Book picks similar to
Undercover: A Novel of a Life by Keith Bulfin
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Australia's Hardest Prison: Inside the Walls of Long Bay Jail
James Phelps - 2014
For the first time, guards and inmates of the notorious South Sydney facility reveal what really goes on behind its towering concrete walls. Opened in 1909 Long Bay Jail, originally a women's reformatory, has a dark and extraordinary history. From ghosts to legendary prisoners, there has been an infamous collection of Long Bay 'guests', including the formidable Neddy Smith, convicted rapists the Skaf brothers and shamed entrepreneur Rene Rivkin. Former inmates Rodney Adler, Graham 'Abo' Henry, Tom Domican, John Elias and others tell all about the brutal reality of life behind bars. And 'Mr Big' Ian Hall Saxon finally comes clean about his prison escape, which baffled the nation. Delve into the personal accounts of the prison guards, Long Bay's unsung heroes, as they open up about their experiences dealing with some of the most dangerous men in the country.
True Crime Files: My Most Memorable Cases
Kathryn Casey - 2011
The pieces include: FIGHTING BACK: in 1993, a brutal serial killer terrorized Allentown, PA. On a warm, summer night, he attacked Denise Sam-Cali, raped her and left her for dead. She lived, and she fought back, helping to trap a serial killer. But Sam-Cali’s courageous battle didn’t end when the predatory monster was tried and convicted. THE MOTHER WHO LOVED TOO MUCH: Janet Ward, a teacher and mother, catered to her teenage daughter, Maggie. Yet in a jailhouse interview Maggie confessed to me in shocking detail why and how she raised a gun to her mother’s head and pulled the trigger. Every parent’s nightmare, this is a case that will leave you questioning.A FATHER’S MORTAL SIN: 2-year-old Renee Goode died mysteriously while on a court-ordered visitation with her father. Police said the seemingly healthy child had inexplicably succumbed to illness. Renee’s mother and grandmother mounted their own investigation, pulling together the elements that led to the conclusion that Renee had been murdered.
The Doctor's Wife: A True Story of Marriage, Deception and Two Gruesome Murders
John Glatt - 2007
Then, on the morning of December 4, 2004, neighbors found seven-year-old Dalton Corbin at their front door sobbing. Until then no one could have seen what was going on behind closed doors: that beautiful Jennifer Corbin was immersed in a cyber-sex lesbian affair--or that Bart, now a wealthy dentist, had a bizarre, frightening past… Jennifer Corbin's death looked like a suicide. But the crime didn't fool young Dalton, and in the coming weeks an even more horrifying story emerged: That Dr. Corbin had been left by a woman once before--and that time he may have gotten away with murder. But this time justice would be served….
Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail
Rusty Young - 2003
Intrigued, the young Australian journalisted went to La Paz and joined one of Thomas's illegal tours. They formed an instant friendship and then became partners in an attempt to record Thomas's experiences in the jail. Rusty bribed the guards to allow him to stay and for the next three months he lived inside the prison, sharing a cell with Thomas and recording one of the strangest and most compelling prison stories of all time. The result is Marching Powder.This book establishes that San Pedro is not your average prison. Inmates are expected to buy their cells from real estate agents. Others run shops and restaurants. Women and children live with imprisoned family members. It is a place where corrupt politicians and drug lords live in luxury apartments, while the poorest prisoners are subjected to squalor and deprivation. Violence is a constant threat, and sections of San Pedro that echo with the sound of children by day house some of Bolivia's busiest cocaine laboratories by night. In San Pedro, cocaine--"Bolivian marching powder"--makes life bearable. Even the prison cat is addicted.Yet Marching Powder is also the tale of friendship, a place where horror is countered by humor and cruelty and compassion can inhabit the same cell. This is cutting-edge travel-writing and a fascinating account of infiltration into the South American drug culture.
Escape from Venezuela’s Deadliest Prison
Natalie Welsh - 2009
But Natalie was hiding a terrible secretin a moment of desperation she had agreed to smuggle a suitcase of cocaine for a one-off payment she hoped would change her life. Hopelessly naïve, and struggling with a drug addiction that left her barely capable of reason, Natalie had no idea of the danger she was facing. Caught by the Venezuelan authorities, Natalie was sentenced to ten years in a hellish prison system. In the blink of an eye, she entered a nightmare world, where guards were either too powerless or corrupt to control the escalating violence. This was a world of almost unimaginable horror, where murders, rapes, and even all-out gang warfare were carried out by the armed and powerful inmates. After six terrible years, and against impossible odds, Natalie became the first western woman to escape from a Venezuelan prison, in a death-defying flight through Colombia to freedom. Sentenced to Hell is the incredible story of how one terrible mistake can almost destroy a life, and how Natalie's love for her daughter saved her.
The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal.
Evan Ratliff - 2019
It would not stop there. Before long, the business had turned into a sprawling multinational conglomerate engaged in almost every conceivable aspect of criminal mayhem. Yachts carrying $100 million in cocaine. Safe houses in Hong Kong filled with gold bars. Shipments of methamphetamine from North Korea. Weapons deals with Iran. Mercenary armies in Somalia. Teams of hitmen in the Philippines. Encryption programs so advanced that the government could not break them.The man behind it all, pulling the strings from a laptop in Manila, was Paul Calder Le Roux—a reclusive programmer turned criminal genius who could only exist in the networked world of the twenty-first century, and the kind of self-made crime boss that American law enforcement had never imagined.For half a decade, DEA agents played a global game of cat-and-mouse with Le Roux as he left terror and chaos in his wake. Each time they came close, he would slip away. It would take relentless investigative work, and a shocking betrayal from within his organization, to catch him. And when he was finally caught, the story turned again, as Le Roux struck a deal to bring down his own organization and the people he had once employed.Award-winning investigative journalist Evan Ratliff spent four years piecing together this intricate puzzle, chasing LeRoux's empire and his shadowy henchmen around the world, conducting hundreds of interviews and uncovering thousands of documents. The result is a riveting, unprecedented account of a crime boss built by and for the digital age.Advance praise for The Mastermind“As directors, we spend countless hours imagining heightened plots and memorable characters that will leave a lasting impression on audiences. The true tale of obsession, genius, intrigue, and vengeance detailed in The Mastermind is as gripping and cinematic as anything we could endeavor to conjure up.”—Joe and Anthony Russo, directors of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, and Avengers: Infinity War“With his relentless and fearless reporting, Evan Ratliff has pried open a hidden world filled with high-tech gangsters and drug kingpins and double-crossers and stone-cold hitmen. The story is as fascinating as it is terrifying, and it is one that will hold you in its grip.”—David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon“If truth is stranger than fiction, then The Mastermind is the truest book you’ll read this year. The only thing predictable about it is how quickly you’ll turn the pages.”—Noah Hawley, author of Before the Fall and creator of the TV series Fargo “This is a mesmerizing, absolutely bonkers story about a man as brilliant as he is villainous. You’ll find yourself sucked in, freaked out, and ultimately blown away by Ratliff's storytelling and tireless reporting. The Mastermind is a masterpiece.”—Nick Thompson, editor-in-chief, Wired
The Shadow Catcher: A U.S. Agent Infiltrates Mexico's Deadly Crime Cartels
Hipolito Acosta - 2012
undercover operations targeting the immigrant smuggling, counterfeiting, and drug rings of Mexico’s dangerous mafia.Living under an assumed identity and risking his life were all in a day’s work for U.S. Government Agent Hipolito Acosta. He worked regularly in high-stakes undercover operations infiltrating Mexico’s murderous immigrant smuggling rings and drug cartels. Acosta’s investigations are legendary, both inside law enforcement and the crime cartels he helped neutralize. He had himself smuggled from Mexico to Chicago with a truckload of poor immigrants; worked his way into the confidences of a gang of international counterfeiters; socialized with some of Mexico’s most vicious drug lords; arrested a female smuggler by luring her across the U.S. border for an amorous rendezvous; and was the target of multiple murder plots by the criminals he put in jail. For three decades, Hipolito Acosta’s work routinely made national headlines, and he quickly gained a reputation as a daring crime fighter who used his intelligence and audacity to stay one step ahead of those who would kill him if his cover were ever blown. Acosta’s stories read like chapters from a page-turning crime novel, but The Shadow Catcher is more than a front-seat ride through the criminal underworld along the U.S./Mexico border. This heartbreaking exposé goes beyond sensational headlines and medals of honor to divulge what an agent endures in order to ensure that U.S. law is enforced and to reveal the unseen human side of illegal immigration.
Head Over Heels: A Story Of Tragedy, Triumph and Romance in the Australian Bush
Sam Bailey - 2006
After months of struggle, he learned how to resume his life as a farmer, running a sheep and cattle property in northwest New South Wales. then he met and fell in love with Jenny Black, an ABC Rural journalist, proposed to her on air, and the rest is history. Jenny tells Sam's story in his own laconic, wry style. By turns romantic, funny and moving, it affirms the strength of iron-willed determination and the power of love.
Murder By The Books Vol. 2 (Horrific True Stories)
R.J. Parker - 2017
- Serial Homicide, Notorious Serial Killers (Book 1): Albert Fish, Ted Bundy, Dennis Nilsen, Jeffrey Dahmer, Gary Ridgway and Edmund Kemper - Serial Homicide, Notorious Serial Killers (Book 2): John Wayne Gacy, Dennis Rader, Edward Gein, Aileen Wuornos, Jane Toppan and Nannie Doss - Serial Homicide, Notorious Serial Killers (Book 3): The Backpacker Murders, Arnold Karl Sodeman, The Moorhouse Murders, The Snowtown Murders, Eric Edgar Cooke and Lindsay Robert Rose - The Basement This is a shocking story of kidnapping, rape, torture, mutilation, dismemberment, decapitation, and murder. On March 24, 1987, the Philadelphia Police Department received a phone call from a woman who stated that she had been held captive for the last four months. When police officers arrived at the pay phone from which the call was made, Josefina Rivera told them that she and three other women had been held captive in a basement by a man named Gary Heidnik. He imprisoned women in chains, in the filth and stench of a hole dug under his home. - Serial Killer Groupies This book delves into the twisted psychology of women attracted to some of the most notorious monsters on the planet, giving true crime readers real insight into this phenomena. - Escaped Killer When this killer was on the loose, citizens were vigilant, yet scared. Children were not allowed outside to play without adult supervision. But then he was captured, tried, convicted, and put away for life in prison. The community could finally breathe again. They are out of danger. Until the day the convicted killer escapes prison and rains terror upon anyone and everyone in his way. The manhunt pursues, the killer kills, and earns the title of a serial killer. Approximately 700 Kindle Pages of horrific murder cases for under $5.00
Pretty Girls: A Novel by Karin Slaughter | Chapter Compilation
James Morgan - 2016
The book was first published on September 2015. Slaughter is known for writing thriller novels that provoke the readers’ deep-seated emotions and challenge their well-established beliefs. Pretty Girls is particularly remarkable in its ability to capture, and even encapsulate, the reality of any woman’s life in many of the daily life situations of the characters, especially those of the Carroll sisters. Like other books, Pretty Girls hints on the personality of the author, especially with her love and regard for libraries and books. Karin Slaughter headed the “Save the Libraries Campaign” in the United States America, and the character of Helen Carroll is librarian who is also the mother of the protagonists. The author’s complex character, strength, love of language, books and knowledge reflect is reflected through Helen in entirety of the story. This book is a critically-acclaimed novel that is sure to affect the reader’s image of womanhood and feminism.Read more....Download your copy today! Available on PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. © 2015 All Rights Reserved by Urban Noble, LLC
Wrong Family: For Every Secret, There Is A Family
Charisse Dahlke Peeler - 2018
In order to break the dysfunctional cycle, Charisse needs to overcome the chaos caused by generations of family secrets, extreme poverty, fanatical religion and sexual abuse all of which leaves her ill equipped to make her own adult decisions. Can she overcome a legacy of lies?
Gentlemen Bootleggers: The True Story of Templeton Rye, Prohibition, and a Small Town in Cahoots
Bryce T. Bauer - 2014
Shambaugh Award Winner 2015 Spirited Awards Top Ten FinalistDuring Prohibition, while Al Capone was rising to worldwide prominence as Public Enemy Number One, the townspeople of rural Templeton, Iowa—population just 428—were busy with a bootlegging empire of their own. Led by Joe Irlbeck, the whip-smart and gregarious son of a Bavarian immigrant, the outfit of farmers, small merchants, and even the church monsignor worked together to create a whiskey so excellent it was ordered by name: "Templeton rye."Just as Al Capone had Eliot Ness, Templeton’s bootleggers had as their own enemy a respected Prohibition agent from the adjacent county named Benjamin Franklin Wilson. Wilson was ardent in his fight against alcohol, and he chased Irlbeck for over a decade. But Irlbeck was not Capone, and Templeton would not be ruled by violence like Chicago.Gentlemen Bootleggers tells a never-before-told tale of ingenuity, bootstrapping, and perseverance in one small town, showcasing a group of immigrants and first-generation Americans who embraced the ideals of self-reliance, dynamism, and democratic justice. It relies on previously classified Prohibition Bureau investigation files, federal court case files, extensive newspaper archive research, and a recently disclosed interview with kingpin Joe Irlbeck. Unlike other Prohibition-era tales of big-city gangsters, it provides an important reminder that bootlegging wasn’t only about glory and riches, but could be in the service of a higher goal: producing the best whiskey money could buy.
Nice Girl: The story of Keli Lane and her missing baby Tegan
Rachael Jane Chin - 2011
Keli Lane, Australian water polo champion and elite private school teacher had it all -- a privileged social life on Sydney's Northern Beaches, a tightly knit circle of friends and a rugby hero for a boyfriend -- until her hidden double life was exposed. In secret, Keli carried three babies to term, giving birth on her own each time. Incredibly, her family, friends, colleagues -- even her boyfriend -- had no idea. Two babies were adopted but one, Tegan, disappeared without a trace. In December 2010, Keli Lane was found guilty of murder. In this probing, investigative work, journalist Rachel Chin sifts through Keli's background and the compelling drama that unfolded daily in the coronial inquest and criminal trial for answers to this baffling case. Who is Tegan's father? Why did Keli keep her pregnancies and births secret -- and how could her family and friends not know?Nice Girl explores all these questions and more, revealing a dark and bizarre story of secrets and lies.
Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide & Pro Wrestling's Cocktail of Death
Irvin Muchnick - 2009
It laid bare the devastating prevalence of steroids and its effects on users. In order to tackle the whole story, dig up the facts, and connect the dots, Irvin Muchnick gives the most sensational scandal in pro wrestling history the full true-crime treatment in Chris and Nancy. Muchnick – the author of Wrestling Babylon and a co-author of Benoit: Wrestling with the Horror That Destroyed a Family and Crippled a Sport – has parsed public records and interviewed dozens of witnesses, inside and outside wrestling, to put together the first thorough and authoritative events of the gruesome June 2007 weekend in Fayette County, Georgia, during which World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Chris Benoit murdered his wife Nancy and their seven-year-old son Daniel, before proceeding to kill himself. But this book goes beyond the crime itself to answer some of the most important questions behind it. The biography of Benoit, a wrestler’s wrestler, makes it clear that his tragedy was a microcosm of the culture of drugs and death behind the scenes of one of North America’s most popular brand of sports entertainment. The author probes the story of the massive supplies of steroids and human growth hormone found in his home – all prescribed by a “doctor to the stars” who got indicted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and all dismissed by a WWE “wellness policy” that promoted everything except its talent’s wellness. The Benoit case led to unprecedented scrutiny of wrestling’s overall health and safety standards, by Congressional investigators and others, and this book is the primary source of what they found and what they should continue to look for. The ebook edition includes a new introduction that looks at recent events in sports, and further contextualizes the story of Chris Benoit and the figures surrounding his career.
The Sophie Lancaster Story
Catherine Smyth - 2016
The beatings and subsequent murder made international news. This book was written by an investigative journalist who became extremely close to the families of the victims. WITH PHOTOS