The Coin Store: A True Story of Drug Cartels, Mobsters, Cops and Agents


Patrick Burns , Special Agent (Ret.) - 2016
    He was the King of Cocaine, the wealthiest and most violent criminal in the world. By the 1980s his Medellin Drug Cartel was responsible for smuggling several tons of cocaine into America each and every day, killing thousands of people along the way. The end result was hundreds of millions of dollars in cash profits. In response, and as part of President Reagan’s War on Drugs, Congress created the Money Laundering Act of 1986. The goal was to take the profit out of Escobar’s business. And the plan was working. Drug Money seizures went up. But as U.S. Agents became more and more efficient at finding the dirty cash, stashed inside ship bellies and truck beds at America’s ports and land borders, Pablo and other Cartel leaders sought a more efficient method to get their money back to Colombia. They found the solution in an unlikely place, a dusty back room of a tiny, rare coin shop in the small town of Cranston, Rhode Island. The shop owner was a young, local mobster who had already been laundering much of the Mob's stolen gold. With a few minor adjustments, his coin shop evolved into a springboard for a new venture, a billion dollar money laundering scheme. The Italian Mafia's stolen gold was used to dispose of the Colombian Cartel's dirty cash. It was the perfect scheme, brilliant. As his customer base grew, the young mobster, known as Fat Man, a.k.a. Mr. Cash, set up a string of phony gold shops crisscrossing America. The end result was one of the world's largest, most efficient money laundering networks. By some accounts, Fat Man laundered more than a billion dollars of drug profits for Pablo Escobar and the other Cartel leaders. This is the true story of how it all happened. It is a step –by- step view of how the scheme worked and how it was ultimately uncovered. This story reveals conventional and at times unconventional tactics used by the government in its three-year, worldwide investigation. It is also a behind-the-scenes look at Fat Man himself and his crew, as well as the agents and cops who pursued them. It was unlikely that Fat Man, a small town gangster, would ever become an international money launderer for the Colombian Drug Lords. But what was more unlikely was the fact that it took a rookie agent to finally uncover the scheme. And more unlikely than that was the fact that the rookie agent was Fat Man’s neighbor. Both were born within just a few days from each other, grew up just a few miles from each other, lived in similar blue-collar neighborhoods and even lived in all but identical homes. And both were influenced, in very different ways, by the New England Mob, which was headquartered nearby on Federal Hill in Providence, RI. While Fat Man relished a life of crime, I dreamed of becoming an agent. In 1987, while his scheme originally went unnoticed, I was at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Academy in southern Georgia. One year after the new Money Laundering Law was created, I began work as a new U.S. Treasury Agent. My first post of duty was Providence, RI. My first assignment was to follow a lead, a suspicious cash deposit at a local bank. It was originally considered to be a dead end, “keep busy” work for a new, inexperienced agent with little to do. But that changed when I followed the lead to Fat Man’s Coin Store. This is how it all happened.

The Detective Robyn Carter Series: Books 1-3


Carol Wyer - 2019
     The first three thrillers from eBook no 1 bestselling author Carol Wyer, introducing you to maverick Detective Robyn Carter. Little Girl Lost: ‘Her breath rose and fell in fearful gasps, but it was too late. She could already see what she dreaded most. The back seat was empty. Her little girl was gone. When toddler Izzy is snatched from a carpark Detective Robyn Carter finds a worrying connection with a current murder investigation and fears there is a twisted serial killer at work. And unless she gets to them in time, a little girl will die … Secrets of the Dead: ‘Colourful, plastic boats were scattered in puddles on the floor. In the bathtub lay Linda Upton, fully-clothed, lips a shade of blue, and bloodshot eyes wide open.’ When a young mother is found drowned in the bath, clutching a receipt saying, ‘all debts paid’, Detective Robyn Carter knows it’s just the beginning of a harrowing case. But as she hones in on the killer’s awful motive, one of her own is put into terrible danger … The Missing Girls: ‘One girl found dead. Another girl gone... Long shadows danced on the tin walls. Inside the trunk lay Carrie Miller, wrapped in plastic, arms folded across her ribcage, lips sealed tight forever...’ When a girl’s body is found at a Midlands storage unit, it is too decomposed for Detective Robyn Carter to read the signs left by the killer. But just as Robyn makes progress and begins to close in on the killer’s shocking hunting ground, another girl goes missing, and this time it’s someone close to her own heart. This gripping series will have you up in the small hours turning the pages. Fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Caine and Robert Dugoni will love The Detective Robyn Carter Series. Readers are going crazy for Carol Wyer: ‘Absolutely nail biting! … From the first page, I was hooked; I could not put this book down … Halfway through the book, once everything clicked, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor … I would start to read it on a day where you have no other commitments; you won’t want to put this one down!’ 5 stars – Clues and Reviews ‘OMG this book had me hooked from the first to very last page ... It’s impossible to put down, I was falling asleep about 3 in the morning with my kindle still in my hands!’ 5 stars – Goodreads Reviewer ‘Absolutely stunning!... wow it blew me away. Totally my favourite book so far of 2018… I loved everything about it… Amazing… 5 stars, although it is a shame I can’t give it more, it’s easily worth a 7.’ Bonnie’s Book Talk, 5 stars ‘Oh my god what a brilliant book you have to read it … This book grabs you from the first page right till the last page with so many twists and turns you do not know what is coming next … If I could give it more than 5 stars I would.

Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice


Maureen Faulkner - 2007
    Mumia Abu-Jamal was unanimously convicted of the crime by a racially mixed jury based on: the testimony of several eyewitnesses, his ownership of the murder weapon, matching ballistics, and Abu-Jamal’s own confession.After his conviction, however, a national anti-death penalty movement was started to “Free Mumia;” Mike Farrell, Ed Asner, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jesse Jackson rallied on his behalf, and led the charge.  For his part, while on death row, Abu-Jamal published several books, delivered radio commentaries, was a college commencement speaker, found himself named an Honorary Citizen of France, and had his defense coffers enhanced by ticket sales from a sold out (16,000-person) concert featuring Rage Against the Machine.Here, from Maureen Faulkner and acclaimed talk show host / journalist Michael Smerconish, is the first book to carefully and definitively lay out the case against Abu-Jamal, and those who’ve elevated him to the status of political prisoner. Smerconish, a lawyer, has provided pro bono legal counsel to Faulkner for over a decade and knows both the legal intricacies and personal subtleties of the case like no other person.  He’s personally acquainted himself with the more than five thousand pages of trial transcript.  “My reading starkly revealed that Abu-Jamal murdered Danny Faulkner in cold blood and that the case tried in Philadelphia in 1982 bore no resemblance to the one being home-cooked by the Abu-Jamal defense team.”As Abu-Jamal’s lawyers contemplate their final appeal, Faulkner and Smerconish weave a compelling, never-before-told account of one fateful night and the 25-year-long rewriting of history.

Serial Killers: Shocking, Gripping True Crime Stories of the Most Evil Murderers


Brian Innes - 2017
    Yet they endlessy fascinate and continue to capture the public's attention with their strange charisma and deadly deeds. From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy and the Moors Murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, these killers transfix us with their ability to commit utterly savage acts of cruelty and depravity. Only with modern police detection methods and psychological profiling, have these figures that have existed throughout human history finally been identified in the deadliest category: serial killers. These methods, the killers' characters and their crimes are described here in fascinating and terrifyingly gripping detail. The whole history of serial killers is brought to life in 50 chapters, including: Herman Webster Mudget, Devil in the White City John Christie, 10 Rillington Place murders Zodiac Killer Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, The Moors Murderers Ted Bundy Fred and Rosemary West Jeffrey Dahmer Aileen Wuornos Harold Shipman, Dr Death

Murder In The Family


Jeremy Josephs - 1995
    On the night of 10 October 1987 Nicholas and Elizabeth Newall went out to dinner with their sons to celebrate her 48th birthday. It was the last time that the parents were seen alive. Sometime during that evening, they were bludgeoned to death at their home, their bodies removed, leaving only bloodstains behind. For six years Roderick Newall denied all responsibility for the murder - even after his dramatic arrest on the high seas by a Royal Navy frigate, followed by extradition from Gibraltar to stand trial on Jersey. But he could no longer live a lie, and took detectives to a beauty spot on the island where he had buried his parents with the help of his younger brother, Mark. What drove Roderick to murder his apparently loving parents? And why should Mark Newall have been prepared to put his loyalty to his brother above that to his parents, thus becoming an accomplice to murder? MURDER IN THE FAMILY is the gripping account of Jersey's most notorious and fascinating murder case: the hunt to track down and convict the Newall brothers is a thriller without parallel. Jeremy Josephs has had extensive co-operation from those close to the case and the Newall family in writing this enthralling book.

Nothing Lost


John Gregory Dunne - 2004
    An illicit love affair with the potential to wreck lives. In his grandly inventive last novel, John Gregory Dunne orchestrated these elements into a symphony of American violence, chicanery, and sadness.In the aftermath of Edgar Parlance’s killing, the small prairie town of Regent becomes a destination for everyone from a sociopathic teenaged supermodel to an enigmatic attorney with secret familial links to the worlds of Hollywood and organized crime. Out of their manifold convergences, their jockeying for power, publicity or love, Nothing Lost creates a drama of magnificent scope and acidity.

The Beasts of Juarez: An Atlas Hargrove Novel: Book 2


Ryan Schow - 2021
    

The Wrong Sort To Die


Paula Harmon - 2020
    

The Cave


Bill Rogers - 2011
    

May It Please Your Lordship


Toby Potts - 2012
    Stirring speeches to rapt juries, triumphant press interviews and enormous fees paid by grateful clients. He can see it all. But unfortunately, he has reckoned without Judge 'Bonkers' Clarke, The Honourable Mr 'Sourpuss' Boniface and a range of other equally terrifying, grumpy and borderline insane judges - not to mention tricky solicitors, bent coppers and dodgy defendants.

Mountain Breeze: The Complete Series


Ed Robinson - 2019
    He and Brody are settling into their new life when he stumbles onto a plot of marijuana plants on public land. Knowing a thing or two about growing weed, Breeze befriends the mysterious mountain man tending to the crop. When his new friend is killed, he tries to help law enforcement solve the crime. When the authorities prove reluctant, he is forced to take matters into his own hands. In the process, he transforms from boat bum to a true man of the mountains. Blue Ridge Breeze - There is a fugitive loose on McGuire Mountain. Local law enforcement asks Breeze to help track the man down. The mission goes horribly wrong. In the process of trying to make it right, Breeze uncovers corruption by the Chief of Police. Though he’s committed no crime, he once again finds himself on the wrong side of the law. He thinks the problem is resolved, but someone is stalking his cabin. Breeze and Brody become prisoners in their own home. The situation forces Breeze to utilize his mountain skills like never before. Beech Mountain Breeze - A freak accident causes Buckeye Lake to be drained. A girl’s body is found in the mud. A mysterious mountain hermit is a suspect, but no one has ever seen him. Breeze is called upon to track a man that he’s not even sure exists. He teams up with an attractive female police officer, who wants more than just a professional relationship. Pressure mounts as the case progresses, in more ways than one. High Country Breeze - In the mountains of western North Carolina, things aren’t always as they seem. When a college student is found dead, the incident is quickly ruled a suicide. The boy’s parents hire Breeze and Brody to investigate his death. At first, they are stonewalled by the entire community, but Breeze devises a devious and clever plan to get to the truth. They think they’ve broken the case wide open, but soon learn their mission is not complete. New River Breeze - There is a fugitive near the New River that baffles Breeze with his speed and endurance. Creekside Investigations becomes occupied with the marital surveillance business; tracking cheating spouses in the High Country. Breeze can’t accept his failure to capture the Running Man, so he puts his fledgling business aside to return to the wilderness in pursuit of his prey. It all leads to an explosive ending that will rip your guts out and leave you wandering what happens next.

Prediction: Big Data, big danger


Tony Batton - 2019
    Their hopes rest on a new quantum super computer, one capable of interpreting patterns in the oceans of intelligence data. There’s just the small challenge of building it. Gregory Jenson, CEO of ZAT Systems, is tasked by MI5 to create the computer, but ghosts in his past could thwart matters before he even begins. Young lawyer, Michael Adams, is given the task of helping Jenson, but he soon has problems of his own. And they’ll soon learn that a hidden player wants to use the new system for their own plans – someone incredibly well-informed, and prepared to go to any lengths to achieve their goals. And if they succeed, the recovery of the nuclear reactor will be the least of everyone’s problems.

The Secret Of The Stolen Idols


Vivek R Chaturvedi - 2021
    Gururaj soon finds out that he is not alone in the chase and all characters involved in the original heist are drawn in to face each other once again.Will Gururaj be able to save the ancient traditions? Will he find out who stole the idols? Would his secretive benefactor save him as before? Find out as you read through this fast paced tale.The Secret of the Stolen Idols - a story based on real life historical events – is a fictionalized account of the last of Betaal worshippers in Goa. The book is a tightly woven suspense with a myriad of intriguing characters, fascinating sets, and well researched instructive chapters. Piece by piece - much like the stolen idols - the story unravels itself continuously till the very end.

Tunny 2


Robin Roughley - 2021
    Though gradually it becomes apparent that there is a method to the maniac's madness, the victims are linked, they knew one another, and Tunny knows he must get to the truth before others die at the hands of the brutal killer. But why is he on the rampage what drives him to commit such atrocities? As the investigation progresses each new twist throws up more questions than answers. Though there is one thing that Tunny is sure of, the truth is buried somewhere amongst the carnage, and he will have to delve deep to get to the truth and when he does the devastation is beyond anything he could have anticipated let alone prepared for

The DCI Jack Logan Collection Books 1-3: A Scottish Crime Fiction Series


J.D. Kirk - 2020