Finding Bethany: A True Crime Memoir


Glen Klinkhart - 2014
    Finding Bethany is the true story of how, as a young boy, Glen Klinkhart was unable to save his sister from a heinous sexual homicide, and how he began his journey as a police officer to find the lost, the missing, and to bring those who would do evil upon others to justice. His career as a homicide detective takes the reader along as he travels from the brink of exhaustion and obsession and into the dark and evil world of sociopathic killers, and those who would do anything to help them. Finding Bethany details what real life homicide investigations are like, from his unique perspective as a victim and as a reluctant hero. The reader will experience the bizarre twists and turns down dark paths which result in macabre dead ends, and unexpected miracles found within the darkest of circumstances. His cases include the stories of people who were willing to give of themselves for someone they often didn’t even know. Finding Bethany is also about two brothers – one a sociopath, the other a good man whose own love for his evil brother had been exploited his entire life.

The Grim Reaper: The Life and Career of a Reluctant Warrior


Stu Grimson - 2019
    They all grew up dreaming of skating in the big league as stars. Then one day, a coach tells them the only way to make it is to drop the gloves. And every guy says the same thing: I'll do whatever it takes to play in the NHL.Not Stu Grimson, though. When he was offered a contract to patrol the ice for the Calgary Flames, he said no thanks, and went to university instead. And that's the way Grimson has approached his career and his life: on his own terms. He stared down the toughest players on the planet for seventeen years, while working on his first university degree. He retired on his own terms, and went on to practice law, including a stint as in-house counsel for the NHLPA.This has put him in a unique position when it comes to commenting on the game. He's seen it from the trenches, and he's seen it from the courtroom. This puts him in the eye of the storm surrounding fighting and concussions. And he handles that the way he does everything: on his own terms. When Don Cherry called him out on televison, it was the seemingly indominable Cherry who backed down. Hockey fans will be fascinated by his data-driven defence of fighting.But in the end, this is not a book about fighting and locker-room stories. It's the story of a young man who ultimately took on the toughest role in pro sports and came out the other side. Where many others have not.

In Search of the Rainbow's End: Inside the White House Farm Murders


Colin Caffell - 2020
    . . both deeply moving and quietly inspiring' FREDDIE FOX'A beautiful, very moving book' CRESSIDA BONASIn 1985, the shocking murder of a family of five in a quiet country house in Essex rocked the nation. The victims were Nevill and June Bamber; their adopted daughter Sheila Caffell, divorced from her husband Colin; and Sheila and Colin's twin sons, Nicholas and Daniel. Only one survivor remained: the Bamber's other adopted child, Jeremy Bamber. Following his lead, the police - and later the press - blamed the murders on Sheila, who, so the story went, then committed suicide.Written by Sheila's ex-husband Colin and originally published in 1994, In Search of the Rainbow's End is the first and only book about the White House Farm murders to have been written by a family member. It is the inside story of two families into whose midst the most monstrous events erupted. When Jeremy Bamber is later convicted on all five counts of murder, Colin is left to pick up the pieces of his life after not only burying his ex-wife, two children and parents-in-law, but also having to cope with memories of Sheila almost shattered by a predatory press hungry for stories of sex, drugs and the high life. Colin's tale is not just a rare insider's picture of murder, but testimony to the strength and resilience of one man in search of healing after trauma: he describes his process of recovery, a process that led to his working in prisons, helping to rehabilitate,among others, convicted murderers. By turns emotive, terrifying, and inspiring, Colin Caffell's account of mass murder and its aftermath will not fail to move and astonish.

Disney Declassified


Aaron H. Goldberg - 2014
    Some of the situations are heartbreaking, others are head-scratching, and all of them are tales Disney would rather you not hear.Walt Disney, the company bearing his name, and their theme parks have been analyzed and chronicled almost ad nauseam. The word Disney conjures up different feelings for different people. For many, the Walt Disney Company stands for all things wholesome, family-centric, moral and entertaining, but every now and then scandalous and salacious behavior seeps into the utopian world of Disney. Disney Declassified isn’t about the analysis of the Disney Company at a deep or philosophical level—actually it’s quite the contrary; it is a collection of true stories with Disney being the setting or the catalyst in situations that are very un-Disney-like. In some of these instances, not every Disney story ends happily ever after;•The shocking time a baby was born and abandoned in a Magic Kingdom toilet. •When an eight-year-old girl was randomly shot in the back while riding aboard the Disneyland Railroad.•The controversial story of a handicapped woman having her Disneyland annual pass suspended for speeding and running into other guests with her motorized scooter.•What do a priest accused of molesting multiple children and the founder of a Ponzi scheme have in common? They both fled their situations and went to work at Walt Disney World.•The diabolical tale of a woman who sold her newborn baby for $15,000 to take her other children on a trip to Walt Disney World. •The role a former Nazi SS member played in the construction of Walt Disney World.•Two hostage situations at Walt Disney World, with one at EPCOT tragically ending in suicide.•How a peeping Tom set up an elaborate system to spy on female cast members as they changed for work inside Cinderella’s Castle.•Ever hear of something called “Sphinctering?” If you were one of the unlucky guys working for the fire company on Walt Disney World property, you may have been subjected to this form of male-on-male sexual harassment. •Find out how the public helped to identify and track down a despicable child pornographer based on the Disney resort in the background images the police released from his reprehensible videos. The Disney docket doesn’t end with cases of ride accidents, sex, crimes, death and violence. There are multiple stories of people faking cancer to score a free trip to Disney World, interesting copyright infringement and Americans with Disability Act lawsuits and a touching story of how a young boy with autism utilizes Disney characters to communicate with his family. However you feel about Disney, lover or hater, explore these stories and many more, when the real world collides with Disney and their world. Chances are you may never view Disney the same way again!

Shadow People: How Meth-Driven Crime Is Eating at the Heart of Rural America


Scott Thomas Anderson - 2012
    He spent 18 months - between May of 2010 and October of 2011 - working as an embedded reporter with law enforcement agencies, partnering with officers on night patrols, accompanying detectives on warrant searches and probation sweeps, observing SWAT operations and spending hundreds of hours with attorneys and victims' advocates in small-town courtrooms. The result is "Shadow People," a stark and sometimes brutal exploration of America's modern methamphetamine crisis.

Like Father Like Son


Robert Scott - 2002
    When T.J. reached dating age, he pimped his girlfriends to his dad and watched while they had sex. But it wasn't enough. Soria, Sr.'s fantasies turned increasingly violent, culminating in an obsession with cutting and torturing young females while sexually assaulting them.On March 19, 2000, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, T.J., 19, lured 9-year-old Krystal Steadman into the family apartment. 40-year-old Soria, Sr. brutally raped the girl, then stabbed her to death. He wasn't worried -- he knew T.J. would get rid of the body for him.The Sorias finally turned against each other during Nevada's first father and son death penalty case. The detailed courtroom evidence and testimony shocked even hardened law enforcement veterans and wrote a new chapter in the deviant psychopathology of lust-murderers. Soria, Sr. committed suicide in prison, cheating the executioner and leaving T.J. to spend the rest of his life behind bars without parole.

Hijacked: The True Story of the Heroes of Flight 705


Dave Hirschman - 1997
    They had one jumpseat passenger, an off-duty colleague who they assumed was simply taking advantage of the FedEx perk allowing virtually all employees to ride the company jet for free. The shock came twenty minutes later, before the plane had reached its normal cruising altitude.The lone passenger attacked the pilots with hammers and a spear gun. He'd had his diabolical plan in the works for months: By crashing the plane into the Federal Express Memphis hub, he'd ruin the company, which he felt had treated him unfairly. With superhuman strength fueled by sheer fury, the attacker struck. What he didn't count on was the skill and intelligence of the pilots. While Sanders and Peterson tried to stop the relentless battering, copilot Tucker swung the aircraft into dangerous flight maneuvers in an attempt to literally knock the man off his feet. Covered in their own blood and exhausted from the struggle, the pilots finally managed to subdue their attacker, returning the plane safely back to Memphis as heroes.

Tornado Valley: Huntsville's Havoc


Shelly Van Meter Miller - 2012
    Touchdown could mean that we've just won another football National Championship or it could indicate that a tornado is on the ground.  I could never be a storm chaser. I'm the one the storm chases. Funnels circle around me like shark fins as I bow my head in a school hallway, kneel down in a convent, or give birth to a newborn baby wailing in unison with the tornado sirens.  I huddle with toddlers in showers and beg for shelter in a McDonald's freezer. I remain a sitting duck in a second-floor apartment, and find myself in the wrong place at the wrong time while in the emergency room with storm victims.Life in the Rocket City is a thrill ride which is not for the faint of heart, this I know. So brace yourself for a front row seat on a ride through Tornado Valley! Alabama is the home of the world's deadliest twisters, and Huntsville is in the heart of the arena. Our space history is out of this world, but our tornado history will blow you away.Take a rollercoaster ride through the history of Alabama tornadoes before plunging into the gripping story of the Day of Devastation. Witness the stars falling on Alabama in 1833. Then get ready for the sky to fall! The plot twists as Huntsville's torrid tornado past comes alive in the 1974 Super Tornado Outbreak. The rollercoaster corkscrews as it encounters an unexpected twister in 1989 that slingshots the reader into the angry vortex on Airport Road. The ride cruises before taking another gut-wrenching dive that catapults its riders into an inverted twist from yet another Anderson Hills tornado in 1995. The town turns upside-down but Huntsville survives, revives, and thrives. But the worst is yet to come. Another tornado season is just around the corner. Beware of the month of April, especially on a Wednesday.The warning sirens wail, we're bombarded by softball-sized hail, and an EF3 tornado slams into the jail. It's just another day in Alabama, but the countdown clock is ticking. The next tornado warning could be "the one." Our voice drops to a whisper when we mention an EF5. We realize life is too short. The coaster accelerates. Can you feel the torque? We have no idea what's around the next bend. Suddenly, the nightmare comes true as the ride zooms out of control, this time in a free-fall on April 27, 2011. Alabama is bombarded by a record 62 tornadoes in one day. Abruptly, the ride comes to a screeching halt. The adrenaline rush subsides. You've just experienced Huntsville's Havoc. Immediately the passengers ask one another, "Do you want to ride again?" Some will and some swear, never again.

Center of Attention: A True Crime Memoir


Jami D. Brown Martin - 2020
    The photo looks completely out of place on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list where it’s been since December, 8, 2007. For eight of those years, Jason appeared directly beside Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden is long gone, but Jason is still wanted for armed robbery and murder.For years, his sister, Jami D. Brown Martin has watched the true crime programs and read the amateur investigative blogs devoted to Jason, his crime, and the efforts to apprehend him knowing the story wasn’t as simple, nor was it just Jason’s. To be the sister, brother, or relative of one of the world’s most wanted men is to live every day with the horrible truth and many consequences of his brutal act.CENTER OF ATTENTION is the story of a former Mormon missionary turned murderer. It is also a riveting look behind the facade of the genetically blessed, seemingly prominent and pious Brown family of Laguna Beach, California. It is a tale of the family patriarch, John Brown, who disappeared without a trace ten years before his son. More important, it is the gripping and ultimately hopeful story of the sister of one of the world’s most wanted fugitives and her journey to accept that despite being a product of the same crazy environment as her brother, her life and path are her own.

Pro Bono The 18year defense of Caril Ann Fugate


Jeff McArthur - 2012
    With him when he was captured was his 14-year-old ex-girlfriend Caril Fugate. The question soon arose, was Caril a kidnapped victim, or a heartless accomplice?Appointed to her case, attorney John McArthur initially accepted the assignment out of a sense of constitutional duty. But as he delved deeper, he found that the truth was far more complicated than anyone was letting on. Up against incredible odds, and with a strong conviction of her innocence, McArthur remained with Caril and fought for her freedom for 18 years. For this service, he took no pay, accepting the case pro bono.This book follows the long struggle of McArthur, his partner Merril Reller, and John's son James as they took on the Nebraska legal system and a public that had already determined Caril's guilt before ever hearing a word of testimony. The story continues through all it influenced, such as Stephen King, who became a horror writer because of it, Bruce Springsteen, who wrote a whole album about it, Terrence Malick, Oliver Stone, Martin Sheen, and Peter Jackson, who wrote his first major movie based on the Starkweather-Fugate incident.Pro Bono explores aspects of this incredible story that have never been revealed before, and sheds new light on these terrifying and complex events.

True State Trooper Stories


Charles A. Black - 2016
    Sgt. Charles Black is a 35 year veteran of the Iowa State Patrol during those years he has had many experiences and he shares his favorites in this book. In 35 years I have seen a lot of changes from the name of the organization to the primary function. From hearses to ambulances to rescue units with EMT's. From paper list of stolen cars to computers.From no recorders to body cameras. From fist fights to gun fights.But human nature and the effects of drugs and alcohol remain the same.

Toxic Rage: A Tale Of Murder In Tucson


A.J. Flick - 2018
    A young and talented eye surgeon, he accepted a job with an established eye surgeon to take over his pediatric patients. “It’s a beautiful place,” Stidham told a friend. “I can live right there by the mountains and go hiking. It’s a great deal for me there. The partner I’ll be working with is ultracool. He’s giving me the keys to the kingdom.”Brad Schwartz, the doctor who hired Brian, was ambitious and possessed surgical skills few others had. But he was a troubled man.Within a year of Stidham’s arrival in Tucson, the medical relationship would be severed by Schwartz’s personal troubles. Stidham broke away to start his own practice. Rumors abounded within the medical community that Schwartz was incensed and considered the departure a betrayal. His rage grew, even driving a wedge between him and his fiancée, Lourdes Lopez, a former prosecutor.Three years after Stidham moved to Tucson, his life ended in an empty, darkened parking lot. But who would murder such a nice man in such a violent manner? Lourdes, who had witnessed Schwartz’s toxic rage toward his former partner, feared she knew. But would her suspicions be enough to catch the killer? Find out in TOXIC RAGE.

Tony Accardo is Joe Batters


Neil Gordon - 2018
    Throw in the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and the murders of John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, Marilyn Monroe, Bugsy Siegel, Sam Giancana, Lucky Luciano, Tony the Ant Spilotro, Johnny Roselli and Jimmy Hoffa. Toss in Hollywood scandal and the mobbed up career of Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack. Now you can begin to grasp the epic story of Tony Accardo. Why has this story never been told? Accardo killed everyone in his path: family, friends, cops, reporters, movie stars, and politicians. Operating from deep within the shadows Tony influenced national policy, exploited the FBI, owned politicians, and fixed presidential elections. Connected to every gangster from Al Capone to Lucky Luciano to John Gotti, Joe Batters is the must-read that every Godfather fan is craving.

And Life Continues: Sex Trafficking and My Journey To Freedom


Wendy Barnes - 2015
    And Life Continues is her story: how she became a victim of human trafficking, why she was unable to leave the man who enslaved her for fifteen years, and the obstacles she overcame to heal and rebuild her life after she was rescued.

18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics


Bruce Goldfarb - 2020
    As the mother of forensic science, Frances Glessner Lee is the reason why homicide detectives are a thing. She is responsible for the popularity of forensic science in television shows and pop culture. Long overlooked in the history books, this extremely detailed and thoroughly researched biography will at long last tell the story of the life and contributions of this pioneering woman.