Book picks similar to
Gorilla Killer: A True Story of Betrayal, Brutality and Butchery by Ryan Green
true-crime
biography
non-fiction
nonfiction
The Hell I Carry: An Autobiography
Lucas Derion - 2019
We are then forced to re-live the moments we have spent decades burying beneath amicable smiles and a false sense of security. This is my story; one shrouded in as much truth as my mind can tolerate. My story may mean nothing to you, but I believe, that if these words were to fall into the right hands, then they could have the potential to change someone’s life, someone’s mind. At a young age I learned what it meant to carry the scorching secrets of a fiery hell. For years I allowed the flames to consume my mind as I proceeded to live a life devoted to destruction and chaos. I blamed my mother. I blamed the men that raped me. I blamed the woman that refused to love me back. But when the smoke cleared, the mirror on the wall only painted a single reflection, that of myself. So, when the big bad wolf no longer blows, yet the house still falls, who will I have to blame then? Only me.
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.
NYPD: Through the Looking Glass: Stories From Inside Americas Largest Police Department
Vic Ferrari - 2018
Retired NYPD detective Vic Ferrari shares his crazy stories from a twenty year-career with America's largest police department. Would you believe an NYPD member would: Hide a gun in his oven only to have it explode when he decided to make a snack? Pay a prostitute with a check? Move a corpse to avoid working overtime? An insightful behind the scenes look into the NYPD that reveals: What goes on inside a busy police station and the characters inside NYPD Precinct nicknames The unofficial NYPD Glossary Everything from Gun battles to practical jokes paints a colorful portrait of a cop's world. Demonstrating a dark sense of humor many police officers have and use as a coping mechanism to deal with the stress of the job. For example: Pouring wood stain in a co-workers Rogaine bottle Smearing fingerprint ink on a toilet seat Fill a car with crickets NYPD: Through The looking Glass provides a taste of what it’s like to be an NYPD police officer with details and insight not found watching Blue Bloods or Law and Order. If you enjoy true crime, Live PD or fascinated with police work, you’ve picked up the right book.
Escaped Killer: True Story of Serial Killer Allan Legere
R.J. Parker - 2017
Children were not allowed outside to play without adult supervision. But then he was captured, tried, convicted, and put away for life in prison. The community could finally breathe again. They are out of danger. Until the day the convicted killer escapes prison and rains terror upon anyone and everyone in his way. The manhunt pursues, the killer kills, and earns the title of a serial killer. This is the story of Allan Legere—a monster. Inside Bonus - the story of Andrea Yates from the book, "Parents Who Killed Their Children"
17 Deadly Women Through the Ages: True Crime (Bus Stop Reads)
Stephanie Glover - 2015
The female nests, creates, and nurtures doesn’t she or is it that we just want to believe in the intrinsic non-threatening nature of women? Yet, history is full of instrumentally violent women: women who have fought wars and battles throughout the world, with no less ferociousness than men, women such as Dynamis of Bosphorous, who starved her husband to death and took control of his kingdom, or Artemisia, the queen of Halicarnassus in the 5th century, who conducted a brilliant but brutal military campaign against the Greeks. Mary Tudor, Queen Mary 1 of England, in 1553 became known as “Bloody Mary,” for her extreme cruelty and willingness to execute people. In this short book meet 17 less known but equally murderous cold blooded women. After reading it you may find your perception of the gentler sex changed irrevocably. Enjoy.
Edmund Kemper: The Life of the Co-Ed Killer (True Crime Book 2)
Hourly History - 2017
Standing at six-foot-nine, the young man was a giant, but he was gentle, soft spoken, and shy. He lived with his mother into his mid-twenties and frequented local bars, cozying up to police officers-a job he had once hoped to hold himself but couldn't since he was too tall. This was one reality of Kemper's life-the reality he wanted those around him to see. There was another side to the man though, a much darker side. Kemper's actions in his life shocked America, who dubbed him the Co-Ed Killer for his urge to murder and violate co-ed girls in Northern California. Inside you will read about... - Hatred is Born - Kemper's First Murders - Institutionalized with an IQ of 145 - The Co-Ed Killer - Kemper's Grand Finale: The Death of His Mother - Arrest, Imprisonment, and Parole And much more!
Crime Squad: Life and Death on London's Front Line
Mike Pannett - 2016
“Crime Squad takes readers on an unforgettable ride as Mike, an innocent lad from the Yorkshire Dales, learns to grow up fast and stay alive on the mean streets of London.” Weebly “A great read… gave a great feel of policing in the 80's and 90's in London, particularly with the change in drug culture and guns.” Netgalley “Well-written and informative, giving an insight into the workings of the police force in London in 1980s. Recommended.” Wendy Rhodes - Reviewer “A rollercoaster read of life on the front line.” Sir Hugh Orde OBE QPM “An accurate and fascinating picture of police work at the sharp end.” Detective Superintendent John Jones (rtd) “Gripping from first to last.” Andy Trotter OBE QPM London 1988: PC Mike Pannett, fresh out of training school, had suspected life in the Metropolitan Police was going to be a bit different from rural North Yorkshire, but the 23-year-old had no idea by just how much. Sent south of the river to Battersea, then top of London’s crime league tables, Mike was thrown straight into the deep end – during his first drugs raid he ended up staring down the wrong end of a double-barrelled shotgun. Mike’s arrival in London coincided with the explosion in crack cocaine use. In the early 1990s, Yardies – criminal gangs from Jamaica and the USA - flooded into the capital, starting in Battersea, where they brought all manner of guns with them, along with a live-fast die-young attitude. Rivals were ruthlessly eliminated and whole neighbourhoods fell under the control of drug gangs. Mike and his police colleagues fought back with extraordinary valour and inventiveness and with the support of the local community they started to turn the tide – but then came the unthinkable crime: the murder in 1993 of PC Patrick Dunne, one of Mike’s colleagues, by Gary Nelson, aka ‘Tyson’, a criminal the national press described as ‘the most dangerous man ever to walk to the streets of Britain.’ Mike was drawn into the long and exceptionally dangerous hunt for Nelson that would go on to cost the life of another police officer. Crime Squad takes readers on an unforgettable ride as Mike, an innocent lad from the Yorkshire Dales, learns to grow up fast and stay alive on the mean streets of London.
Inferno: An Inquiry Into the Willingham Fire
J. Bennett Allen - 2011
To his last moment he proclaimed his innocence of the arson that claimed the lives of his children. While much has been written of the trial, conviction and execution of Willingham, Inferno is the first exploration of the possible causes of the fire that cost three children, and eventually, Willingham himself, their lives. Instead of him saving her, Amber would save her daddy. She would save him by awakening him with her screams and pleas, by telling him of the fire, by taking his place in bed, by breathing in the smoke that would have filled his lungs instead of hers.The fire, however, would not be denied. Disguised first as justice and then as a needle, it would consume her father just as surely as it had Amber and her infant sisters.While much has been written of the trial, conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, the discussion has been limited to whether or not the fire that killed his children was caused by arson. This is the first book to investigate other possible causes of the fire that claimed initially three, and eventually four lives.
Bought and Sold (Part 1 of 3)
Megan Stephens - 2015
British girl Megan Stephens tells the true story of how an idyllic Mediterranean holiday turned into an unimaginable nightmare when she was tricked into becoming a victim of human trafficking and held captive for six years by deception, threats and violence.While on holiday with her mother at a popular Mediterranean coastal resort, Megan fell in love. Just 14 years old, naïve and vulnerable, she had no reason to suspect that the man who said he loved her would commit the ultimate betrayal of her trust.When her mother returned to England, Megan stayed with Jak, who said he would find her a job as a waitress and promised they would be together forever. But when Megan travelled to the city with Jak, his attitude quickly changed and instead of finding her work as a waitress, he allowed her to be raped and then sold her to a human trafficker.Abandoned by Jak but still unable to accept that everything he’d told her had been a lie, Megan was coerced by threats and violence into working as a prostitute in private homes and brothels. Then the trafficker threatened her mother’s life and it was Megan’s turn to lie: sending her mother the staged photographs that had been taken of her apparently working as a waitress in a cafe, she told her she was happy.Too frightened and bewildered to trust or reach out to anyone, Megan remained locked in a world of brutality and abuse for six years. In the end, there only seemed to be one way out.Megan’s powerful story reveals the devastating realities of human trafficking and the fear that imprisons its victims more effectively than any cage could ever do.
Black Eye
Neville Steed - 1989
won the John Creasey Memorial Award for the best first crime novel of 1986; his second consolidates this promise.’ — The Times 1937, Devon. Johnny Black is a young and penniless pilot turned detective in the glamorous yet dangerous thirties. His girlfriend, the lovely Tracy Spencer-King, enlists him to help a friend, Diana Travers, and the unfolding tragedy becomes his first case. Diana’s sister, Deborah, died a few months before in what Diana believes are suspicious circumstances. Apparently Deborah was riding with her husband, the actor Michael Seagrave, in his new Frazer-Nash sports car on Bigbury Sands when – like the star Isadora Duncan – her long scarf got tangled in the wheels and broke her neck. Despite police being satisfied that Deborah’s death was a tragic accident, Diana thinks that Seagrave murdered his wife. But does Diana know more than she is letting on? Johnny’s investigations soon begin to support Diana’s doubts, for Seagrave proves to be a long standing philanderer and is currently pursuing a girl employed by a dancing academy, Daphne Phipps, and Susan Prendergast the daughter of a rich tycoon. Suspicions deepen when the dancer disappears and Johnny unearths some unsavoury facts about Seagrave’s past. Soon Black is up to his neck in murder and mayhem, as another key figure disappears and a blood-stained jacket turns up on the back of a murderer who has escaped from Dartmoor. It soon becomes clear that whoever is behind the disappearances might just want Johnny and Tracy dead too ... Black Eye, a novel in the great classic tradition of British thrillers, recounts the first case handled by the Black Eye Detective Agency, set up in Torquay, Devon, by a young and impecunious ex-pilot, Johnny Black. Praise for Neville Steed: ‘Steed’s debut Tinplate ... won the John Creasey Memorial Award for the best first crime novel of 1986; his second consolidates this promise.’ —
The Times
‘Mr Steed’s sense of humour endears ... all the details about model-making are fascinating.’ —
Punch
Neville Steed lives in South Devon, where the main action of Black Eye takes place. He read Law at Oxford and has travelled extensively. His interests include anything and everything connected with the motor car, aviation, the cinema and the Art Deco world of the 1930s. He is married with four sons. Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
Chesapeake 1850
Ken Rossignol - 2012
With his grandfather as captain of a steamboat traveling between Norfolk, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, the boy learns quickly about life on the water. From hurricanes to blue crabs life on the Bay changes quickly. Learning Shakespeare and witnessing a hanging are just part of the life along the river. Ethan Douglas' life brushes past major events in the United States from slavery to the underground railroad and the days leading up to the civil war. How did those who lived along the Potomac deal with active warfare during the War Between the States? Life was always a war on the water with pirates shooting at each other as well as Maryland and Virginia oyster police. Ethan's younger brothers and sisters soon join him as they grow older and become entrepreneurs as the nation's capital city grows and changes. From buyboats to newspapers the lives of the Douglas family become part of the history of the young nation. Oysters were the "white gold" of the east while railroads and shipping competed for freight. This book is the first in the series that will tell the story of life in tidewater Chesapeake Bay region from 1850 to 1950.
Body of Proof: Tainted Evidence In The Murder Of Jessica O'Grady?
John Ferak - 2015
Along with his fascinating debut book, BLOODY LIES, Mr. Ferak is making an indelible mark in the true crime genre.”— Jim Hollock, author of the award-winning crime story, BORN TO LOSE When they met, Jessica O'Grady was a tall, starry-eyed Omaha, Nebraska co-ed in search of Mr. Right, Christopher Edwards was a deceitful and darkened soul. In May of 2006, Jessica's mystifying disappearance and a blood-soaked mattress turned into Nebraska's biggest news story. Enter Douglas County Sheriff's CSI stalwart Dave Kofoed, driven to solve high-profile murders and in this case would lead to questions surrounding the forensic evidence used against Edwards. "The case of Jessica O'Grady's disappearance remains controversial. ... A compelling account of a strange case." - Peter Vronsky, bestselling author of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters "Compelling ... a memorable true story." - RJ Parker, bestselling true crime author and publisher
My Father's Son
John Davis - 2015
Ours were just bigger than others. "My earliest memory is of a gun." That gun was in his father's hand - and it was pointed at his mother's head. John Davis grew up in the 1970s and '80s on the rough streets of Brooklyn, a place where no one thought twice when parents smacked around their kids-or each other. At the center of the tumultuous neighborhood, and John's world, was his larger-than-life father, Roberto. The Argentinean butcher and kingpin drug dealer was a sadistic bully whose mercurial temper left a trail of tears and chaos across his family. John, in particular, seemed to bear the brunt of Roberto's wildly swinging moods. Any wrong word could cause an explosion. Every knock on the door might be one of Roberto's enemies, or the police. In his publishing debut, Davis recounts how he spent his childhood in constant terror and his teen years learning to fight back. But it was much later, as an adult, that he learned the most shocking thing of all about his father, his past, and himself. Told with raw honesty and deep emotion, My Father's Son is a memoir of fear, abuse, survival, and identity.
Scotland Yard's First Cases
Joan Lock - 2011
The favoured murder weapon was the cut-throat razor; carrying a pocket watch was dangerous; the most significant clue at a murder scene could be the whereabouts of a candlestick or hat; large households (family, servants and lodgers) complicated many a case and servants sometimes murdered their masters. Detectives had few aids and suffered many disadvantages. The bloody handprints found at two early murder scenes were of no help, there being no way of telling whether blood (or hair) was human or animal. Fingerprinting was fifty years away, DNA profiling another hundred and photography was too new to help with identification. The detectives had no transport and were expected to walk the first three miles on any enquiry before catching an omnibus or cab and trying to recoup the fares. All reports had to be handwritten with a dip pen and ink and the only means of keeping contact with colleagues and disseminating information was by post, horseback or foot. In spite of these handicaps and severe press criticism, the detectives achieved some significant successes. Joan Lock includes such classic cases as the First Railway Murder, as well as many fascinating, fresh reports, weaving in new developments like the electric telegraph against a background of authentic Victorian police procedure. Charles Dickens said that Scotland Yard detectives gave the impression of leading lives of strong mental excitement. Readers of this book will understand why … Praise for Joan Lock ‘Thorough account of important early cases dealt with by Scotland Yard.’ – Professor B. J. Rahn ‘a better picture of the development of the detectives and the CID in the 19th century Metropolitan Police than any other book I have read.' – Alan Moss ‘vivid detail’ –
Historical Novel Society
Joan Lock is an ex-nurse and former policewoman. Joan has also written short stories, radio plays, radio documentaries and eight crime novels. She lives in London.
If I Can't Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children
Gregg Olsen - 2014
The tragic story of Susan Powell and her murdered boys, Charlie and Braden, is the only case that rivals the Jon Benet Ramsey saga in the annals of true crime. When the pretty, blonde Utah mother went missing in December of 2009 the media was swept up in the story – with lenses and microphones trained on Susan's husband, Josh. He said he had no idea what happened to his young wife, and that he and the boys had been camping in the middle of a snowstorm.Over the next three years bombshell by bombshell, the story would reveal more shocking secrets. Josh's father, Steve, who was sexually obsessed with Susan, would ultimately be convicted of unspeakable perversion. Josh's brother, Michael, would commit suicide. And in the most stunning event of them all, Josh Powell would murder his two little boys and kill himself with brutality beyond belief.