Book picks similar to
Boomtown Da by Carol S. Vance


autobiographies
five-stars
true-crime

Happy Land - A Lover's Revenge: The nightclub fire that shocked a nation


OJ Modjeska - 2020
    

Cass


Cass Pennant - 2000
    One of the hardest men in Britain, he lives his life on the edge of the law, giving respect where respect is due and dishing out terrible retribution upon anyone who dares to cross him. In this stunning autobiography he tells the amazing stories of how he once saved the life of World Boxing Champion Frank Bruno when skinheads were attacking him with knives; and how he was shot three times in the chest in a South London nightclub but still kept on fighting. A true legend in his own lifetime.

A Deal With the Devil: Discovering Chris Watts: - Part Two - The Facts


Netta Newbound - 2020
    

Young Offender


Michael Maisey - 2019
    . . a story of redemption' Tony ParsonsMichael Maisey was excited the day he was locked up in the notorious Feltham Young Offenders Institute. He was going to be a legend to all his mates. The sixteen year old was in for attempted murder. He was innocent of this particular crime but amongst the violent and dangerous young men on his wing he was about to learn exactly how far he’d go to survive.In Young Offender we see what turned a good kid into a wanted criminal. Abused by his uncle, bullied at school, at the age of twelve he found the safety he craved in the ranks of a local gang in West London. He graduated from shoplifting to armed robbery and for five years Michael was in and out of Feltham, on a downward spiral of crime and drug and alcohol addiction. At rock bottom, he began attending AA meetings. But the road to recovery would mean changing himself in the deepest possible ways. Could Michael finally learn what it meant to be a good man?Honest and inspiring, this is a powerful story of redemption. Today Michael is a successful businessman and a loving father who spends time helping others find their way.

Till Death Do Us Part: The true story of misguided love, marriage, death and deception.


Siobhan Gaffney - 2005
    Little did they know that underneath his cool exterior lay a twisted desire to kill.Behind the facade of normality lay a psychopathic mind struggling to control its homicidal urges. Having seduced and married his sweetheart Mary Gough, Whelan immediately began planning her brutal murder.While his young wife dreamed of a love-filled marriage, Whelan searched the internet for information on serial killers and the methods they used to strangle their victims.Compelling and disturbing, this book reveals how Whelan murdered his wife to claim a hefty life insurance policy, and how he faked his own suicide when he became the prime suspect for the murder.Till Death Do Us Part offers a fascinating insight into the true motivation behind one of Irelands most notorious murders, and is a horrifying story of love, lust, revenge and murder - all the more shocking because every word is true.

Tia Sharp - The True Story


Kate Smith Adams - 2019
    So began a desperate search for this precious child - conducted at the apex of the London Olympics by hundreds of police officers and volunteers. The disappearance of Tia Sharp was a tale of police blunders, misplaced trust, community spirit, and sadness. It was a case which shocked the nation and reminded us that, sometimes, the real monsters hide in plain sight.

Killing Love


Rebecca Poulson - 2015
     On the day of Rebecca Poulson’s 33rd birthday, her father, niece and nephew were murdered. The murderer had been part of her family; her brother-in-law, Neung, the father of the children. Killing Love is Rebecca’s journey through homicide; grief, the police investigations, the media interest, the court cases, the moments of great despair – and the healing. It is a story of individual tragedy and a family’s strength, but it is also a story of a community’s attitude to family violence. As a reluctant warrior for those who cannot speak for themselves, Rebecca talked to the NSW State Premier and politicians, on multiple TV shows and to print journalists in the hope that the mistakes made by the police force, DOCS, the legal system and solicitors will never be made again. Rebecca’s contact with policy makers has been nothing short of history-making, and her story has directly influenced domestic violence laws in the state. Neung left a note for Rebecca’s family; he hoped that he would destroy them. This is the story of how he didn’t.

Shadow of My Father


John Gotti - 2015
    But now in "Shadow of My Father," the real story of the King of the Volcano is revealed for the first time. John A. Gotti, who survived four trials and a parole violation hearing, in four years, without a guilty verdict, now takes up his pen to tell the story of his father’s unwavering dedication to the street, and how, as his son, he entered that life, and then, with his father’s permission, left the life of crime, and put the “Family” behind him to live a legitimate life with his real family. It is a saga of betrayal and redemption, and an insider’s view of how, at times, those who are tasked with upholding the law readily broke it to further their careers.

The Doctor, the Hitman, and the Motorcycle Gang: The True Story of One of New Jersey's Most Notorious Murder for Hire Plots


Annie McCormick - 2020
    

A Shore Thing


Scotty T - 2016
    Long before starring in the show, Scotty was living life to the fullest and getting up to all sorts. In this hilarious page turner, Scotty T will not only let slip scandalous secrets from Geordie Shore, Ex on the Beach and Celebrity Big Brother, but will open up about his antics when the cameras stop rolling.   But it's not all sex, fights and getting mortal! Scotty also reveals a surprisingly softer side and opens up about living with ADHD, coping with the breakdown of his parents’ marriage and picking up the pieces after the loss of a loved one. The rascal also reflects on the lasses who have tried and failed to tame his heart and introduces us to the love of his life who has been living in the shadows all this time.    And if all that wasn't enough, Scotty explains why he loves maths so much, what it was like to join the Neighbours cast, plus finally admits what he really thinks about his castmates, why he was nearly kicked off the show by producers and what life has in store for him after Geordie Shore.

A Reason for Living - A Story that Shocked the World!


Billy Casper - 2012
    It's about a child living like and often acting like a wild animal, fighting for survival, on and under the streets of England. This story may be of interest to other survivors of childhood abuse and cruelty and should be of interest to anyone with children or anyone who cares for them. It contains some powerful lessons relating to child protection and should be of an educational value to child care professionals.

Katie Price: Harvey and Me


Katie Price - 2021
    

The Murder of Dr Muldoon: A Suspect Priest, A Widow's Fight for Justice


Ken Boyle - 2019
    Three local women notice the couple's suspicious behaviour and apprehend them. The two are handed over to the police, charged and sent for trial. A month later, a young doctor is shot dead on the streets of Mohill, Co. Leitrim. The two incidents are connected, but how? In the days following the shooting of Dr Paddy Muldoon, the name of a local priest was linked to the killing and  rumours abounded of a connection to the events in Dublin a month earlier and also that an IRA gang had been recruited to carry out the murder. However, despite an investigation at the time, the murder remained unsolved for almost 100 years. Now, newly discovered archive material from a range of sources, including the Muldoon family, has made it possible to piece together the circumstances surrounding the doctor's death, and reveals how far senior figures in the Church, State and IRA were willing to go to cover up a scandal.

DOUBT: The Madeleine McCann Mystery (Gone Girl Book 1)


Nick van der Leek - 2017
    We also know the original lead investigator, Goncalo Amaral’s, counter-narrative, now a legally defensible matter of public record. The questions that arise from these opposing narratives are dead simple: Which narrative is more credible? Which narrator is more credible? What was the motive behind all the publicity? Neither Madeleine nor her abductor ultimately benefited from the ongoing media barrage, so who did? True crime maestro, Nick van der Leek, plumbs quagmires of confusion and a thicket of thorny inconsistencies to probe what lies beneath: the psychologies. What is the significance of "doctors" as suspects? Did it matter or mean anything that the McCanns and their cabal of friends in the Algarve were mostly doctors? Peeling away the gossamer threads, over the course of just four days [April 29th – May 2nd], van der Leek intuits that very little was routine: not the weather, not where meals were eaten, not where or when they slept and not what they did as a family. But what were their routines when it came to other, murkier things, like sleeping patterns, cell phones and sedatives? Drawing intangibles out of the darkness, van der Leek sews the vexing loose ends from several conflicting stories into a definite - if not definitive - end-result.

Fatal Prescription: A Doctor without Remorse


John Griffiths - 1995
    a remarkable story—Leeza Gibbons, NBC-TV • Grippingly told ... a wonderful, powerful book—David Berner, Radio CKNW Vancouver • Reads with the pace of a taut thriller—George Henderson, Gloucestershire Citizen • Mesmerizing—Bob Stall, Vancouver Province. Now revised and updated. The amazing, true story of how medical authorities allow a family doctor to continue practising even after he begins living with a 15-year-old patient—and allegedly has sex with another girl in exchange for giving drugs to her father. The notorious doctor still carries on as before and a third patient complains about infamous conduct—until he silences her by putting out a contract for murder.