Book picks similar to
The Burn Farm by Michael Benson


true-crime
non-fiction
nonfiction
true-crime-murder

An Evil Love: The Life of Frederick West


Geoffrey Wansell - 1996
    

Honeymoon With A Killer


Don Lasseter - 2009
    prosecutor to tell the shocking true story of Rebecca Cleland, a manipulative, money-hungry woman who plots and carries out her husband's murder with the help of members of her own family. Original.

Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Sex Killer


Gary C. King - 1992
    Dayton Leroy Rogers lived a normal life during the day, but at night he revealed his true violent personality as he abducted women from the streets of Portland and tortured and murdered them in sadistic rituals. 8 pages of photos.

World's Worst Crimes: An A-Z of Evil Deeds


Charlotte Greig - 2012
    From the Woman in the Box and the Online Murderer to the Düsseldorf Vampire and the House of Horror, this book delves into every major category of crime, sifting through the evidence to present a grisly, compelling, and blood-spattered history of the worst crimes ever committed.

Rope Burns: The Shocking True Story of the Most Twisted Couple in American Crime!


Robert Scott - 2001
    James Daveggio was a drug abuser and violent rapist. Together, they forged one of the most perverse alliances in criminal history - and in September 1997 - began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture...and maybe, murder.Torture VanAfter customizing Michaud's green minivan into the ultimate mobile torture chamber, the predatory pair hit the road to hell. From California to Nevada, they abducted defenseless young women, including one of Daveggio's own relatives, and forced them to endure hours—sometimes days—of unspeakable sexual acts in their orgy of terror.Rope BurnsEventually captured by police, Michaud and Daveggio were convicted on May 19, 1999 for the abduction and rape of 20–year-old Juanita Rodriguez in Reno, Nevada. They have also been indicted for the first degree murder of Vanessa Samson, 22, in Pleasanton, California. Now awaiting trial, they face a possible conviction that could condemn them both to die by lethal injection.16 Pages Of Shocking Photos!

Bodies of Evidence (True Crime Box Set)


Gregg Olsen - 2013
    Many of them made history. Two – Ted Bundy’s killings and Mary Kay Letourneau’s teacher sex scandal – made Time magazine’s list of the top crimes of the 20th century. Some are lesser known or have taken on new importance, such as one of the country’s first school shootings, in Moses Lake, Washington.Cases include: Washington Barry Loukaitis – Before Sandy Hook and Columbine, there was Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake, Washington. Rosalina Misina Mendoza Dugeno Manthie Edmondson – She had many last names as she married and killed one husband after another. Ruth Neslund – Her husband thought captaining a huge freighter right into the West Seattle Bridge was the worst that could happen to him. It wasn’t. Mary Kay LeTourneau – She said they were “soul mates.” He made a bet with another student that he would sleep with her. Ted Bundy – There’s only one “Ted” and he remains a part of our lives. Now we’ve learned more about his. Kenneth Bianchi – Los Angeles’ most terrifying murders were finally solved 1,200 miles north in Bellingham, Washington. With a bonus essay by Washington native Gregg Olsen on growing up in the shadow of serial killers Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgway, and Robert Lee Yates, Jr. Oregon Angela McAnulty – The mother tortured her teenage daughter until it was too late to save her. Kyron Horman – The boy with the toothy grin disappeared June 4, 2010. Why hasn’t his step-mother been charged? Jeannace Freeman and Gertrude Jackson – Central Oregon was as shocked by their lesbian affair as it was by the murder of Jackson’s two children. Christian Longo – He failed in his own life, so he killed his family and assumed someone else’s. With two bonus essays, one by Rebecca Morris about coming of age in Oregon as serial killers trolled I-5, and one about Gregg Olsen’s “date” with Oregon’s most notorious murderer, Diane Downs. Idaho Shasta Groene – the brave little girl was the only survivor of a random murder and kidnapping in Coeur d’Alene.Jeralee Underwood – the eleven-year-old had the bad luck to meet a ruthless killer as she performed her favorite task of the day, delivering newspapers to her Pocatello neighborhood. Robin Row – the only woman on Idaho’s Death Row, she set fires that killed her children soon after buying life insurance on them. Angie Dodge – Carol Dodge grieved her daughter’s murder for years, until she became convinced the police had coerced a confession and convicted the wrong man. Now she’s working for Christopher Tapp’s release. Lyda Trueblood – America’s first female serial killer liked to bake apple pies. She sprinkled in a secret ingredient – arsenic.

No Place for the Weak: A True Story of Deviance, Torture and Social Cleansing (Ryan Green's True Crime)


Ryan Green - 2021
    

Doctor, Doctor: A True Story of Obsession, Addiction, and Psychological Manipulation


Merry Freer - 2014
    Although smart and successful in a controlled and stable workplace, she has been taught since childhood to substitute her own judgement for that of others, leaving her naïve, gullible and ill-prepared to effectively manage the complexities of her new life.When Susan meets Mark, a charismatic and charming doctor, she thinks she has found the kind of love and passion she has longed for. But things are not as they appear with Mark, and slowly she becomes aware of the deceptive life he is leading. Seeking counsel and solace in a trusted therapist, she encourages Mark to accompany her to a session.The three year odyssey begins with intense therapy - appointments orchestrated by a psychiatrist who develops a personal stake in the couple’s progress. Secrets, lies, and silent pacts draw Susan, inexperienced and trusting, deeply into Mark’s treatment plan. The shrewd therapist’s unorthodox and manipulative schemes break all the rules, taking Susan into a world of drama, deceit, betrayal, and an excruciatingly close encounter with the law – an encounter that forces her to choose between saving Mark or saving herself.

Extreme Evil - Taking Crime to the Next Level (True Crime)


Phil Clarke - 2011
    Acts so powerful that they can scar a whole nation for generations. The perpetrators manage to achieve a level of notoriety only usually afforded to Hollywood icons. In their own twisted imaginations they sit in an Evil Hall of Fame among others of their kind: Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Andrei Chikatilo all jostling for the top spot. Extreme Evil throws light on the most vicious crimes ever committed, and the turbulent lives of the men and women behind them. Contents:Cannibals including Albert Fish, Armin Meiwes, Dennis Nilsen, Eladio Baule, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy Serial Killers including Andrei Chikatilo, H.H.Holmes, Javed Iqbal, John Wayne GacyLady Killers including Bell Gunness, Beverley Allit, Ilse Koch, Rosemary WestCult Killers including Charles Manson, David Koresh, Jim Jones, Shoko AsaharaTyrants including Adolf Hitler, Attila the Hun, Caligula, Pol Pot, Josef StalinChildren of Evil including Bryan and David Freeman, Edmund Kemper, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson

Deadly Mistress: A True Story of Marriage, Betrayal and Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library)


Michael Fleeman - 2005
    MURDER GONE West Coast doctor Kenneth Stahl would do anything to free himself from his wife Carolyn. Then Adriana Vasco-Kenneth's former receptionist and mistress of nine years-obliged by introducing him to ex-con Dennis Earl Godley. The deal was set. Godley would murder Carolyn for thirty-thousand dollars. On the day after her 44th birthday, the trusting victim was lured to a lonely stretch of road. The deadly rendezvous took a shocking turn. Not only was Carolyn gunned down with a .357 Magnum, but Kenneth would also be killed.The hit man's getaway driver was the other woman, Adriana Vasco. In a sensational trial, a tangled web of lies, sex, and betrayal unfolded as Adriana and Dennis turned against each other...

Slow Death


Jim Fielder - 2001
    Transcripts of audio and videotapes are featured, as well as over 16 pages of shocking photos.

Flesh Collectors: Their Ghoulish Appetites Drove Them to Crimes that Only Began With Murder


Fred Rosen - 2003
    A friendship grew from their shared lust for sadistic brutality, and once released, they teamed up to hunt human prey. In March, 1998, in Pensacola, Florida, while quietly watching TV, Leighton Smitherman was shot in the back by assailants hiding outside his home. Amazingly, he survived, not knowing that he'd been chosen at random by would-be-thrill-killers. Their next target wasn't so lucky. Justin Livingston, 20, died from multiple stab wounds - some more than six inches deep. The horror peaked on 7 May 1999, when Rodgers went on a date with pretty Jennifer Robinson, 18, with Lawrence tagging along. The young woman was drugged and assaulted first by Rodgers, then Lawrence, before Rodgers shot her execution-style. But the worse was yet to come, an unspeakable act of mutilation that followed in the bloody footsteps of one of the most infamous serial killers of our time...

Cellar Girl


Josefina Rivera - 2013
    You are strong. You are a fighter. You adapt.'As a young mum-of-three, Josefina Rivera was determined to get her troubled life back on track. But then she met Gary Heidnik and the next four months became a living nightmare. Along with five women Josefina was held captive in a cellar where she was starved, beaten, and repeatedly raped to fulfil Heidnik’s desire of creating a ‘family’ of ten children.Cellar Girl is the shocking but ultimately inspiring story of how one brave, young woman saved herself and others from a life worse than hell.

The Man Who Killed Boys: The John Wayne Gacy, Jr. Story


Clifford L. Linedecker - 1980
    sexually tortured and murdered 33 boys. His friends and neighbors in his unassuming Illinois community never suspected a thing. Gacy was a Jekyll-and-Hyde figure, leading an outwardly normal life, but secretly brutalizing dozens of young men in a hidden lair, and concealing their bodies under the floorboards of his suburban home.Through extensive personal interviews with those who knew Gacy, veteran true-crime scribe Clifford L. Linedecker takes us on a shocking ride through Gacy's life, delving deep into the man's troubled past, recounting his appalling series of murders, and recreating the drama of his trial-- which resulted in his execution by lethal injection in 1994. Gruesome and horrifying, The Man Who Killed Boys reveals stark terror set amid the daily lives of an ordinary community.Documented with an 8-page photo archive

I Survived Ted Bundy: The Attack, Escape & PTSD That Changed My Life


Rhonda Stapley - 2016
    He was America's most notorious serial killer. When their paths crossed on a quiet autumn afternoon, he planned to kill her. But this victim had an incredible will to survive and would live to tell her story nearly three decades after he met death in a Florida electric chair.Ted Bundy brutally attacked Rhonda Stapley in a secluded Utah canyon in 1974. She miraculously escaped and hid her dark secret until now. This compelling real story of triumph over tragedy is both shocking and inspiring and told with the true courage of a victim turned survivor. (Foreword by Ann Rule)When she appeared on his show, Dr. Phil McGraw told Rhonda, "This book will save lives."