Best of
True-Story

1993

April Fool's Day


Bryce Courtenay - 1993
    Or that’s how Damon saw it, anyway. Damon wanted a book that talked a lot about love. Damon Courtenay died on the morning of April Fool’s Day. In this tribute to his son, Bryce Courtenay lays bare the suffering behind this young man’s life. Damon’s story is one of life-long struggle, his love for Celeste, the compassion of family, and a fight to the end for integrity. A testimony to the power of love, April Fool’s Day is also about understanding: how when we confront our worst, we can become our best.

A Memory for Wonders: A True Story


Veronica Namoyo Le Goulard - 1993
    She sucked anti-Catholicism with her mother's milk. But God had other plans for Lucette. Emotionally neglected by her parents, Lucette became a "difficult child" leading a colorful life full of mischievous adventure all the while experiencing an unutterable loneliness. But the Hound of Heaven was gently pursuing her. At the age of three, upon witnessing the overwhelming beauty of a sunset after a violent sirocco sand storm, she gained the unshakable certainty that this beauty was created, and that there was a God. She began to pray. That was the first link in a chain of remarkable events that grace alone could forge, which led her to embrace the faith and become a Poor Clare nun in Algiers. Disowned by her parents, she put all her trust in Him for whom all things are possible. Her faith was rewarded with a dramatic answer to the prayers of her heart. Lucette, now Mother Veronica Namoyo, is an Abbess and foundress of two flourishing monasteries in Africa. "This compelling book is bound to touch many souls, and is an eloquent testimony that grace, love, prayer and sacrifice can conquer the world, because they can conquer man's rebellious heart."   - Alice von Hildebrand, Author, By Love Refined

Deadly Pretender


Karen Kingsbury - 1993
    An account of the crimes of David Miller describes how, posing as, variously, a CIA agent, an attorney, and a lobbyist, he conned people out of their money and their lives.

The Pentagon Wars: Reformers Challenge the Old Guard


James G. Burton - 1993
    Describes the struggle against entrenched ineffiency and corruption in the military, and recounts the author's own experiences trying to get equipment tested under conditions that resemble combat.

Lucifer Dethroned


William Schnoebelen - 1993
    This book describes his descent. Read about how he moved quickly from level to level, seeking power. While he thought he was moving up, he was really being dragged down.

A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam


James R. Ebert - 1993
    More than 60 Army and Marine Corps infantrymen speak of their experiences during their year-long tours of duty.

More Incredible Answers to Prayer


Roger J. Morneau - 1993
    

Every Mother's Nightmare: The Murder of James Bulger


Mark Thomas - 1993
    The discovery that the killers were but boys themselves forced a national (and international) self examination: what kind of society could breed such a monstrous act?

Street Child


Berlie Doherty - 1993
    Barnardo, founder of a school for the city's "ragged" children.

Return to the Hiding Place


Hans Poley - 1993
    But after months in hiding at Corrie ten Boom's home, Poley found an inner peace and freedom that defied even the Nazi peril. Composed of his wartime journals and letters, the book also includes exclusive photos documenting Poley's life in hiding.

Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words


Frederick Douglass - 1993
    in black-and-white. Opening note by Coretta Scott King. For the first time, the most important account ever written of a childhood in slavery is accessible to young readers. From his days as a young boy on a plantation to his first months as a freeman in Massachusetts, here are Douglass's own firsthand experiences vividly recounted--expertly excerpted and powerfully illustrated.

Savage Messiah


Paul Kaihla - 1993
    A three-year publication ban on evidence was lifted only after Theriault pleaded guilty in January 1993 to a charge of second-degree murder. But even then much horrific material was never released. This book makes it clear that when Canadians read of a Charles Manson or a David Koresh, they cannot look complacently southwards and say "it can never happen here."How did Theriault, who called himself Moses, maintain control over his eight wives and twenty-six children? How could someone once described as a "renaissance man" be so sadistic? How is it conceivable that the women he "married" stuck with him through torture, drunken orgies and the removal of their children by an appalled Children's Aid Society?What sort of prophetic charisma led Rock Theriault's followers to work tirelessly for him in remote bush country and become unquestioning witnesses to -and victims of- his atrocities? How was Theriault able to charm his way past so many psychiatrists and social workers? Finally, what, if anything, can relatives or the police do to intervene in such a cult unless or until crimes are brought to light?No one who absorbs this shocking story can take lightly the date on which Rock Theriault can apply for parole. No one who reads this remarkable piece of investigative reporting can fail to be compelled by the amazing narrative it unfolds.