Book picks similar to
The World's Worst Crimes: An A-Z of Evil Deeds by Charlotte Greig
non-fiction
true-crime
tbr
crime
Tasteful
Celina Grace - 2019
Detective Inspector Kate Redman takes on the case, which turns even more bizarre when a second human foot is found a few days later. Is it just a gory prank or does it tie in with the mysterious disappearance of a local girl? Tasteful is a new novella in the bestselling Kate Redman Mysteries series, from crime writer Celina Grace, author of Hushabye and Fury. Praise for Celina Grace from Amazon and Goodreads reviewers: "The gradual crescendo of action and pace remorselessly increases..." "Love Kate. She is human, does not always make good choices just like us." “At last, a mystery that delivers…I found this novel superb because I got all I needed to know and none of what I didn’t.” “…a gripping detective story but the main character engages you, and as well as wanting to know how the mystery turns out you want to learn more about her too.” “…amazing book, read it front to back in one visit, couldn`t help myself…” “…the most enjoyable Kindle book I have so far read since the 'low cost electronic revolution' which has been sweeping my reading habits for the last couple of years! Thoroughly recommended.” “This was my introduction to the author, and I'm so glad I discovered the book. Well-written and a real page turner.” “I was awake till the early hours to finish it !! I really enjoyed it and the characters in it so I'm pleased I also have the sequel downloaded to read at some point. I know it should be great.” “Attention to detail and great character building coupled with a mystery that keeps you guessing are all the ingredients that make me keep reading till the early hours of the morning.” "Celina Grace has done it again, she compels you from page to page and chapter to chapter, a great, riveting read..." "I found it difficult to put down and was completely distracted from all the other things I should have been doing with my time." "This is a great series that I couldn't put down and grabbed the next book right away at 1 a.m. to keep reading."
Hotel Kerobokan
Kathryn Bonella - 2009
This book, Hotel Kerobokan, is internationally titled Hotel K. Welcome to Hotel Kerobokan, the ironic nickname for Kerobokan Jail, Bali's most notorious prison, and home to a procession of the infamous and the tragic: the BALI BOMBERS, Gold Coast beautician SCHAPELLE CORBY and the BALI NINE, among many others.In Hotel Kerobokan's filthy and disease-ridden cells, a United Nations of prisoners live crushed together in misery. Petty thieves and small-time drug users share cells with killers, rapists and gangsters. Hardened drug traffickers sleep alongside unlucky tourists, who've seen their holiday turn from paradise to hell over one ecstasy tablet.
Hotel Kerobokan
reveals the wild 'sex nights' organized by corrupt guards for prisoners who have the money to pay, the rampant drug use, the suicides and killings, and days out at the beach. It exposes the jail's role in supplying high-grade drugs to the outside, the gang that rules the jail through terror, the corruption that means anything is for sale, and the squalor and misery endured by prisoners.Hotel Kerobokan is backed up by hundreds of prisoner interviews, and the truth about this bizarre jail explodes off the page.
Underbelly: True Crime Stories
John Silvester - 1997
This book delves into the crimes that police have to deal with day after day. Murderers, hitmen, kidnappers, and drug dealers all feature in this collection of true crime stories. Take the drug dealer who walked out of a restaurant bragging that he's killed a man—unaware that his fellow diner was an undercover policeman. Or the young mother, whose death was written off as suicide, but which subsequent investigation proved to be something much more sinister.
Stalking Jack the Ripper
Kerri Maniscalco - 2016
But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.
Killer Kids: Shocking True Stories of Children Who Murdered Their Parents
Clifford L. Linedecker - 1993
Nothing was too good for precious Katy-- sports cars, jewelry, designer clothes. Her father, a successful South Florida businessman, could not resist any of her whims. But when he tried to curb her fast-lane lifestyle, she had him shot through the head while he slept. Behind closed doors of her suburban Chicago home, Nancy Knuckles was a sadistic disciplinarian who, for years, terrorised her four children with religious fanaticism, beatings, and psychological torture, until they finally rebelled with a vengeance. After the oldest daughter strangled mom and stuffed her in a trunk, the kids partied hard, inviting their friends over for booze and rock 'n' roll. Susan Cabot was a beautiful B-movie queen and obsessive mother. Her son Tim-- born a dwarf-- was pumped full of experimental drugs extracted from cadavers to increase his height. When the ex-film star's badly beaten body was discovered in her Hollywood home, little Timmy claimed she had been killed by men using Ninja methods-- before confessing.
Harry Potter: A History of Magic
British LibraryOwen Davies - 2017
Rowling and the brilliant curators of the British Library. It promises to take readers on a fascinating journey through the subjects studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – from Alchemy and Potions classes through to Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.Each chapter showcases a treasure trove of artefacts from the British Library and other collections around the world, beside exclusive manuscripts, sketches and illustrations from the Harry Potter archive. There's also a specially commissioned essay for each subject area by an expert, writer or cultural commentator, inspired by the contents of the exhibition – absorbing, insightful and unexpected contributions from Steve Backshall, the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger Highfield, Steve Kloves, Lucy Mangan, Anna Pavord and Tim Peake, who offer a personal perspective on their magical theme.Readers will be able to pore over ancient spell books, amazing illuminated scrolls that reveal the secret of the Elixir of Life, vials of dragon's blood, mandrake roots, painted centaurs and a genuine witch's broomstick, in a book that shows J.K. Rowling's magical inventions alongside their cultural and historical forebears.This is the ultimate gift for Harry Potter fans, curious minds, big imaginations, bibliophiles and readers around the world who missed out on the chance to see the exhibition in person.
The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success
Kevin Dutton - 2012
Incorporating the latest advances in brain scanning and neuroscience, Dutton demonstrates that the brilliant neurosurgeon who lacks empathy has more in common with a Ted Bundy who kills for pleasure than we may wish to admit, and that a mugger in a dimly lit parking lot may well, in fact, have the same nerveless poise as a titan of industry.Dutton argues that there are indeed “functional psychopaths” among us—different from their murderous counterparts—who use their detached, unflinching, and charismatic personalities to succeed in mainstream society, and that shockingly, in some fields, the more “psychopathic” people are, the more likely they are to succeed. Dutton deconstructs this often misunderstood diagnosis through bold on-the-ground reporting and original scientific research as he mingles with the criminally insane in a high-security ward, shares a drink with one of the world’s most successful con artists, and undergoes transcranial magnetic stimulation to discover firsthand exactly how it feels to see through the eyes of a psychopath.As Dutton develops his theory that we all possess psychopathic tendencies, he puts forward the argument that society as a whole is more psychopathic than ever: after all, psychopaths tend to be fearless, confident, charming, ruthless, and focused—qualities that are tailor-made for success in the twenty-first century. Provocative at every turn, The Wisdom of Psychopaths is a riveting adventure that reveals that it’s our much-maligned dark side that often conceals the trump cards of success.
In Pursuit of the Truth
Clive Driscoll - 2015
For Clive, it was the pinnacle of a 35-year career with the world’s most famous police force, the Metropolitan Police Service.Clive’s prodigious rise through the ranks of the Met saw him front some of the most high-profile units at Scotland Yard. He was put in charge of their policy for sexual offences, domestic violence, child protection and the paedophile unit before heading up the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force tackling their backlist of cold cases. From action-packed moments chasing down criminals to more tender occasions, like gaining the trust of a murder victim’s family, to making crucial legal history, and unearthing huge national scandals,
In Pursuit of the Truth
is the definitive account of modern day policing, its successes and failings included, seen through the eyes of a man who has dedicated his life to making a difference. This is a book that every part of society can learn from.
How She Died, How I Lived
Mary Crockett - 2018
The five girls Kyle texted that day. The girls it could have been. Only Jamie--beautiful, saintly Jamie--was kind enough to respond. And it got her killed.On the eve of Kyle's sentencing a year after Jamie's death, all the other "chosen ones" are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead.Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie's boyfriend--knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead?
The Anatomy of Evil
Michael H. Stone - 2009
Stone—host of Discovery Channel’s former series Most Evil—uses this common emotional reaction to horrifying acts as his starting point to explore the concept and reality of evil from a new perspective. In an in-depth discussion of the personality traits and behavior that constitute evil across a wide spectrum, Dr. Stone takes a clarifying scientific approach to a topic that for centuries has been inadequately explained by religious doctrines.Basing his analysis on the detailed biographies of more than 600 violent criminals, Stone has created a 22-level hierarchy of evil behavior, which loosely reflects the structure of Dante’s Inferno. He traces two salient personality traits that run the gamut from those who commit crimes of passion to perpetrators of the worst crimes—sadistic torture and murder. One trait is narcissism, as exhibited in people who are so self-centered that they have little or no ability to care about their victims. The other is aggression, the use of power over another person to inflict humiliation, suffering, and death.Stone then turns to the various factors that, singly or intertwined, contribute to pushing certain people over the edge into committing heinous crimes. They include heredity, adverse environments, violence-prone cultures, mental illness or brain injury, and abuse of mind-altering drugs. All are considered in the search for the root causes of evil behavior.What do psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience tell us about the minds of those whose actions could be described as evil? And what will that mean for the rest of us? Stone discusses how an increased understanding of the causes of evil will affect the justice system. He predicts a day when certain persons can safely be declared salvageable and restored to society and when early signs of violence in children may be corrected before potentially dangerous patterns become entrenched.
The Icepick Surgeon
Sam Kean - 2021
But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.The Icepick Surgeon masterfully guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra’s dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison’s mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren’t all safely buried in the past. Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one another wrong.Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.
Bandido Massacre: A True Story Of Bikers, Brotherhood And Betraya
Peter Edwards - 2010
The massacre made headlines around the world, and the shocking news brought a grim light to an otherwise quiet corner of the province. Six Bandidos would eventually be convicted of the first-degree murder of their biker brothers.Like other outlaw bikers, Bandidos portray themselves as motorcycle enthusiasts who are systematically misunderstood and abused by the police, as well as feared by the public. We now know the Bandidos were anything but simple motorcycle enthusiasts. However, unlike such biker gangs as the Hell's Angels, who run sophisticated operations, the Bandidos were highly disorganized, prone to petty infighting and even engaged in sabotaging fellow members. This is the story of how the Bandidos self-destructed over one dark night.As gripping as any crime novel, The Bandido Massacre takes us inside a crumbling brotherhood bent on betrayal and self-obliteration.www.thebandidomassacre.com
Fatal Sunset: Deadly Vacations
Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff - 2012
Over 170 people have disappeared from cruise ships around the world since 1995, several under very suspicious circumstances. Others have their lives senselessly stolen, like the 8-year-old boy sucked into an unprotected pool drain at a major resort, leaving his mother crying out his name as security staff held her at gunpoint. Or 22-year old Nolan Webster, denied proper medical care after being pulled unconscious from a Cancun resort pool, only to have his dead body left in plain view for hours and his parents billed for his room.Vacations are meant to be joyous and fun. Sometimes terrible things happen unexpectedly. A parasailing newlywed plummets hundreds of feet to her death on the last day of her honeymoon when her harness snaps in midair. Hikers make a fatal plunge on an improperly-marked Kauai cliffside trail. And of course, there's every mother's nightmare: the disappearance of Natalee Holloway while on a high-school graduation trip to Aruba with members of her senior class.
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote - 1965
There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues. As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. At the center of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcock, who, vividly drawn by Capote, are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely and frighteningly human. In Cold Blood is a seminal work of modern prose, a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill and powerfully evocative narrative.
Columbine
Dave Cullen - 2009
As we reel from the latest horror . . . " So begins a new epilogue, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year.What really happened April 20, 1999? The horror left an indelible stamp on the American psyche, but most of what we "know" is wrong. It wasn't about jocks, Goths, or the Trench Coat Mafia. Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene, and spent ten years on this book-widely recognized as the definitive account. With a keen investigative eye and psychological acumen, he draws on mountains of evidence, insight from the world's leading forensic psychologists, and the killers' own words and drawings-several reproduced in a new appendix. Cullen paints raw portraits of two polar opposite killers. They contrast starkly with the flashes of resilience and redemption among the survivors.