Book picks similar to
Campbell Bunk: The Worst Street in North London Between the Wars by Jerry White
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Terrible Secrets: Ted Bundy on Serial Murder
Robert D. Keppel - 2011
No sex criminal, from Jack the Ripper to Zodiac to the Green River Killer, inhabits the popular mind as does Bundy. Now, the two men who know Bundy’s criminal nature best – Dr. Robert Keppel and author Stephen Michaud – have teamed to write the definitive narrative of Bundy’s bloody career, as well as the inside story of how Keppel tracked the elusive killer for 15 years, from his first days as a rookie Seattle homicide investigator to a series of tense encounters within the Florida State Prison where Bundy, in a doomed attempt at forestalling his execution, finally gave up some of his Terrible Secrets. The story of Keppel’s long struggle to identify the handsome, articulate onetime law student, and confront him with his crimes, is abundantly illustrated with photos, drawings and documents from the investigator’s personal file. The book’s dozens of pictures include a map of Bundy’s Issaquah, Washington, hillside body dump that Ted drew for Keppel at the prison. Also shown for the first time are handwritten notes from Bundy’s investigative file. The authors also draw from Keppel’s extensive mail correspondence with Bundy. The result is a riveting, close-up portrait of a “diabolical genius,” as a federal judge described Bundy, stripped of myths and misinformation and revealed - in his own words – for the archly-sly, murder-obsessed predator he became. There’s never been a book quite like Terrible Secrets.
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.
Our Friend Travis: The Travis Alexander Story
Chris Hughes - 2015
He was in the prime of his life enjoying good health, financial success, world travel and a bustling social life. But, things weren't always so good for him. His life began in dismal circumstances, and tragically, it ended worse than it began. He was born to drug addicted parents and suffered many of the worst privations of life. His family was poor and his parents were neglectful and abusive. He was teased and bullied as a small child and had few, if any, friends. After running away at the age of ten and going to live with his Grandmother, he became active in his church. Travis began to thrive in this environment. He had found a place where he was accepted. He had a support group, many friends and a purpose. Travis did not let his dark childhood stop him from accomplishing great things in his life. He used his negative experiences to propel him into a life of abundance and success by becoming better every day. Like many single, thirty-year-old men, he was dating in hopes of finding Mrs. Right, so he could get married, start a family and live the good life. Unfortunately, Jodi Arias, one of the women Travis was dating, was a psychopath. When Travis was dating her, they were living in different states. Soon after he broke things off, she moved within a mile of his house in Mesa, Arizona! She stalked him, hacked his email and social media accounts, and made his life unlivable. Her manipulation, lies, conniving, need for control and invasive behaviors were too much for Travis and he finally convinced her to move back to Yreka, California in April of 2008. On May 26, 2008 Travis finally saw Jodi for the evil monster she is. Via text, chat and email, they got into a huge fight. In June 2008, she set off on a 1,027 mile road trip to Mesa, Arizona to murder Travis. With Travis’ blood still under her fingernails, she headed to Utah to hook-up with a new love interest. Travis was found with twenty-nine stab wounds, shot in the face, and with his throat slit from ear to ear. After a heart-wrenching, five-year delay, the case finally went to trial, and became one of the highest profile murder trials in recent history. On May 8, 2013, his killer was convicted of first-degree, pre-meditated murder. During the grueling, ten month trial, which was in large part a circus act of character assassination, lies and fiction, Travis’s life was purposefully distorted and despicably misrepresented. This book was written to share with the world who Travis Victor Alexander was, the reality of what he endured, and the positive impact he continues to have on the world. Our Friend Travis is a book about the real Travis; his life, his light, his triumphs, his mistakes, his death, his murderer’s trial and his legacy. Chris and Sky Hughes are able to offer an insight that few, if any, have into Travis’s life and the evil that ended it. The world deserves to know the real Travis, and they hope you will get to know him through this book. They hope that his loving demeanor, zest for life, passion for service and ability to make people realize their divine potential jumps off the pages and into your heart. NOTE ABOUT REVIEWS OF THIS BOOK: This book includes information about the Jodi Arias murder trial, which was one of the highest profile murder trials in recent history. As a result of the media attention this case garnered, millions around the world have come to know Travis Alexander and Jodi Arias, the woman who viciously murdered him. Though the public came out overwhelmingly in support of Travis Alexander, his friends and family, there is a very small, but vocal group, who, for whatever reason, are supportive of a convicted murderer.
Missing Persons
Steve Braunias - 2021
These are stories about how some New Zealanders go missing - the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mr Blue: Memoirs of a Renegade
Edward Bunker - 2008
It tells the true story of a life that ranges far beyond the imagination of most fiction writers: 25 years in prison, author of four hugely successful crime novels, a spell on the FBI's 10 most wanted list, a role as Mr Blue in Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, and that's just for starters. With sales already over 5,000 in hardback, this riveting story of a life that mixes crime and culture should sell and sell.
Untold: The Daniel Morgan Murder Exposed
Alastair Morgan - 2017
At the bottom of that iceberg of 'dark arts' - hacking, bugging and bribing bent cops - is the body of Daniel Morgan. The truth behind his killing is obscured by a web of corruption and cover-ups.Written by Daniel's brother Alastair, with investigative journalist Peter Jukes, Untold marks the 30th anniversary of the murder once described by an Assistant Commissioner of the Met as 'one of the most disgraceful episodes in the entire history of the Metropolitan Police Service.'Going beyond the number one hit podcast of the same name, this is the inside story in full. Including fresh revelations, new evidence, all the latest findings and, at its heart, the tragic story of a family whose lives have been torn apart in the search for answers.If you haven't heard of this story, ask yourself, why?
Sole Searching on the Appalachian Trail
Sam Ducharme - 2018
With no hiking experience, he bought a backpack and a plane ticket to Georgia and started walking home to New England. One month after deciding to hike the 2,189- mile trail, and after three weeks of intensive YouTube-training, Sam takes his first step north, armed with all the critical gear REI could part with. The journey was long, dangerous and took a toll on his body, but as he lay in his hammock after yet another day of endless climbs and punishing descents, he was determined to finish… or at least make it to day three. This book takes the reader on a modern-day adventure along a 2,189-mile hike from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. First-time hiker and retired prison guard “Sam I Am” entertains the reader with trail stories which are humorous, poignant and informative as he hikes northward in his quest to become a “Thru-Hiker.” Comparing himself to a bruised and dirty onion from a career spent inside prisons, Sam I Am takes the readers along as he interacts with thousands of people on the trail and worldwide. With the help of social media and YouTube, these people watched as he shared his adventure from the trail. The countless unexpected acts of kindness Sam I Am received from strangers slowly peeled each dirty layer away. When he stands on top of Katahdin nearly six months after he started, covered in dirt from the trail, it is the cleanest he has been in decades.
The Cartel
Stephen Breen - 2017
However, Christy Kinahan will never be fêted in the financial press. For his business - drugs, guns, money-laundering, murder - also makes him Ireland's leading criminal.While Kinahan kept a low profile as he grew his empire, by the time his crime cartel shot to public attention in 2010 it was known to European police forces for over a decade. In that year police raided members' homes and premises in Spain, Ireland the UK. By then Kinahan and his sons Daniel and Christopher Jr were already among the richest men in Europe, with an estimated joint worth of €750m.However, events in February 2016 made Kinahan a household name. A daring and deadly gun attack in a suburban Dublin hotel - an attack targeting Daniel Kinahan (who escaped) - stunned the public and exposed the depth of enmity between the Kinahans and the family and associates of the veteran Dublin criminal, Gerry Hutch. Despite an intense garda crack-down on the gangsters' activities, the body count continues to rise.The Cartel gives behind-the-scenes story of that initial Spanish-led raid on the Kinahans. The authors have had exclusive access to the wiretaps that tracked the cartel for two years and talked to key officers who investigated them. They expose the criminal clan's aims and actions - in members' own words - and reveal the surprising truths behind how they built their empire.And The Cartel brings the story bang up-to-date to explain the origins of and fall-out from the feud with the Hutches, one of the most violent and vicious Ireland has ever known - and one that could be the undoing of the Kinahans.The authors' combined depth of knowledge - Stephen Breen has been a crime correspondent for over 15 years and in addition to writing about crime for over a decade, Owen Conlon is a fluent Spanish speaker - has culminated in a detailed and gripping account of double-crossing, vengeance and murder.
Frozen Tears: The Fort Leonard Wood MP Murders
J.B. King - 2019
Only one survived. This true crime book is written by Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper J.B. King, the first law enforcement officer on the scene. He recounts the events from the moment of the crime until the conviction of Military Police Game Warden Johnny Lee Thornton.
Fatal Justice: Reinvestigating the MacDonald Murders
Jerry Allen Potter - 1995
This "devastating rebuttal to Fatal Vision" (Boston Phoenix) demonstrates that the jury was not privy to crucial evidence in the case of Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret Captain convicted of the murders of his wife and two young daughters.
Stay With Me, Rhys: The heartbreaking story of Rhys Jones, by his mother. As seen on ITV’s new documentary Police Tapes
Mel Jones - 2018
‘Please stay with me. I love you.’
There was still no expression in his eyes. I was talking and talking to him, desperate to let him know I was there, but there was no flicker in his face. In hindsight, it was like he’d already gone.
It's a Wednesday evening in Liverpool in the summer holidays, and Melanie is expecting her Everton-mad eleven-year-old son back from football practice very soon. She turns on Coronation Street and sets about stripping the wallpaper off the walls in the lounge, which is long-overdue a makeover. Suddenly she receives a frantic knock at the door. Rhys has been shot on his way home.From that fateful day when Melanie cradled her child as he lay dying, repeating to him ‘Stay with Me, Rhys’, to the day in court when his killers were finally sent down, this is a story of a family in trauma, of a community united behind them and of how a notorious local gang who terrorised the neighbourhood was brought to justice.In 2017, more than 7 million people watched the drama unfold in the highly-acclaimed ITV series Little Boy Blue. And now Melanie Jones tells the family's unbelievable story for the first time.Melanie, her husband Steve and Rhys’s brother Owen have been through unimaginable pain. The grief doesn’t go away, but the strength they’ve found within it is an inspiration.
The Runaway Schoolgirl: This is the True Story of My Daughter's Abduction By Her Teacher Jeremy Forrest
Davina Williams - 2015
It was the start of a year-long nightmare that still haunts the entire family. Her fifteen-year-old daughter was missing and soon after was captured on CCTV boarding a ferry to France with her thirty-year-old school teacher Jeremy Forrest.The newspapers called her The Runaway Schoolgirl and some saw their romance as nothing more than a harmless love story. But Forrest had abused his position of responsibility and engaged his pupil in a sexual relationshipNow Davina Williams, the mother of the teenager referred to as Gemma Grant, tells the story of the abduction and subsequent capture of Forrest, its harrowing aftermath and the traumatic trial to make Forrest pay for his crimes.Told only as a mother knows how, Davina Williams hopes her heart wrenching story will silence the parasites who believed they should be together and allow 'Gemma' and her family to finally move on with their lives.
Heist: The True Story Of The World's Biggest Cash Robbery
Howard Sounes - 2008
From the author of the bestselling true-crime classic 'Fred & Rose', comes the astonishing inside story of the world's biggest cash robbery: the Tonbridge Securitas heist.