the dark side. As a teen, she snuck off to party with a Neo-Nazi gang and developed a relationship with a drug-addicted skinhead named Justin Merriman.   On Thanksgiving weekend, 1992, Katrina went to a gang party and wound up in the townhouse where Merriman lived with his mother. There, Merriman raped and murdered Katrina in front of two of his skinhead buddies. Though her body wasn't found, Merriman continued his orgy of brutality, terrorizing his victims into silence.   Merriman eluded justice for six years, until January 30, 1998, when a minor traffic violation led to a wild chase. After a seven-hour standoff and a bomb threat, Merriman was arrested. After police dug into Katrina’s cold case, Merriman was convicted of her murder and sentenced to death in California's San Quentin Prison.   Included sixteen pages of shocking photos.

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The Kill Jar - J. Reuben Appelman Cover Art

The Kill Jar

The Kill Jar Obsession, Descent, and a Hunt for Detroit's Most Notorious Serial Killer by J. Reuben Appelman

The subject of the Discovery+ series Children of the Snow , a cold case murder investigation is cracked open by “a powerful, confident voice in the new true crime memoir genre” (James Renner, author of True Crime Addict ). Four children were abducted and murdered outside of Detroit during the winters of 1976 and 1977, their bodies eventually dumped in snow banks around the city. J. Reuben Appelman was only six years old when the murders began and even evaded an abduction attempt during that same period, fueling a lifelong obsession with what became known as the Oakland County Child Killings. Autopsies showed that the victims had been fed while in captivity, reportedly held with care. And yet, with equal care, their bodies had allegedly been groomed post-mortem, scrubbed-free of evidence that might link to a killer. There were few credible leads, and equally few credible suspects. That’s what the cops had passed down to the press, and that’s what the city of Detroit, and Appelman, had come to believe. When the abductions mysteriously stopped, a task force operating on one of the largest manhunt budgets in history shut down without an arrest. Although no more murders occurred, Detroit remained haunted. Eerily overlaid upon the author’s own decades-old history with violence, The Kill Jar tells the gripping story of Appelman’s ten-year investigation into buried leads, apparent police cover-ups, con men, child pornography rings, and high-level corruption saturating Detroit’s most notorious serial killer case. “Always deft, often sublime, Appelman uses his investigation to draw us into his personal journey through darkness, to light and life” (Chip Johannessen, producer of Dexter ).

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Blood Justice - Tom Henderson Cover Art

Blood Justice

Blood Justice The True Story of Multiple Murder and a Family's Revenge by Tom Henderson

A husband's anguish, a son's suspicion, a killer's secret. The true crime account of Jeffrey Gorton, the Michigan murderer who lived under the radar.   In 1991, flight attendant Nancy Ludwig checked in to an airport hotel near Detroit. The next morning she was found gagged, raped, and tortured—her throat slit with such rage that she was nearly decapitated. Her husband Arthur never gave up hope that the future would bring enough evidence to close the case. But it was the past that held the clue.   In 1985, fifty-five-year old Margarette Eby, a music professor, met the same grisly death at her cottage in Flint, Michigan. The case went cold—until six years later when the victim's son Mark came upon the story of Nancy Ludwig's slaying. With nothing to go on but intuition, he called authorities, certain that the same fiend committed both crimes.   A cunning sting operation yielded irrefutable DNA evidence, and authorities were led to the home of respected navy veteran Jeffrey Gorton living quietly with his wife and two children. But his cold-blooded secrets were only beginning to come to light, leaving fears that there were more victims yet to be found in a killing spree that had finally come to an end.  Blood Justice  shows veteran reporter and author Tom Henderson at the top of his game.   ***Please note: This ebook edition does not contain the photos found in the print edition.***

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Fort Apache - Tom Walker Cover Art

Fort Apache

Fort Apache New York’S Most Violent Precinct by Tom Walker

OVER THIRTY YEARS AFTER its publication, Fort Apache: New Yorks Most Violent Precinct remains the definitive account of the vicious cycle of violence that has griped urban America over the past century. A swollen head floating down the Bronx River, a junkie murdered for stealing a womans wig, a French Connection-style chase through blind alleys, police barricaded inside their precinct as a wild mob lays siege to the station and, above all, mindless violence that seemed to erupt in profusion for no apparent reason against the cops who faithfully served and cared deeply about the neighborhood that was rapidly imploding.

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By the Side of the Road - Marla Bernard Cover Art

By the Side of the Road

By the Side of the Road The True Story of the Abduction and Murder of Ann Harrison by Marla Bernard

The true crime story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a Missouri teen and her family's journey to justice. In the early hours of March 22, 1989, two friends—career criminals with violent felony convictions—drove around the eastern Kansas City area in a stolen car committing a series of crimes. The weather was mild for late March in Kansas City; the sky was clear, and there was the pale remnant of a Full Moon that bore the dubious name of Death Moon, the last full moon of winter. A little before 7 a.m., fifteen-year-old Ann Harrison walked to the end of her driveway on Kansas City's east side to wait for the bus to take her to Raytown South High School. Ten minutes later, she disappeared but no one saw what happened. As if waiting for her return, her belongings were still stacked carefully by the side of the road. By the Side of the Road  is the true crime story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Ann Harrison and the long journey forced upon her family who had to wait nearly three decades to see her killers brought to final justice.

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Couple Found Slain - Mikita Brottman Cover Art

Couple Found Slain

Couple Found Slain After a Family Murder by Mikita Brottman

“Mikita Brottman is one of today’s finest practitioners of nonfiction.” — The New York Times Book Review Critically acclaimed author and psychoanalyst Mikita Brottman offers literary true crime writing at its best, taking us into the life of a murderer after his conviction—when most stories end but the defendant's life goes on. On February 21, 1992, 22-year-old Brian Bechtold walked into a police station in Port St. Joe, Florida and confessed that he’d shot and killed his parents in their family home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He said he’d been possessed by the devil. He was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and ruled “not criminally responsible” for the murders on grounds of insanity. But after the trial, where do the "criminally insane" go? Brottman reveals Brian's inner life leading up to the murder, as well as his complicated afterlife in a maximum security psychiatric hospital, where he is neither imprisoned nor free. During his 27 years at the hospital, Brian has tried to escape and been shot by police, and has witnessed three patient-on-patient murders. He’s experienced the drugging of patients beyond recognition, a sadistic system of rewards and punishments, and the short-lived reign of a crazed psychiatrist-turned-stalker. In the tradition of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest , Couple Found Slain is an insider’s account of life in the underworld of forensic psych wards in America and the forgotten lives of those held there, often indefinitely.

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Takedown - Laila Mickelwait Cover Art

Takedown

Takedown Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking by Laila Mickelwait

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The gripping, true story of one woman’s battle to expose and shut down a criminal online porn empire. Pornhub was the 10th most visited site on the Internet, often praised as a progressive champion of women. Then one day, an activist discovered a secret they had been keeping from the world for over a decade: it was infested with child sexual abuse and rape videos. Now for the first time, anti-trafficking expert and mother of two Laila Mickelwait tells the story of her battle against Pornhub’s billionaire executives and the credit card companies who helped them monetize the abuse of countless victims—some as young as three years old. Readers will follow her from her first horrifying discovery of criminal content on Pornhub to closed-door meetings with credit card executives, White House and Justice Department senior officials, a powerful hedge-fund manager and more. Through insider accounts from Pornhub moderators and executives, you’ll meet the world’s first online porn tycoon, AKA “the Zuckerberg of porn,” along with Pornhub’s top brass (known internally as “The Bro Club”) who operate in secrecy. The culmination of years of activism, Takedown is the true, never before told story of how Mickelwait mobilized a movement of two million people and together they accomplished "the biggest takedown of content in Internet history." (Financial Times)

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Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys - Craig McGuire & Carmine Imbriale Cover Art

Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys

Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys Surviving Brooklyn's Colombo Mob by Craig McGuire & Carmine Imbriale

Now in hiding, a former wiseguy teams up with a veteran true-crime writer to take you inside Brooklyn's gangland at the height of its violence.   This is the true story of Carmine Imbriale—a gambler, a brawler, a bandit, a bookie, an enforcer. For two decades, Imbriale was a street-level operative in one of the most violent crews in the Colombo Family, and he endeared himself to some of the major figures of organized crime while developing deadly disputes with others. Carmine and the 13th Avenue Boys is the jarring account of his lawless lifestyle culminating in a gang war in South Brooklyn, from which he emerges a survivor.   From his first arrest at fifteem for robbing a Coney Island pimp to surviving multiple assassination attempts, Imbriale offers up dozens of too-good-to-be-true tales featuring some of the most notorious gangsters, including Joe Colombo, Christie Tick, Jimmy Ida, Joe Waverly, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Johnny Rizzo, as well as other lions and lackeys of La Cosa Nostra, and details a beef with none other than Greg "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa Sr.   A young streetwise hustler, Imbriale thought he found loyalty, a brotherhood. Instead, he descended into a world of treachery and deceit, where your best friend is your executioner, and no one gets out alive. But no one expected him to become the domino that helped bring it all down.

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A Need to Kill - Michael W. Cuneo Cover Art

A Need to Kill

A Need to Kill Confessions of a Teen Murderer by Michael W. Cuneo

He was an all-American boy-next-door—driven by a need to kill. An account of the Haines family massacre from the author whose "writing does not flinch" ( St. Louis Post-Dispatch ). Alec Kreider knew his best friend's family never locked their doors—making Kevin Haines and his family the perfect targets for a crime. One night, he waited until they were asleep . . . then entered the house with a knife. Alec burst into the master bedroom and stabbed Tom and Lisa Haines first. Then he attacked Kevin, who fought for his life. Meanwhile, at the end of the hall, Kevin's sister Maggie awoke to the sound of violence—and was the only one who made it out alive. Clean-cut and academically gifted, Alec seemed to have no motives, no history of psychosis—and no remorse. Some believed he was a serial killer in the making, a soulless monster plagued by "demons." Now, for the first time, acclaimed author Michael W. Cuneo shares the inside story—with shocking details of Alec's confession to his father, disturbing messages to his classmates, and chilling excerpts from his diaries—and takes you inside the dark, troubled mind of this teenage killer. Please note: This ebook edition does not contain the photos found in the print edition.

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Gaspipe - Philip Carlo Cover Art

Gaspipe

Gaspipe Confessions of a Mafia Boss by Philip Carlo

"If your Sopranos addiction shows no signs of abating," the life and crimes of a mob boss from the New York Times –bestselling author of The Night Stalker ( Los Angeles Times ). The boss of New York's infamous Lucchese crime family, Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso's life in the Mafia was preordained from birth. His rare talent for "earning"—concocting ingenious schemes to hijack trucks, rob banks, and bring vast quantities of drugs into New York—fueled his unstoppable rise up the ladder of organized crime. A mafioso responsible for at least fifty murders, Casso lived large, with a beautiful wife and money to burn. When the law finally caught up with him in 1994, Casso became the thing he hated most—an informer. From his blood feud with John Gotti to his dealings with the "Mafia cops," decorated NYPD officers Lou Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, to the Windows case, which marked the beginning of the end for the New York Mob,  Gaspipe  is Anthony Casso's shocking story—a roller-coaster ride into an exclusive netherworld that reveals the true inner workings of the Mafia, from its inception to the present time. "Filled with never-known-before details . . . a very compelling true-crime tale." —CNN "Readers interested in the inner workings of the Mafia will love this chilling look at a Mob boss." — Booklist (starred review) "I couldn't put the book down . . . Truly amazing." — San Jose Mercury News "The inside information about the lifestyle, rituals, killings, and betrayals is priceless. An authoritative look at a once-rampant predator now at bay." — Kirkus Reviews

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Without a Prayer - Susan Ashline Cover Art

Without a Prayer

Without a Prayer The Death of Lucas Leonard and How One Church Became a Cult by Susan Ashline

The horrifying true story of a fatal encounter inside the secluded Word of Life Christian Church, a parish-turned-cult in upstate New York. Teenager Lucas Leonard made shocking admissions in front of the altar—he’d practiced witchcraft and conspired to murder his parents, among other horrific crimes. The confessions earned him a brutal beating by a gang of angry church members, including his parents and sister. Lucas arrived at the hospital dead, awakening the sleepy community of Chadwicks, New York, to the horror that had been lurking next door. Nine members of Lucas’ church would eventually find themselves facing murder-related charges. But how did they get to that point? And what made Lucas confess? The full story has never been told—until now.  Emmy-nominated journalist Susan Ashline delves deep into the Leonard family history, the darkness within the Word of Life Christian Church, and what led Lucas, his family, and his community to that fateful night.

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Borgata: Autumn of Empire - Louis Ferrante Cover Art

Borgata: Autumn of Empire

Borgata: Autumn of Empire A History of the American Mafia: Volume 3 of the Borgata Trilogy by Louis Ferrante

The explosive conclusion to Louis Ferrante’s epic trilogy about the rise and fall of the American mafia. Borgata: Autumn of Empire is the propulsive conclusion to Louis Ferrante’s epic trilogy about the rise and fall of the American mafia. Following the mafia’s golden age of prosperity—and triumphs over internal and external adversaries—we arrive at the final stirring volume of this trilogy, as the reader follows the American mafia’s descent into a murderous rampage, with lieutenants scrambling to lord over the remnants of a shrinking empire. The story picks up with men—like Carlo Gambino—who are forced to cede power to a new generation of mobsters who lack the skill to steer the mob into a new era of prosperity. The painstaking art of diplomacy is replaced by murder, which becomes the answer to nearly everything. Family values, however twisted, are supplanted by individualism. And the old-world sanctity of omertá gives way to the age of the informant. Facilitating the mob’s decline is law enforcement’s new resolve to dismantle organized crime by way of strike forces, the RICO law, and the Witness Protection Program. As a result of the legal spotlight, America’s police and political establishment shy away from bribes, and the mafia finds itself devoid of that deep layer of protection they had always relied upon. With colorful characters taking center stage—such as John Gotti, Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso, Vincent “Chin” Gigante, Joseph Massino, and Carmine “The Snake” Persico—the American mafia is ruptured by cataclysmic changes that are beyond its ability to control; one borgata is beset by civil war as another undergoes an internal blood purge, and a third is toppled by coup. Labor unions that have been under mob control for decades are suddenly lost, opportunities are squandered, top earners are foolishly murdered, and the mob is expelled from industries that took a century for them to infiltrate. This third volume of the Borgata trilogy follows the years of decline from 1975 to 2005—and is written by a man who knew many of the characters involved and experienced first-hand the external pressures and violent bloodbaths that finally sounded the mob’s death knell.

48

Gangsterland - David Pietrusza Cover Art

Gangsterland

Gangsterland A Tour Through the Dark Heart of Jazz-Age New York City by David Pietrusza

This history of New York City is a site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan. Independent Book Award Silver Medal (Co-Winner) for Regional Northeast Nonfiction Independent Press Award's Distinguished Favorite in the True Crime Category YC Big Book Award's Distinguished Favorite in the True Crime Category In Gangsterland , historian David Pietrusza tours the Big Apple's rotten core. The Roaring Twenties blaze and sparkle with Times Square's bright lights and showgirls, but its dark shadows mask a web of notorious gangsters ruling New York City. At the heart of this wickedness nests a "Prince of Darkness," Arnold Rothstein, the kingpin most noted for fixing baseball's infamous 1919 World Series, who also bankrolled high-stakes gambling dens, speakeasies, trigger-happy bootleggers, and even a record setting Broadway show. Sharing center stage are con artists Nicky Arnstein and "Dapper Don" Collins; crooked cop Lt. Charles Becker; politicians Mayor "Gentleman Jimmy" Walker and "Big Tim" Sullivan; master drug smugglers George Uffner and Sidney Stajer; murderous racketeers Lucky Luciano and Legs Diamond; show biz legends Flo Ziegfeld, Fanny Brice, and Texas Guinan; and many more. As Pietrusza prowls city boulevards and back alleys, exposing Tammany Hall, sports, Broadway, and Wall Street, jewels are fenced, bullets fly, and unmarked bills buy bribes and silence.

49

The Jeffrey Dahmer Story - Don Davis Cover Art

The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

The Jeffrey Dahmer Story An American Nightmare by Don Davis

The New York Times –bestselling true crime story of the notorious American serial killer. They smelled the foul odors. They heard the power saw buzzing in the dead of night but neighbors never imagined the horrors happening right next door. Tenants of the Oxford Apartments would never forget the hot sultry night of July 22, 1991. A panic-stricken young man—a pair of handcuffs still dangling from his wrists—ran out of Apartment 213 and told police an incredible tale of terror. Shaking with fear, he led officers back to his captor's lair, where they made the gruesome discovery. Inside were the body parts of at least fifteen men—including torsos stuffed into a barrel, severed heads in a refrigerator, and skulls boiled clean and stashed in a filing cabinet. Tacked to the freezer were Polaroid photographs of mutilated corpses. When investigators arrested 31-year-old Jeffrey Dahmer, they realized they had stumbled onto a "real-life Hannibal Lecter"—a sadistic murderer who told them he had saved a human heart "to eat later." What could turn a handsome, former tennis player, the son of middle-class parents, into a perverse serial killer whose unthinkable acts shocked the nation? The Jeffrey Dahmer Story takes you into Jeffrey Dahmer's twisted world of bizarre sexual encounters, mutilation and cannibalism—in one of history's most appalling true crime cases. With eight pages of chilling photographs. Previously published as The Milwaukee Murders .

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The Vampire of Sacramento: Richard Chase and the Institutional Failures That Enabled a Serial Killer - Feargus O’Connor Cover Art

The Vampire of Sacramento: Richard Chase and the Institutional Failures That Enabled a Serial Killer

The Vampire of Sacramento: Richard Chase and the Institutional Failures That Enabled a Serial Killer by Feargus O’Connor

The Vampire of Sacramento: Richard Chase and the Institutional Failures That Enabled a Serial Killer  In January 1978, Sacramento became the hunting ground for one of America's most disturbing serial killers. Richard Trenton Chase murdered six people in four weeks, driven by schizophrenic delusions that his blood was turning to powder and that he needed to consume human organs to survive. But this meticulously researched account reveals that Chase's crimes were not simply the work of a madman—they were the inevitable result of catastrophic failures across every institution designed to prevent such violence.  Drawing on psychiatric records, court transcripts, and forensic evidence, this book traces Chase's trajectory from an abused child through failed psychiatric interventions to his final suicide on death row. Each chapter examines a different dimension of the case: the childhood trauma that seeded his pathology, the psychiatric system that released him prematurely, the family that discontinued his medication, the law enforcement encounter that missed a critical intervention opportunity, and the legal proceedings that grappled with his obvious insanity.  More than a true crime narrative, this is an institutional autopsy examining how mental health policy, civil commitment laws, and systemic coordination failures enabled a preventable tragedy. The final chapter demonstrates that four decades later, the same failures continue to produce similar outcomes, making Chase's case not historical curiosity but urgent warning about problems that remain unresolved. 

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