Book picks similar to
Cop on the Scene: Life and Death on the Street by Peter J. Puleo
biography-memoir
nonfiction
true-crime
True Crime Stories Volume 2: 12 Terrifying True Crime Murder Cases (List of Twelve)
Ryan Becker - 2017
From Blaine Norris and Ryan Trimble, who conspired to commit bloody murder for the sake of a film, to James Edward Pough who became a mass shooter after his car was repossessed, it is a frightening yet fascinating look at the sometimes-trivial things which set people onto a path of brutal killing and terror. Each one made their darkest fantasies into a reality when they made the decision to kill and each one has earned their own terrible place in this gruesome hall of fame. Get a copy of List of Twelve: Volume 2 and be prepared for an insight into the darkest recesses of dangerous minds like no other book before it.
Journey To Hell: Inside the World's Most Violent Prison System
Donald MacNeil - 2006
The pay was good and the work was easy - or so he thought. Then the truth was revealed: he had to sail to South America to collect one of the biggest shipments of cocaine ever bound for the UK. And to the gangsters who hired him, refusal was not an option.There followed a harrowing journey to Venezuela, where almost £50 million of coke was waiting. But someone had tipped off the authorities. Donald and his fellow crewman were arrested, convicted of drug smuggling and sentenced to six years in the notorious island prison of San Antonio.He soon discovered why Venezuela’s prisons are the most violent in the world, a nightmare gulag where hundreds are killed and thousands maimed every year in riots, vendettas and petty disputes. Thrown into a filthy, over-crowded dormitory known as Pavilion 4, and surrounded by armed gangs, crack addicts, death and disease, he faced a daily fight to survive. Ferocious guards beat prisoners indiscriminately and many cut themselves in “blood strikes” to protest against the scarce food, undrinkable water and lack of medical care. Finally a war broke out between two prison compounds, involving guns, machetes and even grenades.Through it all, and despite witnessing the brutal killing of his friend and mentor, MacNeil clung to the belief that one-day he would be home. Journey To Hell is a harrowing but compelling account of man’s extraordinary will to survive in a world gone mad.
Memoirs of a Former Fatty: How one girl went from fat to fit
Gemma Reucroft - 2016
I was also so chronically unfit that I couldn’t manage more than one flight of stairs without getting seriously out of breath. I was eating my way to a whole host of health problems and my knees were knackered. Now nearly four years on, I am over 80lbs lighter and a whole heck of a lot fitter. I’m now training to be a Personal Trainer so that I can help other people like me. This is why I have written this book. Along the way I learned a lot, and came up with some ideas of my own about how and why people lose weight….or don’t. This is my story.
L.E.O.: The True Stories of Lt. Wayne Cotes
Wayne Cotes - 2018
Some of his tales will seem far fetched, unless you're a cop and then you know that anything can happen - and just when you think you've seen it all, someone will surprise you.
The Ragged Stranger: The Hero, The Hobo, And The Crime That Shocked Jazz Age Chicago
Harold Schechter - 2019
Guns are drawn, and in the ensuing hail of bullets, only the husband walks away. However, police soon find out, that what seems to be a robbery gone wrong is anything but. The Case of the Ragged Stranger, as the tabloids dubbed it, is a tale of deceit, betrayal, and depravity, a stranger-than-fiction mystery story whose shocking solution riveted the nation and made it one of the most sensational crimes of the Jazz Age.
Mob Killer:
Anthony M. DeStefano - 2011
He hung grisly souvenirs on nails in his junkyard.La Costra NostraCharles Carneglia was a stone-cold killer who fell in with the bloodthirsty John Gotti crew. As the infamous crime family rose to power with their murderous trail of sex, jealousy, greed, and revenge, Carneglia rose with them.Mafia, Madness And MurderThis is the horrifying story of a misfit who fit perfectly into the New York mafia. In a harrowing journey inside a ruthless criminal underworld, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Anthony M. DeStefano chronicles one man s life in a world of depraved acts of violence and the horrors that went with being a member of the Gambino family."Thrilling American crime writing. -Jimmy Breslin on "King of the Godfathers"Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos"
Who Killed Epstein? Prince Andrew or Bill Clinton (War On Drugs Book 5)
Shaun Attwood - 2021
Huddled Masses: The Voyage to Ellis Island
Kevin Jackson - 2018
Driven from their home countries by famine and persecution, they arrived at Ellis Island full of fear and hope, determined to claim their share of the American Dream.Among the first to pass through Ellis Island was young Israel Baline, a Russian Jew who at the age of just five had seen his homeland overrun by anti-Semitic violence. Forced to flee their village deep within the Russian Empire, the Baline family used their meagre life savings to cross Europe and buy a one-way steerage-class ticket to America. They landed at Ellis Island in 1893, only to find that the streets of New York were not quite paved with gold; the riches they had risked everything for would not be easily won.Israel Baline may have traded a rural slum for an urban one, but he was an American now. He would not stay impoverished for long. Blessed with talent, spurred by the will to succeed, Israel Baline would grow up to become—under another name—his adopted country’s most famous songwriter.
Misconception: A True Story of Life, Love and Infertility
Jay-Jay Feeney - 2013
I want a baby but not in that crazy, desperate way where I cringe whenever I see someone else with one, or I think nasty, evil thoughts about people who are pregnant, but a child of my own would complete my life and make my husband extremely happy.Jay-Jay Feeney has been married to Dom Harvey since 2004. She always imagined they'd get married, have children, grow old. But so far, things haven't worked out quite as she expected. A high-profile job, an unpredictable family life, and medical procedures and emergencies have kept her on her toes. Here is Jay-Jay's story, told with a mix of brutal honesty and humor, in which she charts the highs and lows of life lived both in the public gaze and in the shadow of infertility.
Flying Into the Sun
Paul Ogier - 2018
Cows, burros, dead animals or broken-down cars might be just around the bend—even bandidos. Tonight, the danger is crazed, drug-running gringos flying down the mountain, blowing past anything threatening their rhythm.”~Flying Into the SunIn 1979, a Mexican army truck and a small U.S.-registered airplane race toward each other on a remote airstrip in southern Mexico. Their game of chicken marks the end of a young surfer’s true-life smuggling odyssey involving midnight powwows with indigenous Zapotecs of Oaxaca, paddling kilos of marijuana across the Rio Grande on surfboards, learning to fly, and a stint in the Oaxaca State Penitentiary.Narrated by the main character, Flying Into the Sun is not just a true-crime adventure memoir. It is an introspective, coming-of-age tale that weaves through a secret Mexico and chronicles the fast-changing 1970s in the U.S. with its emergent culture of long hair and drugs, rebellious youth versus hostile law enforcement, and the music and pop themes of the times.The author worked his way up through general aviation to become a pilot for American Airlines, where he flew twenty years and retired as captain. Previous literary endeavors include publishing the insubordinate aviation tabloid Houston Air News, as well as writing stories for national and regional publications such as General Aviation News, the Portsmouth Herald and the Texas Flyer.Chapters* Prologue (Chicken)1 Mexico2 El Salvador (Bandidos)3 Costa Rica (The Brotherhood)4 Oaxaca (The Zapotecs)5 The Rio Grande6 Solo Run7 Oil Initiative8 Learning to Fly & Rainbow Weed9 Saga of the El Camino10 A New Era11 Pop12 La Carcel (Jail)13 Kilos14 La Casa Grande (The Big House)15 Escape16 Kilos Again17 The Judge18 You Will Be Free19 Disco Sucks20 What’s Your Purpose?21 Southbound with Our Ears On22 Cocaine All Around My Brain23 Volcan Orizaba24 Flying Home* Epilogue* Thanks* About the AuthorPRAISE FOR FLYING INTO THE SUN“This is fantastic!! It's going to be BIG! I see a movie!”~Chris Cantara, pilot & owner of Seaside Aviation, LLC“So many great parts in the book. Magical Mystery Tour down the mountain was excellent. The book reveals a Mexico that tourists never see.”~Eric Knight, semi-pro surfer“F****** awesome!!!!!!!!!!!”~Dave Bicknell, guitarist and software engineer“I think it's great. You are a very accomplished storyteller. As a US expat living in Mexico I found the Mexican details to be quite accurate.”~Tom Bailey, retired expat living in the Yucatán, Mexico"I just finished this book. It’s killer. I loved it. 5 stars. A true story about some wild, crazy times in the 70’s. I really felt like I was there with you. I got a bit nervous a few times. Great Read. Hate that it ended."~Sandi Syndergaard, moderator of the Original Over the Hill Hippies FB groupYup, I love books. And I'm always happy to find out about a surf/ travel book that takes me back to places I've been to, or back to a time I've missed. Flying into the Sun is a mix of both...a time before smartphone navigation in rental cars or even planes, and what more a surfboard can be used for than just riding waves...Worth a read.~thefreesurfer.com
The Missing Beaumont Children: 50 Years of Mystery and Misery
Michael Madigan - 2015
A crime so shocking that it has often been described as a defining moment in this country's history.After 50 years of intense police investigation the whereabouts of Jane (9), Arnna (7) and Grant Beaumont (4) is still a mystery; Australia's most famous unsolved crime.On the morning of January 26, 1966 the three children set off from their Somerton Park home to Glenelg Beach on a bus to enjoy a brief excursion at Adelaide's most popular beach only a few kilometres away. Apart from a brief sighting from the Beaumont family's postman early on that afternoon, there have been no other sightings of the children since.The 'mystery' of the children's disappearance has often overshadowed the 'misery' the Beaumont parents have had to endure. This book takes the reader inside the trauma of Nancy and Grant; from the panic and heartbreaking first few days to the utter despair in later years.Only seven years after the Beaumont disappearance, two girls Joanne Ratcliffe (11) and Kirste Gordon (4) were abducted from Adelaide Oval during a football match. Were the two abductions connected? How could they not be connected?Author Michael Madigan delves into the sordid world of the numerous 'persons of interest' who have at times been suspects in this case and forensically answers the question 'who could do such a thing?'
The Sadist, the Hitman and the Murder of Jane Bashara
George Hunter - 2018
To his friends in Detroit’s affluent suburb of Grosse Pointe, he was a married father of two, Rotary Club President, church usher and soccer dad who organized charity events with his wife, Jane. To his “slaves,” he was “Master Bob,” a cocaine-snorting slumlord who operated a sex dungeon and had a submissive girlfriend to do his bidding—and he wanted more slaves to serve him. But Bashara knew he couldn’t rule a household of concubines on his income alone. He eyed his wife’s sizable retirement account and formulated a murderous plan. This meticulous account tells the complete story of the crime, the nationally watched investigation and trials, and the lives affected.
The Doctor, The Murder, The Mystery
Barbara D'Amato - 1992
John Branion was found guilty of murdering his wife in their posh Chicago home. After exhausting his appeals, he evaded authorities by fleeing to Africa. He was finally captured in 1983—but his case was far from over. It would take another seven years for Dr. Branion to finally win his freedom—and for those who prosecuted him to admit that he could not have committed the murder, and that they knew it all along.Acclaimed mystery writer Barbara D'Amato was drawn to this story two decades after the murder, as Dr. Branion languished in prison, ill and without hope. Her meticulous research repeatedly led her to one startling conclusion: that it was impossible for Donna Branion's murder to have unfolded the way the police alleged. In this award-winning account, D'Amato deftly explores the intriguing facts of this shocking case—from the tragic blunders made by authorities to Branion's arrest, conviction, and years practicing medicine in Africa as a fugitive from justice. The result is a damning indictment of our criminal system—and the vindication of an innocent man.The Doctor, The Murder, The Mystery by Barbara D'Amato won the Anthony and Agatha Awards for Best True Crime. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed Cat Marsala mysteries, including Hard Case and Hard Christmas. She lives in Chicago.The 1992 Anthony Award for Best True Crime and the 1993 Agatha Award for Nonfiction for The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery
White Picket Monsters: A Story of Strength and Survival
Bev Moore Davis - 2021