Inferno: An Inquiry Into the Willingham Fire


J. Bennett Allen - 2011
    To his last moment he proclaimed his innocence of the arson that claimed the lives of his children. While much has been written of the trial, conviction and execution of Willingham, Inferno is the first exploration of the possible causes of the fire that cost three children, and eventually, Willingham himself, their lives. Instead of him saving her, Amber would save her daddy. She would save him by awakening him with her screams and pleas, by telling him of the fire, by taking his place in bed, by breathing in the smoke that would have filled his lungs instead of hers.The fire, however, would not be denied. Disguised first as justice and then as a needle, it would consume her father just as surely as it had Amber and her infant sisters.While much has been written of the trial, conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, the discussion has been limited to whether or not the fire that killed his children was caused by arson. This is the first book to investigate other possible causes of the fire that claimed initially three, and eventually four lives.

The Poisoned Glass


Kimberly Tilley - 2019
    Auerbach, City Historian, Passaic, New Jersey At the dawn of the 20th century, the social unrest in Paterson, New Jersey was palpable. Thousands of Dutch and Italian immigrants flocked to the city, hoping for a job in Paterson’s famous silk mills. The burgeoning population ushered women into the workplace, grew suffragist sympathies, and produced an anarchist movement.In this charged environment, Jennie Bosschieter, a 17-year-old Dutch immigrant and mill worker, was murdered. Sorrow turned to shock when four wealthy, influential citizens were accused of killing her. The resulting criminal trial held the city – and eventually the nation – transfixed.

A Death In California


Joan Barthel - 1982
    But he murders the beau and later rapes Hope Masters. Suffering from trauma and the Stockholm Syndrome, Hope thinks she's in love with him, although both he and she are accused of murder. This is a true crime story of the socialite and the sociopath that happened in the early 1970s.

Missing: True Cases of Mysterious Disappearances


Andrew J. Clark - 2018
    disappeared without leaving a trace. This book shed lights on some of the most intriguing missing person cases.There are countless stories all over the globe of average, everyday people suddenly vanishing under the strangest and most inopportune of circumstances. These cases have baffled the experts and remained unsolved for decades. The missing person cases presented in this book have diverse backgrounds, but they are all equally mysterious. Here we will dive headfirst into some of the most unusual disappearing acts on record. Rational explanations have been put forward for some, but many lack any plausible theories whatsoever.This book relates the true yet astonishing tales of prime ministers lost at sea, esteemed physicists vanishing without a trace, great explorers lost in the wilderness. From the World War II veteran who seemed to literally disappear into thin air on a bus ride home, to the ill-fated singer-songwriter Connie Converse who right around her 50th birthday decided to pull a 'Bilbo Baggins' (Connie’s own words) on the ones she loved by slipping on her very own ring of invisibility and vanishing out of sight, this book takes us through some of the saddest, the most intriguing, and the most downright bizarre accounts of lost souls that you will ever find.

Unsolved Serial Killers: 10 Frightening True Crime Cases of Unidentified Serial Killers (The Ones You've Never Heard of) Volume 1


D.R. Werner - 2021
    

NYPD: Through the Looking Glass: Stories From Inside Americas Largest Police Department


Vic Ferrari - 2018
     Retired NYPD detective Vic Ferrari shares his crazy stories from a twenty year-career with America's largest police department. Would you believe an NYPD member would: Hide a gun in his oven only to have it explode when he decided to make a snack? Pay a prostitute with a check? Move a corpse to avoid working overtime? An insightful behind the scenes look into the NYPD that reveals: What goes on inside a busy police station and the characters inside NYPD Precinct nicknames The unofficial NYPD Glossary Everything from Gun battles to practical jokes paints a colorful portrait of a cop's world. Demonstrating a dark sense of humor many police officers have and use as a coping mechanism to deal with the stress of the job. For example: Pouring wood stain in a co-workers Rogaine bottle Smearing fingerprint ink on a toilet seat Fill a car with crickets NYPD: Through The looking Glass provides a taste of what it’s like to be an NYPD police officer with details and insight not found watching Blue Bloods or Law and Order. If you enjoy true crime, Live PD or fascinated with police work, you’ve picked up the right book.

Maybe You Die: The True Story of a Couple Living the All-American Nightmare


Nancy Lee - 2020
    Smiling, the palm reader tells Nina that she has a long lifeline, as she traces it on her hand. As soon as the words are uttered, the palm reader's facial expression turns to one of fear. In broken English, she whispers, "Break - very bad break in middle of life. Maybe you die."Nina does come close to death at age thirty-four when she and her family are involved in a serious auto accident. She assumes she has successfully cheated the death that the palm reader prophesied. Unfortunately, the sinister and tragic break in the lifeline and its deliverer are yet to be revealed.

Parents Who Killed Their Children: Filicide


R.J. Parker - 2014
    What really incites parents to kill their children? This book portrays ten filicidal killers, people's whose names--Andrea Yates, Diane Downs, Susan Smith, Jeffrey MacDonald--received a great deal of media attention. The author explores the reasons, from addiction to sociopathy, insanity to altruism. CASES:Andrea YatesDarlie RoutierSusan EubanksLianne SmithAlan BristolJeffrey MacDonaldDeanna LaneySusan SmithTonya ThomasDiane Downs *****NOTEWORTHY: This book has been selected by several Universities in their upcoming courses in Criminology, Sociology and Forensic Psychology, including, the University of Utah and Penn State University.

Zodiac Killers Box Set


W.L. Knightly - 2019
     The Zodiac Killer #1 Detective Darek Blake thought the secrets of his past were long buried, but when a young girl is murdered in a familiar way, finding the killer will not only bring back memories he’s repressed, but give him a golden opportunity to impress the FBI. So, when his partner, Special Agent Lizzy McNamara digs up evidence that’s a little too close to home, he’s shaken to the core. The worst sin he’s ever committed bubbles up, threatening to destroy his future. Are the Zodiac killings a coincidence or is someone toying with him, and if so… who?
 Capricorn Book #2 Being a suspect in a murder case never happens at a good time, but for Capricorn, Tad Halston, a recovering addict and former male escort who is on the verge of reclaiming his place as an in-demand male model, the timing couldn’t be worse. With bodies piling up and more evidence pointing to him for the murders, the last thing he needs is a series of anonymous messages demanding he make the next kill for vengeance. Can he murder the uncle who abused him and sent his life hurtling down this dark path, or will his sister become the real killer’s next victim? For Tad, time is running out. Now that Darek Blake has hired Bay “The Slayer” Collins as his divorce attorney, he realizes the man’s help will come at a much higher price. Becoming an informant was never part of the deal, but with new evidence hitting too close to home, Darek is left with no other choice. With the killer targeting Darek’s old friends, he has to decide which side is most important, his role as a detective, or his past as part of the Zodiac Society.
 Pisces Book #3 With the suspicious death of Tad Halston, Detective Darek Blake finds walking the line between NYPD detective and Zodiac member a more daunting task than ever. Hannah Halston, Tad’s sister, refuses to believe the official story that her brother went on a vengeful killing spree. She’s doing her best to clear his name, which brings Darek’s partner, Special Agent Lizzy McNamara, even closer to his criminal past. Meanwhile, whoever is targeting the Zodiacs has their sights on Logan Miller. His life is complicated enough already, with his struggling career and bitter relationship with an older woman, but when he meets Hannah Halston at her brother’s funeral, lending a sympathetic shoulder turns into so much more. He’s determined to end things with the older woman until she tells him she’s dying. Stuck between a rock and hard place, does he continue his relationship, or go where his heart tells him? Will the killer choose for him?

Chesapeake 1850


Ken Rossignol - 2012
    With his grandfather as captain of a steamboat traveling between Norfolk, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, the boy learns quickly about life on the water. From hurricanes to blue crabs life on the Bay changes quickly. Learning Shakespeare and witnessing a hanging are just part of the life along the river. Ethan Douglas' life brushes past major events in the United States from slavery to the underground railroad and the days leading up to the civil war. How did those who lived along the Potomac deal with active warfare during the War Between the States? Life was always a war on the water with pirates shooting at each other as well as Maryland and Virginia oyster police. Ethan's younger brothers and sisters soon join him as they grow older and become entrepreneurs as the nation's capital city grows and changes. From buyboats to newspapers the lives of the Douglas family become part of the history of the young nation. Oysters were the "white gold" of the east while railroads and shipping competed for freight. This book is the first in the series that will tell the story of life in tidewater Chesapeake Bay region from 1850 to 1950.

The Fix-it-Shop


Friedrich Wilhelm - 2017
    Based on a True Story.

Too Close to Home


Tressa Messenger - 2012
    To make matters worse another body of slacker boy, Ronald Marks, is found hanging from the field goal post only a day later. Pamlico County native Detective Carma Jones and her partner Harold Green set out on a search for this ruthless assailant who is causing so much havoc in her peaceful home town. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect. The twists and turns along the way lead them in a direction Carma would never have guessed with deep secrets meant to stay buried. Will she be too late to stop the real murder from killing again?

Hero to Zero


Zach Fortier - 2013
    This time with true stories of Cops gone bad. Join Zach as he meets a cop who will be a future member of the FBI’s 10 most wanted, hunted for a brutal quadruple murder and that is just the beginning!, Zach details Cops that make every mistake possible, Theft, Murder, Fraud, Drug Abuse and more.Cops ending up in prison themselves. Proving the point that “Anyone is capable of anything given the right set of circumstances”. Take a ride on the dark side of Law Enforcement. The side the cops rarely talk about.

A Dark and Bloody Ground: A True Story of Lust, Greed, and Murder in the Bluegrass State


Darcy O'Brien - 1993
    Acker’s own life hung in the balance, but it was already too late for his college-age daughter, Tammy, savagely stabbed eleven times and pinned by a kitchen knife to her bedroom floor. Three men had breached Dr. Acker’s alarm and security systems and made off with the fortune he had stashed away over his lifetime.The killers—part of a three-man, two-woman gang of the sort not seen since the Barkers—stopped counting the moldy bills when they reached $1.9 million. The cash came in handy soon after when they were caught and needed to lure Kentucky’s most flamboyant lawyer, the celebrated and corrupt Lester Burns, into representing them. Full of colorful characters and desperate deeds, A Dark and Bloody Ground is a “first-rate” true crime chronicle from the author of Murder in Little Egypt (Kirkus Reviews).

My Father's Son


John Davis - 2015
    Ours were just bigger than others. "My earliest memory is of a gun." That gun was in his father's hand - and it was pointed at his mother's head. John Davis grew up in the 1970s and '80s on the rough streets of Brooklyn, a place where no one thought twice when parents smacked around their kids-or each other. At the center of the tumultuous neighborhood, and John's world, was his larger-than-life father, Roberto. The Argentinean butcher and kingpin drug dealer was a sadistic bully whose mercurial temper left a trail of tears and chaos across his family. John, in particular, seemed to bear the brunt of Roberto's wildly swinging moods. Any wrong word could cause an explosion. Every knock on the door might be one of Roberto's enemies, or the police. In his publishing debut, Davis recounts how he spent his childhood in constant terror and his teen years learning to fight back. But it was much later, as an adult, that he learned the most shocking thing of all about his father, his past, and himself. Told with raw honesty and deep emotion, My Father's Son is a memoir of fear, abuse, survival, and identity.