Book picks similar to
"Why" by Marie Beech


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Stolen Angels: The Kidnapped Girls of Uganda


Kathy Cook - 2007
    The girls were raped and tortured before being forced to become child soldiers and sex slaves.This was only one out of thousands of child kidnappings by merciless madman and rebel leader Joseph Kony. But for the battered civilians terrorized by rebel warfare and neglected by corrupt government, this was the breaking point. Something had to be done�the world needed to know and their girls needed to be brought home.Kathy Cook�s one-on-one interviews with the surviving girls and their mothers make their fear, frustration, and suffering overwhelmingly real. With exceptional insight gained from on-location research, Cook gives us an authoritative account of how concerned parents, interfaith groups, politicians from Canada and the United States, and NGOs banded together in a struggle to rescue the girls and to mobilize a people, their country, and a global community.An emotionally charged retelling of a heartbreaking true story, Stolen Angels reminds us of the importance of faith, strength, and determination in the face of adversity.

Mobsters, Madams Murder in Steubenville, Ohio: The Story of Little Chicago


Susan M. Guy - 2014
    The white slave trade was rampant, and along with all the vice crimes, murders became a weekly occurrence. Law enforcement seemed to turn a blind eye, and cries of political corruption were heard in the state capital. This scenario replayed itself over and over again during the past century as mobsters and madams ruled and murders plagued the city and county at an alarming rate.

The Last Gangster: My Final Confession


Charlie Richardson - 2013
    Boss of the Richardson Gang and rival of the Krays, to cross him would result in brutal repercussions. Famously arrested on the day England won the World Cup in 1966, his trial heard he allegedly used iron bars, bolt cutters and electric shocks on his enemies.The Last Gangster is Richardson’s frank account of his largely untold life story, finished just before his death in September 2012. He shares the truth behind the rumours and tells of his feuds with the Krays for supremacy, undercover missions involving politicians, many lost years banged up in prison and reveals shocking secrets about royalty, phone hacking, bent coppers and the infamous black box.Straight up, shocking and downright gripping, this is the ultimate exposé on this legendary gangster and his extraordinary life.

We Will Always Have Summer


Jenny Han
    

Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen


Stephen Wade - 2009
    Britain has always been a land of gallows, and every town had its hanging post and local 'turn off man.' First these men were criminals doing the work to save their own necks, and then later they were specialists in the trade of judicial killing. From the late Victorian period, the public hangman became a professional, and in the twentieth century the mechanics of hanging were streamlined as the executioners became adept at their craft. Britain's Most Notorious Hangmen tells the stories of the men who worked with their deadly skills at Tyburn tree or at the scaffolds in the prison yards across the country. Most were steeled to do the work by drink, and many suffered deeply from their despised profession. Here the reader will find the tale of the real Jack Ketch, the cases of neck-stretchers from the drunks like Curry and Askern, to the local workers of the ropes, Throttler Smith and the celebrated Billington and Pierrepoint dynasty. Along with some of the stories of famous killers such as William Palmer and James Bloomfield Rush, here are the bunglings, failures and desperate lives of the notorious hangmen, some who could entertain the vast crowds enjoying the show, and others who always faced the task as a terrible ordeal.

The Sophie Lancaster Story


Catherine Smyth - 2016
    The beatings and subsequent murder made international news. This book was written by an investigative journalist who became extremely close to the families of the victims. WITH PHOTOS

Death Comes to Happy Valley: Penn State and the Tragic Legacy of Joe Paterno


Jonathan Mahler - 2012
    The winningest coach ever in college football, crafter of The Grand Experiment that put honor and academics above all else, finished his days under the dark cloud of shame and unspeakable child abuse. How? Why? What mix of fandom, ego, and unfettered power brought Penn State and its beloved coach to this? Just days after Paterno’s death comes this insightful look at the rise of Penn State under the 46-year reign of the man affectionately known as Joe Pa. Acclaimed writer Jonathan Mahler, author of the bestseller "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning", has been immersed in reporting the Paterno saga since the scandal broke last fall. His penetrating narrative traces the arc of Paterno’s career from dogged Ivy League quarterback to visionary coach to unassailable icon. Over the years, as his fame and reputation grew, Happy Valley (as State College, Pennsylvania, was often called) morphed into the realm of Paterno; the chant “We Are Penn State” could just as easily have been “We Are Coach Paterno.” It was perhaps inevitable that what Mahler calls “a slow rot” began to pervade Joe Pa’s football program, culminating with the horrific scandal that rocked Penn State and forever altered the Paterno story. "As it all unraveled," Mahler writes, "he seemed to resemble less his hero Aeneas, building a new nation—Penn State Nation—in Happy Valley, than King Lear, clinging stubbornly to the throne when he no longer had the judgment required to remain in it, then succumbing to the grief and anguish that accompanied the collapse of everything he had so painstakingly built."Mahler’s admiring yet honest assessment shows what can happen when a school, and an entire community, falls under a cult of personality. Part eulogy, part post-mortem, part wise appraisal, "Death Comes to Happy Valley" is a thoughtful farewell to the larger-than-life man who was, in fact, merely mortal.***"An elegant book with a perfect ratio of reportage, biography and criticism. It gently pulls Joe Pa off the pedestal upon which he has long stood." — Dwight Garner, The New York Times***Jonathan Mahler is a contributing writer to the "New York Times Magazine" and the author of the bestselling "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City" (the basis for the ESPN mini-series “The Bronx Is Burning”) and "The Challenge: How a Maverick Navy Officer and a Young Law Professor Risked Their Careers to Defend the Constitution—and Won."

Avery’s Knot


Mary Cable - 1981
    Avery was tried for the murder of a twenty-nine-year-old mill worker, Sarah Marie Cornell. It was the first time a clergyman had ever been tried for murder in the United States and the first time an American murder trial became headline news. From this factual base, Mary Cable weaves a chilling novel of gothic desires and conflicting classes. She creates a rich atmosphere to show New England as it was then - simple, puritanical, superstitious, and unsentimental - on the brink of emerging from the eighteenth century into an industrial and far-more-complicated age. This dramatic, compelling story is as much about a time and place as it is about a notorious murder trial. A work of poetic intensity, Avery’s Knot is finally a classic, tragic tale of a woman caught between passion and puritanism.

Killer Children: Horrifying True Stories of Kids Who Kill (Killer Kids Book 1)


Danielle Tyning - 2020
    Names like Bundy, Gacy, and Gein come to mind, alongside the many other murderous people out there who've gained notoriety because of their evil. When you're envisioning the unthinkable and heinous acts that are carried out in this world, it's unlikely you imagine a youngster as being a perpetrator of evil.Killer children, although rare, do exist. The thought alone is terrifying; we see children as being vulnerable and pure, which makes it harder to comprehend them wanting to inflict pain and suffering on another being. The correlation of a child and unthinkable acts of murder is undeniably tricky to compute.The children in this book carried out acts of savage murder - even just typing that sentence feels wrong. Some of these murders are sexually motivated; some are carried out for revenge; others are part of an occult ritual. Regardless of the motivation for these children to commit unspeakable acts of cruelty, they are all disturbing.This book was written to give you some food for thought, to allow you to digest some of the heinous crimes committed by youngsters and consider why they'd carry out such horrific acts. This book will open up a world of questions, many of which I've likely pondered upon myself. While I do offer up my own opinion throughout this book, I do need to (as much as possible) stick to the facts to let you make your own mind up.With that in mind, let's delve into some of the despicably horrific murders that were carried out by children.

Ministry of Crime: An Underworld Explored


Mandy Wiener - 2018
    It features new revelations about high-profile, unsolved hits and the intricate relationships between known criminals and police officers at all levels. It delves into the current power struggle between opposing factions in Cape Town's security industry and the suspected involvement of state operatives in the bloody standoff.Wiener has gained exclusive access to and on-the-record interviews with key underworld characters and police generals accused of colluding with criminals. These have helped her track the parallel narrative of the capture of law-enforcement agencies and unravel how players with inexplicable political backing have been able to pillage secret slush funds and abuse organs of state for their own benefit.Against this backdrop, prominent underworld figures - Radovan Krejcir key among them - have been able to thrive, setting up elaborate networks with the assistance of police. While crime is flourishing, the top echelons of the police and prosecution have been at war with themselves.The proximity of politics, law enforcement and organised crime over the past decade is frighteningly intertwined. The story of the rise and reign of the Ministry of Crime winds its way from the depths of the underworld, via multiple mysterious unsolved murders, to senior politicians and the very top ranks of the country's police force.

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.

Murder Above the Silver Waves


Blythe Baker - 2021
    

Life and Death in Assisted Living


A.C. Thompson - 2013
    What she and her family got was an introduction to what many think is the country’s next great health crisis.

The Hidden Power of Dandelions


Dianna Dorisi Winget - 2019
    authentic characters and real emotions pull the reader into this unforgettable story."--Miriam Franklin, author of Extraordinary Twelve year old Rylee has always based her self worth on the fact that her dad's a highly respected fireman. So what happens when her best friend takes part in a reckless prank that leaves her dad paralyzed, effectively destroying his firefighting career? It's easy for Rylee to place the blame squarely on her best friend's shoulders, but nearly impossible to admit her own role in the accident. Can she ever find a way to make it up to her dad--to restore not only his, but her own happiness and self worth? Or is it one of those mistakes that's simply too big to fix? From the author of the William Allen White winner A Million Ways Home, comes this powerful and inspiring tale of family, forgiveness, and accepting a new normal. For fans of Katherine Applegate, Lynda Mullaly Hunt and Dusti Bowling. "Highly recommend The Hidden Power of Dandelions for grades 5 and up."--Collabookation

Brothers Ink Tattoo Complete Box Set: Books 1-4


Nicole James - 2019
    Get ALL FOUR of the Brothers Ink Tattoo Series in one complete box set! JAMESON Jameson O'Rourke owns the primo tattoo shop in town, one he's worked hard to build. And in his industry, he's the current 'it' boy, the reigning King of Ink. His career is on fire, so hot television has even come calling. And as a result, the town bad-boy has now become the town's favored son. Ava Hightower needs his face on her flyers, if she is to have any hope of her charity gala and bachelor auction being a success. Unfortunately, they get along like oil and water. He's a hardheaded, controlling jerk, and she's already had one run-in with the man. Asking him, of all people, for help is the last thing she wants to do. Not exactly a match made in heaven. Jameson doesn't think too highly of Miss Hightower, either. To him, she's just an uptight, stuck-up know-it-all; a little Miss Goody-two-shoes. Not in a million years was she the type that he'd have anything to do with. Unfortunately she is also on the city council, and therefore has the ability to screw with his business. He needed her help once before, and she shot him down. Now the tables are turned, and she needs his help. Well, my, my, sweetheart, karma can be a cold-hearted bitch. So they cut a deal. One he has no intention of ever having to fulfill, because he plans to make it impossible for her to keep her end of it. She thought she could outlast him. Guess again, sweet thing. She may be a stubborn woman, but she's met her match. And he has no intention of letting her win this game. Be warned, sweetheart, because the King of Ink has plans to push your limits in ways you've never imagined. MAXWELL Malee was sheltered all her life, Until the day she walked into Brothers Ink Lucky for her… he’s waiting. She’s naïve and wary. But that’s okay… Maxwell O’Rourke is a patient man. Some things are worth waiting for. He’s nothing Malee ever thought she’d want, but everything she needs. He makes her feel beautiful and worthy, even as he makes her burn with desire. When an overprotective father with deep-rooted family traditions tries to come between them, she’ll have to make some hard choices. And she’ll have to be ready to face the consequences. Just how far is Maxwell willing to go for the girl who owns his heart? LIAM When tattoo artist, Liam O’Rourke, meets a hot new ink model promoting a sexy calendar at an LA tattoo convention, sparks fly. Liam admires Velvet like every red-blooded man in the convention center. The way she moves, her sexy pinup look and a body to die for; what man wouldn’t want that? She seems so strong and confident. But it’s the look in her eyes when she meets his that has him lightheaded. They hold a vulnerability that defy the sexy pose and call out to him. That look awakens a fierceness in him that has him wanting to protect her. She’s the beauty to his beast, and he can’t forget her. After an incredible night together, she vanishes, leaving him with nothing but questions, only to reappear in the last place he expects to find her. She’s gorgeous and irresistible, but she’s also hiding something from him. Liam must decide if she’s worth the risk if he’s going to save her from her past or lose her forever.'