Mafia Boss Sam Giancana: The Rise and Fall of a Chicago Mobster


Susan McNicoll - 2015
    Born in 1908, in The Patch, Chicago, Giancana joined the Forty-Two gang of lawless juvenile punks in 1921 and quickly proved himself as a skilled 'wheel man' (or getaway driver), extortionist and vicious killer. Called up to the ranks of the Outfit, he reputedly held talks with the CIA about assassinating Fidel Castro, shared a girlfriend with John F. Kennedy and had friends in high places, including Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Marilyn Monroe and, some say, the Kennedys, although he fell out with them.The story of Sam Giancana will overturn many of your beliefs about America during the Kennedy era. If you want to know Giancana's role in the brother's deaths, and more of the intrigue surrounding that of Marilyn Monroe, this book will fill you in on the murky lives of many shady characters who really ruled the day, both in Chicago and elsewhere.

The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself


Cole Younger - 1903
    Following the war, Younger continued his celebrated career as a desperado, robbing banks and trains with Jesse James and other members of the James-Younger gang. A fateful attempt in 1876 on the Northfield, Minnesota, bank sent Cole to the state prison in Stillwater, Minnesota for decades. There he became a model resident, helping both to protect women convicts during a fire and found the Prison Mirror, a newspaper intended to shed "a ray of light upon the lives of those behind the bars." Paroled in 1901, Younger successfully sought a pardon, operated a Wild West show with his old comrade Frank James, and lectured on "What My Life Has Taught Me." Always known for intelligence and coolness under pressure, he published this autobiography in 1903, reflecting on the colorful and sometimes violent experiences of "the gentleman, the soldier, the outlaw, and the convict."

Mr Smiley: My Last Pill and Testament


Howard Marks - 2015
    On his release from one of America's toughest prisons, Howard made a promise to himself to go straight. No more drugs, no more smuggling, no more fake passports. He would retire to a quiet life with his family in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It didn't quite work out that way.This was the mid-nineties, the height of the ecstasy and clubbing boom, and Ibiza was at the very centre of the vortex for the 'E generation'. Pills had taken the place of marijuana, Paul Oakenfold had replaced The Rolling Stones as the music of the masses, but some people are just born for life on the other side of the law.It wasn't long before Howard found himself trying pure ecstasy and rubbing shoulders with some of the king-pins of the pill trade. These included some of Britain's most notorious gangsters, who were laundering millions of pounds of gold stolen from the legendary Brink's-Mat bullion raid. As Britons descended on Ibiza ahead of one of the greatest summers of the nineties, Howard was preparing for his most outrageous operation yet.Incredibly funny, moving and scabrous, Howard Marks' Mr Smiley follows a journey to the heartland of the clubbing and British crime scene. It is also a fitting last word from one of Britain's best loved bad boys.

Little Girl Lost: The True Story of The Vandling Murder


Tammy Mal - 2012
    But when Mae’s beaten and mutilated corpse was found the next day in an abandoned house, her throat slashed and her face battered beyond recognition, the small town of Vandling was thrust into one of the most intensive police investigations in the history of Pennsylvania.The murder sent shock waves through the small town and surrounding area, holding residents hostage in the grips of a paralyzing fear. Who could have committed such a brutal crime against a child who was walking home from church? What kind of animal would discard a little girl like nothing more than trash?As police doggedly investigated the horrific murder, long before the use of DNA, computers, or modern forensic science, one key piece of evidence would lead them to 13-year-old Myron Semunchick. Brilliant, good looking, and extremely popular, Myron projected the image of the all American boy. He was also a cunning killer who murdered sadistically and almost got away with it.Little Girl Lost is the true story of one of the most notorious crimes in history. A case that made headlines across the United States and into Canada, it is also the story of the youngest person ever charged with 1st degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in the state of Pennsylvania.

Outlaw Biker: My Life At Full Throttle


Richard "Deadeye" Hayes - 2008
    This is a man who stole a machine gun before he was seven and lost his left eye when a good friend shot him in the face. As a member-and then president-of the infamous Los Valientes Motorcycle Club, he broke more laws and had more fun that any six of the coolest guys you know. One of the last true Outlaw Bikers, Deadeye knows what it means to be a man, take shit from no one, and have tattoos that actually say something. Riding, drug dealing, and sending men to the hospital with his bare hands, Deadeye made himself a legend among bikers- all the while making sure his daughters never got mixed up with guys like him. In his own words, Deadeye tells it all. From earning his colors with an outlaw motorcycle club to his steady diet of drugs, sex, violence, and crime, this is his story: true to life, yet larger than life, and full throttle all the way.

The Thursday Murder Club / The Man Who Died Twice


Richard Osman
    

The Reluctant Detective


Adrian Spalding - 2019
    He just wanted a quiet life. Something his mother was not going to allow. There again he never for one moment imagined he would have to look into the death of a 90-year-old lady who was gambling away her family fortune. The Hayden Detective Agency has no need of clients. The very existence of the Agency allows Martin Hayden to claim his large monthly allowance from the family fortune - without lifting a finger. Martin’s biggest problem is his interfering mother, who understands her idle son too well. She takes steps to find him not just clients but also a personal assistant to keep an eye on him. Under pressure from the women in his life, Martin agrees to take on his first client. How hard can it be to follow a 90-year-old woman who spends her time losing money at roulette tables? As it turns out harder than Martin ever thought possible, especially with the old lady dying in strange circumstances. Soon the Reluctant Detective is grappling with shady estate agents, an intellectual artist, missing charity money and an irritating Indian waiter. Luckily for Martin there is help in the form of Colin, a transvestite who, apart from having very good fashion sense, is an expert at breaking into houses.

Reprisal (John Hayes #5)


Mark David Abbott - 2020
    Everyone knows revenge is a dish best served cold but no-one knows this better than John Hayes.After dealing with the mercenaries sent to kill him in Oman, John realizes he can never live in peace knowing that the man who sent them, the man ultimately responsible for endangering the woman he loves, is still roaming free.To hunt him down John must return to where it all began.India.

Out of My Depth


Anne Darwin - 2016
    

The Dirty Dozen: The real story of the rise and fall of London's most feared armed robbery gang


Noel 'Razor' Smith - 2020
    

Murder Inc.: The Rise and Fall of Ireland's Most Dangerous Criminal Gang


Paul Williams - 2014
    is the latest blockbuster by Ireland's most respected crime writer and journalist, Paul Williams. Murder Inc. is the definitive account of how organized crime exploded in Limerick from the 1990s and in the noughties. It describes the depravity and decadence of the gangs, their deadly rivaliries, and their reigns of terror over the community in which they lived. Finally, Williams traces the faultlines that eventually led to the implosion of the gangs and their defeat.Drawing on his vast inside knowledge of the criminal underworld, an unparalleled range of contacts and eye witness interviews, Paul Williams provides a chilling insight into the mobsters and events that corroded entire neighbourhoods and devastated countless lives.

Cop Out!: The End Of My Brilliant Career In The New Zealand Police


Glenn Wood - 1999
    Constable Wood was a disaster waiting to happen. He was the sort of cop who was happier helping little old ladies across the street (even when they were quite content where they were) than pursuing the perpetrators of dreadful deeds. But if he failed to strike fear into the hearts of the criminal underworld, his superiors had a real problem on their hands. Never before had they been forced to deal with such a well-meaning but accident-prone officer and they hoped, fervently, never to see his like again. From his early encounters with a less-than-impressed public, through the terrifying days of the Springbok Tour riots, to the gradual realisation that perhaps he wasn’t cut out for life on the beat, this is the hilarious story of a young cop who created a severe disturbance in the force.

Absence of Evidence: An Examination of the Michelle Young Murder Case


Lynne Blanchard - 2016
    The former NC State cheerleader was married to Jason. They had a beautiful two year old daughter and a son on the way. The couple enjoyed a comfortable life in the quiet Enchanted Oaks community of Raleigh, North Carolina.It was autumn—a time for football games and holiday plans, but on November 3, 2006 Michelle was found beaten to death in her home. It shook the community and made national headlines. Police immediately began investigating Jason, but he was out of town at the time of the murder. Would they discover enough evidence to solve the crime? Discover the facts about this fascinating and controversial case. *Includes photos*

No Regrets


Coleen Nolan - 2013
    As a member of the Nolan sisters, Coleen Nolan was born into the spotlight and has stayed there ever since. She has now become one of the nation's favourite TV presenters and is used to newspapers and magazines claiming to have the inside story of her private life. In No Regrets Coleen finally reveals the truth of what really happened during the last few rollercoaster years, truly the worst of her life. Whilst it's certainly been a traumatic time for the whole family, Coleen is a survivor. First and foremost, she is a mum and is determined to hold her family together. The Nolans finally put aside their infamous feud to rally round their beloved sister Bernie, who tragically lost her fight with cancer on the 4th of July last year, aged just 52. In this memoir, Coleen movingly describes her struggle to deal with the emotional scars that come from losing someone so close and the effect it has had on her own life. In this incredibly candid memoir, Coleen writes with raw honesty about her family troubles, her career highs and lows, and her struggle with her body image. In recent years, Coleen has found herself in both a plastic surgeon's office looking at a £20,000 bill to 'fix her face' and at a breast cancer clinic asking for the removal of her healthy breasts to avoid becoming the fourth sister in the family to be struck down by cancer. Wonderfully warm and moving, and brilliantly funny and honest, No Regrets will take you from laughter to tears and back again as you share in Coleen's very personal journey.

Street Soldier: My Life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Boston Irish Mob


Edward J. MacKenzie Jr. - 2001
    MacKenzie, Jr., “Eddie Mac,” was a drug dealer and enforcer who would do just about anything for Bulger. In this compelling eyewitness account, the first from a Bulger insider, Eddie Mac delivers the goods on his one-time boss and on such former associates as Stephen ''The Rifleman'' Flemmi and turncoat FBI agent John Connolly. Eddie Mac provides a window onto a world rarely glimpsed by those on the outside.Street Soldier is also a story of the search for family, for acceptance, for respect, loyalty, and love. Abandoned by his parents at the age of four, MacKenzie became a ward of the state of Massachusetts, suffered physical and sexual abuse in the foster care system, and eventually drifted into a life of crime and Bulger's orbit. The Eddie Mac who emerges in these pages is complex: An enforcer who was also a kick-boxing and Golden Gloves champion; a womanizer who fought for custody of his daughters; a tenth-grade dropout living on the streets who went on, as an adult, to earn a college degree in three years; a man, who lived by the strict code of loyalty to the mob, but set up a sting operation that would net one of the largest hauls of cocaine ever seized. Eddie's is a harsh story, but it tells us something important about the darker corners of our world.Street Soldier is as disturbing and fascinating as a crime scene, as heart-stopping as a bar fight, and at times as darkly comic as Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction or Martin Scorsese’s Good Fellas.