Ultimate Hard Bastards: The Truth About the Toughest Men in the World


Kate Kray - 2005
    In this awesome follow-up to the hugely successful Hard Bastards and Hard Bastards 2, Kate Kray, who was married to Ronnie Kray, gets the answers to questions nobody else would dare to ask. We learn the truth about what drives some of these characters to live on the edge of the law, whether it be a matter of gaining respect or striving for survival.

Life in Strangeways - From Riots to Redemption, My 32 Years Behind Bars


Alan Lord - 2015
    He was drawn to trouble like water to a sponge.After experiencing a troubled childhood during which Alan was in and out of children's homes - after being put into care at the tender age of eighteen months old - Alan was a teenager in 1981 when he was sentenced to life in prison for murder during a robbery that had gone badly wrong. He served thirty-two years in various prisons throughout the United Kingdom. This book tells the truth of what goes on behind prison walls and exposes the level of inhumane treatment and brutality that Alan had to endure throughout his thirty-two year journey, during which he never stopped standing up for human rights.Fighting against the degrading prison system of the late twentieth century, Alan helped change the historical humiliating slop out and weekly shower that hundreds of thousands of prisoners had to adhere to throughout the centuries. The battle came at a cost though as it meant more time behind bars, time spent mainly in the segregation unit.Powerfully detailing the way prisoners are treated on a daily basis, Life in Strangeways is a gripping tale that will change the perception of Alan Lord: convicted murderer and riot leader.

The Ghost: How a California Golden Boy Became America's Most Unlikely-and Elusive- Fugitive


Paige Williams - 2012
    He's the prime suspect in the 2004 murder of Keith Palomares, a 25-year-old armored truck guard. Despite the FBI's active investigation, Brown remains at large living among us without a trace. And yet, a faint pulse of his identity surfaces from time to time, haunting the detectives tasked to find him. In the Kindle Single The Ghost, crime writer Paige Williams chronicles the case and draws a portrait of a killer who is as slippery and elusive as he is enigmatic. Jason Derek Brown was raised by a Mormon father who held a high position in the church despite being a known con man. Jason himself was a devout Mormon for years, and maintained his generosity and Southern California charm even as he slid into a life of excessive materialism fueled by theft. Aside from the murder, he has no history of violence. His case is downright perplexing, and Williams captures it from multiple viewpoints in pitch-perfect prose. --Paul Diamond

Vintage True Crime Stories Vol 2: An Illustrated Anthology of Forgotten Tales of Murder & Mayhem


Robert Patterson - 2019
     Let me test my presumption with a preview of four these ‘old’ stories. If I told you there was once a west coast sex cult with dozens of young girls, single ladies, and married women, who all fornicated with one well-endowed “prophet,” and he occasionally found it necessary to carry-out bondage S&M sessions here and there, you may not be surprised at all. But what if that sex cult began in 1903 and ended in 1906 with a couple of murders and suicides, does that sound like anything you have read about before? Or, how about a cheater who murders his inconvenient wife, disassembles her over a fifteen hour period, then puts her bones in the same stove he cooks breakfast for his sons before sending them off to school? If that doesn’t surprise you, perhaps the ending will–but you’ll have to find out for yourself. In ‘The Dandy and the Squire,’ a smooth-talking peacock from Kentucky visits his northern ‘cousins,’ and charms three of the women into his bed. He’s a big time operator who talks fancy, dresses fancy, and tells great stories of his days as an adventurer, riverboat gambler, and sharp-minded deal maker. He’s so smooth, he’s able to murder the patriarch’s son, make him look like the bad guy, and marry the boy’s tender-hearted sister before the Yankees get wise to his lies. Good thing, too, because he had also talked the father into giving him the family farm. Chapter Five is the stranger-than-fiction story of ‘Shoebox Annie.’ During the early 20th Century, this trollish-looking woman introduced her freakish-looking son to a life of crime. Their decade’s long spree of lyin’, cheatin’, and stealin’ led them to become America’s first mother and son team of serial killers. They were so good at disposing of bodies, none of their four victims have ever been found. If ‘old’ stories sound boring to readers of contemporary true crime, I hope this book will change minds, and fully reveal just how wicked and decadent our ancestors were. And deadly. Volume II in the Vintage True Crime Stories series is a wrecking ball that smashes to pieces that phrase, “The Good Old Days.” Maybe you will believe me when you get to the last page.

Professor and the Coed, The: Scandal and Murder at the Ohio State University (True Crime)


Mark Gribben - 2010
    Local writer Mark Gribben reveals how Dr. James Howard Snook was captured and interrogated, including his gory confession of Theora Hix's death. During the trial, the details of the illicit love affair were so salacious that newspapers could only hint about what really led to the coed's murder and the professor's ultimate punishment. For the first time, read the full account of this astonishing story, from scandalous beginning to tragic end.

The Acid Alchemist


Robert Brown - 2020
    As a young child his life was shaped by his parent’s extreme beliefs. Little did he know that the recurring nightmares of his early life would lead to one of the most horrific cases in British criminal history. Other than his obsession with cleanliness, John George Haigh was described by his acquaintances as someone who was as normal as any young man during the 1940s in England. In fact, most people said he was a true gentleman with exceptional manners and a profound love for classical music. However, in the back of John’s crisp mind was a much darker side; a craving for wealth combined with a lust for blood… After spending many years in prison for fraud and theft, John Haigh concluded that the only reason he always got caught was because people talked. What if I can make them disappear? he thought one evening. What if I can stop them from talking to the police? Using his scientific knowledge (and a tiny bit of the legal system he had read about while in prison) he derived a new sinister plan to get rich. That was the disturbing turning point in his life. That was the point when John The Gentleman became John The Serial Killer. This is the true story of the notorious Acid Bath Murderer, a cold-blooded murderer who imagined he was above the law. A man who believed he could literally get away with murder… Caution: The material in this publication has a strong adult theme and is intended for an adult audience. Reader discretion is advised.

Murders of Merseyside


Tom Slemen - 2011
    In this compelling study of true crime, Liverpool's most popular author Tom Slemen recounts some of the most intriguing and baffling murders of Merseyside such as:• The baffling case of the Victorian canned corpse• The magistrate's beautiful granddaughter who was killed by a crazed admirer• The condemned man who was hanged twice• Frederick Deeming - the Rainhill psychopath who wiped out his own family and danced on their grave with his next victim• The bizarre link between a South Seas cult and the housewife who was stabbed fourteen times in her Knotty Ash home by a killer who struck under the cover of a fog• The unsolved case of the superintendent and his son who died of gunshot wounds under mysterious circumstances - in a police station• The enigmatic murder of Julia Wallace - and a very credible solution• The only assassination of a British prime minister - by a Liverpool businessman Plus many more fascinating murder cases.This fascinating book is a must for all readers of true crime in general and Liverpudlians and Merseysiders in particular.

Unsolved Australia


Justine Ford - 2015
    Along the way you'll meet the 'Unsolved Squad' - the humble heroes and dedicated experts involved in collecting and connecting clues. Unsolved Australia is a chilling, thrilling and inspiring book full of drama, emotion... and hope.

Kingpin: Prisoner of the War on Drugs


Richard Stratton - 2017
    Gulag America tells the story of the eight years that followed, through two federal trials and the underworld of the federal prison system, at a time when it was undergoing unprecedented expansion due to the War on Drugs. Stratton was shipped by bus from LA's notorious Glass House to jails and prisons across the country, a softening process known as diesel therapy. Resisting pressure to falsely implicate his friend and mentor, Norman Mailer, he was convicted in his second trial under the kingpin statute and sentenced to twenty-five years without the possibility of parole.While doing time in prisons from Manhattan's Criminal Hilton to rural Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and New York, he witnessed brutality as well as camaraderie, rampant trafficking of contraband, and crimes by both guards and convicts. He first learned the lessons of survival. Then he learned to prevail, becoming a jailhouse lawyer and winning the reversal of his kingpin sentence and eventual release.Gulag America includes cameos by Norman Mailer and Muhammad Ali, and an account of the author's friendship with mafia don Joe Stassi, a legendary hitman from the early days of the mob who knew gangsters Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Abe Zwillman and has insights into the killing of Dutch Schultz and the Kennedy assassinationGulag America is the second volume in Richard Stratton's trilogy, Remembrance of the War on Plants.

Outlaw Biker: My Life At Full Throttle


Richard "Deadeye" Hayes - 2008
    This is a man who stole a machine gun before he was seven and lost his left eye when a good friend shot him in the face. As a member-and then president-of the infamous Los Valientes Motorcycle Club, he broke more laws and had more fun that any six of the coolest guys you know. One of the last true Outlaw Bikers, Deadeye knows what it means to be a man, take shit from no one, and have tattoos that actually say something. Riding, drug dealing, and sending men to the hospital with his bare hands, Deadeye made himself a legend among bikers- all the while making sure his daughters never got mixed up with guys like him. In his own words, Deadeye tells it all. From earning his colors with an outlaw motorcycle club to his steady diet of drugs, sex, violence, and crime, this is his story: true to life, yet larger than life, and full throttle all the way.

Court in the Middle


Andrew Fraser - 2007
    Then it all went horribly wrong. In 1999 he was charged with being knowingly concerned with the importation of a commercial quantity of cocaine. Fraser pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing, trafficking a small quantity, and using cocaine over a period of time. He was sentenced to seven years in maximum security prison. Court in the Middle describes his early years—growing up in a family of lawyers, running hard to build a criminal law practice; his successful years with a national practice, and defending high profile, sometimes notorious, clients. He also discusses his relationship with cocaine, addiction and deals, crime and punishment, and the shocking details of his time spent in a maximum security prison.

Miami Beach Missing


Chase Waters - 2019
    They’ve just hung out their shingle when a disturbing case falls in their laps. Three young women have been kidnapped and are being brutally tortured live on webcams from somewhere in Miami Beach. While Austin initially shirks the idea of investigating, believing the police are in the best position to solve the case, it soon becomes apparent there is more going on than meets the eye. A conspiracy in the police department and false leads drive Austin and Maria deep into the disturbing world of the dark web. And when one of the girls is murdered live on camera, Austin must determine how far he’s willing to go to seek justice.

Everybody's Best Friend: The True Story of a Marriage That Ended In Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library)


Ken Englade - 1999
    With no sign of a break-in, no history of marital problems, and the naïve belief that these things sometimes just happen, Stefanie Rabinowitz's family prepared to bury the 29-year-old wife and mother. But at the eleventh hour, because Stefanie was so young, and because there were no witnesses to her death, an autopsy was ordered. And what it revealed was unthinkable: Stefanie had been murdered-strangled in her home, then dragged into the tub to stage a fake drowning. Even more shocking was the suspected killer-Stefanie's 34-year-old husband, Craig: devoted family man, loyal husband, and "everybody's best friend."When the astounding truth began to emerge, so did the tawdry double life of Craig Rabinowitz, a man so obsessed with a two-thousand-dollar-a-week exotic dancer, that his habit caused him to look to the insurance money he would get from murdering his wife. Now, with exclusive interviews and startling inside details, bestselling author Ken Englade blows wide open the shocking true account of a storybook marriage that ended in bone-chilling murder.

No One Is Perfect: The True Story Of Candace Mossler And America's Strangest Murder Trial


Ron Smith - 2018
    Simpson case, America was fascinated by another "trial of the century". Jacques Mossler, a prominent financier, was brutally murdered in his Key Biscayne apartment. Suspicion quickly fell upon Melvin Lane Powers, the shady nephew of Mossler's wife, Candace. When investigators discovered that "Candy and Mel" were carrying on an incestuous love affair, the pair were charged with the crime. The Miami trial featured the legendary defense attorney, Percy Foreman, whose outrageous tactics created a number of memorable moments. A colorful parade of prosecution witnesses shared tales of recruiting hit men, and the unusual relationship between the glamorous aunt and her nephew. "No One Is Perfect" is a thoroughly researched account of the landmark trial and the life of its chic blonde defendant.

Murder, Lies, and Cover-Ups: Who Killed Marilyn Monroe, JFK, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and Princess Diana?


David Gardner - 2018
    We all famously recall where we were and what we were doing when JFK was assassinated, as well as the moments Elvis, Princess Diana, and Michael Jackson died. As for Marilyn Monroe, the candle flickered out long ago, but only now can the truth be told about how—and why—she died. After combing through thousands of recently declassified FBI files and interviewing key witnesses, crime analysts, and forensic experts during years of research, investigative writer David Gardner has unearthed new information that will transform the way we look at these iconic tragedies that have long fascinated and intrigued the general public. Legends: Murder, Lies, and Cover-Ups reveals that Elvis Presley died not as a self-obsessed caricature but as a genuine hero who may have signed his death warrant going undercover for the FBI; how Marilyn Monroe's secret affairs with JFK and his brother, Robert, left her in the crosshairs of a lethal conspiracy; why Princess Diana's death was no accident; who ordered President John F. Kennedy's assassination; and how on three occasions Michael Jackson “died” of painkiller drug overdoses in the months before his death. In the wake of new evidence and testimonies, Legends: Murder, Lies, and Cover-Ups provides many of the answers that have been elusive for so long, while explaining what it was about these enduring legends that made their legacies burn so bright.