Book picks similar to
Bad Karma: A True Story Of Obsession And Murder by Deborah Beatriz Blum
true-crime
non-fiction
ebook
nonfiction
Killing for Company: The Case of Dennis Nilsen
Brian Masters - 1985
Within days he had confessed to fifteen gruesome murders over a period of four years. His victims, all young homosexual men, had never been reported missing. Brian Masters, with Nilsen's full cooperation, has produced a unique study of a serial killer's mind, revealing the disturbing psychology of a mass murderer.
Needle
Craig Jordan Goodman - 2012
Sometimes, I wish it wasn't. Regardless, in many ways I still can't believe it actually happened. After all, I’d graduated from a prestigious university, was reared in an affluent home and knew that drugs were for losers. In fact, I’m not even sure when the metamorphosis occurred—when I made the official leap from struggling musician to struggling junky—but it was definitely before I first stuck myself with a needle and began selling liquor camouflaged in fruit juice to underage children of the rich and famous. Of course, that was merely the tip of the illicit iceberg as so much remains hidden in that shadowy world where dope dealers pose as sales associates in drug fronts disguised as clothing boutiques, and chemically dependent cabbies provide shuttle services to junkies on a quest for the perfect fix. But certainly, the veil of deception would eventually be torn away when I was banished to that awful place, that asylum for the wretched, where another horrific decision would seal my fate with the watery wreckage of an international tragedy.***Profits from NEEDLE will be used to eliminate animal cruelty and improve the lives of homeless pets.***
The Religions Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained
Shulamit Ambalu - 2013
The Religions Book is also perfect for religion and philosophy students.
Wellington Cross
Cheryl R. Lane - 2012
She is found by a man who claims to be her betrothed but later finds out he lied about nearly everything. She had actually been married to another man and they’d had a baby together.Ethan Wellington is distraught after losing his wife of a year. Yet within another year, he marries another woman, Elizabeth, just one month before Madeline reappears in his life. When he finds out Elizabeth is with child, he regretfully sends Madeline away to her brother’s. The distance between them is torturous, even as they share responsibility of their child.William Brown is a new hired hand of Madeline’s brother, who had served in the war with Ethan and has taken it upon himself to watch over Madeline for him. He offers to enter into an agreement to take care of a growing problem of Madeline’s. Will she accept his proposal of marriage in order to save the family’s reputation?A sudden tragedy sets into motion a series of events that will change everything. Madeline is haunted by something from her past, something best left forgotten, for her life depends on it. This last forgotten memory is the key to how she befell the accident that caused her to lose her memory to begin with. Will she ever find the happiness and love that she longs for?
Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: A Renowned Neurologist Explains the Mystery and Drama of Brain Disease
Allan H. Ropper - 2014
What is it like to try to heal the body when the mind is under attack? In this book, Dr. Allan Ropper and Brian Burrell take the reader behind the scenes at Harvard Medical School's neurology unit to show how a seasoned diagnostician faces down bizarre, life-altering afflictions. Like Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Ropper inhabits a world where absurdities abound:• A figure skater whose body has become a ticking time-bomb • A salesman who drives around and around a traffic rotary, unable to get off • A college quarterback who can't stop calling the same play • A child molester who, after falling on the ice, is left with a brain that is very much dead inside a body that is very much alive • A mother of two young girls, diagnosed with ALS, who has to decide whether a life locked inside her own head is worth livingHow does one begin to treat such cases, to counsel people whose lives may be changed forever? How does one train the next generation of clinicians to deal with the moral and medical aspects of brain disease? Dr. Ropper and his colleague answer these questions by taking the reader into a rarified world where lives and minds hang in the balance.
Escaping the Twilight
Sigrid Weidenweber - 2003
Intensifying her struggle for identity in the silent world of women, she cannot erase the pain and humiliation of that experience. With steely determination, she vows to do whatever is necessary to prevent her daughter from suffering the same demoralizing fate--even if it means going against the wishes of her husband and the rules of her family. The detailed descriptions of customs and lifestyle give a deep, fascinating insight into the Sudanese culture, as well as entry into the cloaked world of Muslim women.
Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysteries
Jon Ronson - 2012
Collected here from various sources (including the Guardian and GQ America) are the best of his adventures. Always intrigued by our ability to believe the unbelievable, Jon meets the man preparing to welcome the aliens to earth, the woman trying to build a fully-conscious robotic replica of the love of her life and the Deal or No Deal contestants with a fool proof system to beat the Banker. Jon realises that it’s possible for our madness to be a force for good when he meets America’s real-life superheroes or a force for evil when he meets the Reverend ‘Death’ George Exoo, who has dubiously assisted in more than a hundred mercy killings.He goes to a UFO convention in the Nevada desert with Robbie Williams, asks Insane Clown Posse (who are possibly America’s nastiest rappers) whether it’s true they’ve actually been evangelical Christians all along and rummages through the extensive archives of Stanley Kubrick. Frequently hilarious, sometimes disturbing, always entertaining, these compelling encounters with people on the edge of madness will have you wondering just what we’re capable of.
The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained
Nigel C. Benson - 2011
Clearly explaining more than 100 groundbreaking ideas in the field, The Psychology Book uses accessible text and easy-to-follow graphics and illustrations to explain the complex theoretical and experimental foundations of psychology.From its philosophical roots through behaviorism, psychotherapy, and developmental psychology, The Psychology Book looks at all the greats from Pavlov and Skinner to Freud and Jung, and is an essential reference for students and anyone with an interest in how the mind works.
The Daughters of Juárez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border
Teresa Rodríguez - 2007
Indeed, there has been much speculation that the killer or killers are American citizens. While some leading members of the American media have reported on the situation, prompting the U.S. government to send in top criminal profilers from the FBI, little real information about this international atrocity has emerged. According to Amnesty International, as of 2006 more than 400 bodies have been recovered, with hundreds still missing.As for who is behind the murders themselves, the answer remains unknown, although many have argued that the killings have become a sort of blood sport, due to the lawlessness of the city itself. Among the theories being considered are illegal trafficking in human organs, ritualistic satanic sacrifices, copycat killers, and a conspiracy between members of the powerful Juarez drug cartel and some corrupt Mexican officials who have turned a blind eye to the felonies, all the while lining their pockets with money drenched in blood.Despite numerous arrests over the last ten years, the murders continue to occur, with the killers growing bolder, dumping bodies in the city itself rather than on the outskirts of town, as was initially the case, indicating a possible growing and most alarming alliance of silence and cover-up by Mexican politicians."The Daughters of Juarez" promises to be the first eye-opening, authoritative nonfiction work of its kind to examine the brutal killings and draw attention to these atrocities on the border. The end result will shock readers and become required reading on the subject for years to come.
Halestorm
Becky Akers - 2012
Their contest culminates in a British Artillery Park when Nathan hangs for espionage – but, in a surprising twist, still triumphs.Filled with love and conflict, murder and betrayal, Halestorm whisks readers into an era of wrenching choices and extraordinary sacrifices. Novelist Becky Akers dramatizes the characters and period through meticulous research, clever dialogue, and a fast-moving plot whose climax will stir your deepest emotions.“Halestorm reveals just how relevant the issues of the American Revolution remain today. Akers’ realistic historical characters make difficult choices that affect their personal happiness and the future of an emerging nation. This stunning tale emphasizes the true cost of freedom and the debt we owe to those who make the sacrifice.”— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D. and author of the award-winning Narrow Lives
Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry
Jeffrey A. Lieberman - 2015
Lieberman traces the field from its birth as a mystic pseudo-science through its adolescence as a cult of "shrinks" to its late blooming maturity — beginning after World War II — as a science-driven profession that saves lives. With fascinating case studies and portraits of the luminaries of the field — from Sigmund Freud to Eric Kandel — Shrinks is a gripping and illuminating read, and an urgent call-to-arms to dispel the stigma of mental illnesses by treating them as diseases rather than unfortunate states of mind.“A lucid popular history...At once skeptical and triumphalist. It shows just how far psychiatry has come.” —Julia M. Klein, Boston Globe
Alcatraz from Inside: The Hard Years, 1942-1952
Jim Quillen - 1991
In this fascinating autobiographical account, Jim Quillen tells the amazing story of his decade incarcerated in America's most infamous prison -- how he got there, how he stayed alive inside, and, most important, how he found the inspiration and courage to get out.
To Have and To Kill
John Glatt - 2008
In each were body parts of a man. In a forensics room, the truth was discovered: William McGuire had been horribly murdered and dismembered.William and his loving wife, a registered nurse named Melanie, had just closed on their New Jersey dream home. Little did William know about the nightmare that was in store... For Melanie had been involved in a long-term affair with a married doctor at the fertility clinic where she worked--and she had plans for the future that didn't include William.Investigators believe that on April 29, 2004, Melanie first drugged her husband, then murdered him in cold blood. Three years after America witnessed the details of the suitcase incident unfold--on "48 Hours, Dateline NBC, "and" ABC Primetime," and in "People "magazine, among other news outlets--Melanie was convicted of first-degree murder and desecrating human remains. This is the true story of a marriage that turned deadly...
Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans
Gary Krist - 2014
This early-20th-century battle centers on one man: Tom Anderson, the undisputed czar of the city's Storyville vice district, who fights desperately to keep his empire intact as it faces onslaughts from all sides. Surrounding him are the stories of flamboyant prostitutes, crusading moral reformers, dissolute jazzmen, ruthless Mafiosi, venal politicians, and one extremely violent serial killer, all battling for primacy in a wild and wicked city unlike any other in the world.