Book picks similar to
Beyond Belief: Abused By His Priest. Betrayed By His Church. The Story Of The Boy Who Sued The Pope by Colm O'Gorman
non-fiction
biographies
religion
irish-lit-2
Not Without My Sister: The True Story of Three Girls Violated and Betrayed by Those They Trusted
Kristina Jones - 2007
It reveals three lives, separate but entwined, that have experienced unspeakable horror, unrelenting loyalty and unforgettable courage.From as early as three years old, Juliana, Celeste and Kristina were treated as sexual beings by their 'guardians' in the infamous religious cult known as the Children of God. They were made to watch and mimic orgies, received love letters and sexual advances from men old enough to be their grandfather, and were forced into abusive relationships. They were denied access to formal schooling, had to wander the streets begging for money, and were mercilessly beaten for 'crimes' as unpredictable as reading an encyclopaedia.Finally, unable to live with the guilt of what had happened to her children, their mother escaped with Kristina, cutting herself off from her remaining children in a bid to save at least one child. Desperate to save her sisters, Kristina eventually returned to the place of her torture to free Celeste. Years later, Juliana found the courage to escape, knowing that the child she was carrying would be subjected to the same fate if she did not.Now the three sisters have finally come together to reveal in full and horrific detail their existence within the Children of God cult. Their stories reveal a community spread throughout the world and its legacy of anorexia, depression, drug abuse, suicide and even murder. Lives are ripped apart and painstakingly mended with a shared strength that finally enabled the sisters to free themselves from the shadows of their past.
For the Love of Scott!
Jo Hamilton - 2011
She taught her family how to read Scott’s medical chart and to ask pointed questions, no longer leaving his care to the medical professionals who had overdosed him with drugs to the very brink of death in less than three days.“Jo, you have to tell people what they’ve done to me. You have to tell them!”pleaded her little brother, as he lay writhing in agony.In “For the Love of Scott!”, the author recollects her family’s poignant story of love, bewilderment, and lingering frustration when faced with catastrophic medical mistakes. Read the experiences of Scott Hamilton’s family members as they struggle through a storm of horrific medical errors that could have been prevented and recognize what you need to do when someone you love is faced with life-threatening circumstances created by health experts.It took Jo 27 years to put this heartbreaking event down on paper. Writing opened old wounds and required hours of research and documentation. It forced her family to relive a chapter in their own lives that they desperately wanted closed. Yet, they rallied together to help Jo with her mission to keep that promise.To help further her goals, Jo Hamilton will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her book, to the 1984 Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Scott Hamilton's foundation, The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative. The Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative was created to help with cancer research, support cancer patients and their families, and find a cure cancer.
Every Breath You Take: A True Story of Obsession, Revenge, and Murder
Ann Rule - 2000
Although happily ensconced in a loving second marriage, and a new family of quadruplets, Sheila never truly escaped the vicious enslavement of her ex-husband, multi-millionaire Allen Blackthorne, a handsome charmer— and a violent, controlling sociopath who subjected Sheila to unthinkable abuse in their marriage, and terrorized her for a decade after their divorce. When Sheila was slain in her home, in the presence of her four toddlers, authorities raced to link the crime to Blackthorne, the man who vowed to monitor Sheila's every move in his obsessive quest for power and revenge.
Firearms and Fatals: An Autobiography of 30 years Front Line Policing Exposed
Harry Tangye - 2020
Hidden Soldier
Padraig O'Keeffe - 2007
He served with the Legion in Cambodia and Bosnia, then returned to civilian life, but military habits would not allow him to settle.His need for intense excitement and extreme danger drove him back to the lifestyle he knew and loved, and using his Legion training, he became a ?hidden soldierOCO by opting for security missions in Iraq and Haiti.In Iraq he was the sole survivor of an ambush in no manOCOs land between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, the most dangerous place on earth.An intense, exciting and vivid account of extraordinary and sometimes horrific events, "Hidden Soldier" lifts the veil on the dark and shadowy world of security contractors and what the situation is really like in Iraq as well as other trouble spots.This bestseller also includes photographs taken by Padraig OOCOKeeffe while he was a Legionnaire and when he was in Iraq."
Like Father Like Son
Robert Scott - 2002
When T.J. reached dating age, he pimped his girlfriends to his dad and watched while they had sex. But it wasn't enough. Soria, Sr.'s fantasies turned increasingly violent, culminating in an obsession with cutting and torturing young females while sexually assaulting them.On March 19, 2000, in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, T.J., 19, lured 9-year-old Krystal Steadman into the family apartment. 40-year-old Soria, Sr. brutally raped the girl, then stabbed her to death. He wasn't worried -- he knew T.J. would get rid of the body for him.The Sorias finally turned against each other during Nevada's first father and son death penalty case. The detailed courtroom evidence and testimony shocked even hardened law enforcement veterans and wrote a new chapter in the deviant psychopathology of lust-murderers. Soria, Sr. committed suicide in prison, cheating the executioner and leaving T.J. to spend the rest of his life behind bars without parole.
My Brother's Keeper: The Official Bra Boys Story
Sean Doherty - 2009
Ringed by a jail, a sewerage works, a rifle range and a housing commission estate, it was where the streets of Sydney met the beach. It was a place where the local boys surfed hard and partied harder. It was also a place where trouble easily found you. Adopted by Maroubra Beach at a young age, the four Abberton brothers, all born to different fathers and a mother in the clutches of heroin addiction, grew up at a time when the area was shadowed by drugs and gang violence. Raised largely by their grandmother, Sunny, Jai, Koby and Dakota found solace in the surf, and solidarity with their mates, the Bra Boys.The official biography of the Abberton brothers follows their story from a turbulent upbringing on the sands of Maroubra to international surf stardom, and the fateful events of 5 August 2003, when Jai shot dead Maroubra underworld figure and childhood friend Tony Hines, only to be acquitted on the grounds of self-defence. The Official Bra Boys Story: My Brothers Keeper is raw, gritty, from the heart ... and everything you won′t read about in the newspapers.
In Cold Blood: Discovering Chris Watts - Part One - The Facts
Netta Newbound - 2020
He then went on to dispose of their tiny bodies into huge tanks filled with toxic crude oil.Nico Lee Watts, Chris and Shanann’s unborn son.No doubt, most of you watched the story unfold on the news, open-mouthed, in total shock. What could push a loving father to brutally murder his family? Surely there was some mistake? We all have preconceived ideas of how a monster should look–grotesque, hideously deformed, a crazed madman–not this handsome, mild-mannered, shy, polite gent who was often portrayed as the perfect husband and father.So, what happened?During this series we will look at the facts, the police investigation, the evidence, hear Chris Watts’ explanation and his reasoning. We will try to make some sense of what occurred during the early hours of August 13th 2018.We will endeavour to present to you all aspects of the case, right from the initial investigation and how it unfolded, to the first and subsequent confessions all transcribed word for word (where possible) from actual video and audio footage obtained from the FBI’s Discovery Files.
Savile: The Beast: The Inside Story of the Greatest Scandal in TV History
John McShane - 2013
But on October 3rd, 2012, ITV broadcast an investigation into Savile's behavior called Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile. In it they revealed the true, predatory, and evil man behind the popular TV persona. In the documentary, several women alleged he sexually abused them when they were underage. This sparked a flurry of allegations in the following days and weeks from other alleged victims. So far police have been called to investigate reports of abuse on young children from as long ago as 1959 and anticipate the number of victims to be in the region of 300. But how Savile was allowed to get away with such monstrous crimes for so long has been the subject of immense debate and has led to the investigations of several British institutions. The BBC has been criticized and is hosting an internal investigation into how Savile's behavior was never called into question and how abuse allegations during his long career at the corporation failed to be flagged. An investigation is also underway into the canceling of a Newsnight program in 2011. The Department of Health has also said it will investigate its own conduct in appointing Savile to lead a "taskforce" overseeing the management of high security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor in 1998. Abuse is also alleged to have taken place at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary, where Savile volunteered. This is a well researched and informative look at how a predatory pedophile was allowed to go unnoticed for so long and to breach a nation's trust is such a cruel and evil way
Nobody Will Believe You: A Story of Unbreakable Courage
Mary Manning - 2015
I was completely isolated. He made sure of that.’ Mary was ten years old when she first met her stepfather, Sean McDarby. From the very beginning he seemed to pay her special attention; his praise and compliments quickly won her trust. Then he started touching her in ways she didn’t like. When she was twelve, he raped her. The next twenty years were filled with harrowing abuse as McDarby continued to rape Mary, leading to the birth of five of her children. Finally, after years of abuse – years when justice was denied at every turn – Mary found the strength and courage to break free. Against the odds she created a safe place for her children and reclaimed her life. This is Mary’s inspirational story of courage and survival.
Precious Angels: A True Story of Two Slain Children and a Mother Convicted of Murder
Barbara Davis - 1999
But the subsequent investigation revealed a darker truth -- the murder of two innocent children by their own mother. Through meticulous research and exclusive sources, "Precious Angels" presents the complete story of this shocking crime.
Stay With Me, Rhys: The heartbreaking story of Rhys Jones, by his mother. As seen on ITV’s new documentary Police Tapes
Mel Jones - 2018
‘Please stay with me. I love you.’
There was still no expression in his eyes. I was talking and talking to him, desperate to let him know I was there, but there was no flicker in his face. In hindsight, it was like he’d already gone.
It's a Wednesday evening in Liverpool in the summer holidays, and Melanie is expecting her Everton-mad eleven-year-old son back from football practice very soon. She turns on Coronation Street and sets about stripping the wallpaper off the walls in the lounge, which is long-overdue a makeover. Suddenly she receives a frantic knock at the door. Rhys has been shot on his way home.From that fateful day when Melanie cradled her child as he lay dying, repeating to him ‘Stay with Me, Rhys’, to the day in court when his killers were finally sent down, this is a story of a family in trauma, of a community united behind them and of how a notorious local gang who terrorised the neighbourhood was brought to justice.In 2017, more than 7 million people watched the drama unfold in the highly-acclaimed ITV series Little Boy Blue. And now Melanie Jones tells the family's unbelievable story for the first time.Melanie, her husband Steve and Rhys’s brother Owen have been through unimaginable pain. The grief doesn’t go away, but the strength they’ve found within it is an inspiration.
Che Guevara: A Biography
Richard L. Harris - 2010
Che Guevara: A Biography provides a balanced and engaging introduction to the famous revolutionary leader. Based on original research, the biography reveals how Che's early life prepared him for leadership in the Cuban Revolution. It also explores his revolutionary activities in Africa and Bolivia, as well as the circumstances surrounding his tragic death on October 9, 1967.More than just a record of events, the book cogently examines Che's contributions to the theory and tactics of guerrilla warfare, his ideas about imperialism and socialism, and his enduring political legacy. It includes original information on the 1997 discovery of the hidden remains of his body and on the celebration of his life and ideals by the socialist regime in Cuba. And it looks at the reasons why leftist political leaders, movements, and governments in Latin America and the Caribbean still pay homage to this charismatic man.
No, Pete Townshend: The Kids Aren't Alright 3
Les Macdonald - 2019
The final chapter has us answering a question by looking at three cases of very young juveniles conspiring to commit murder. The 17 chapters include: Aaron Campbell, Daniel Petric, Devin Moore, Roderick Farrell, Nicholas Browning, Kenneth Bartley, David Brom, Catherine & Curtis Jones, Will Cornick, Jesse Pomeroy, Clementine Barnabet, Sandy Charles, Shirley Wolf and Cindy Collier, Sheldry Topp, Robert Tulloch & James Parker, Kim Edwards & Lucas Markham, and Morgan Geyser & Anissa Weier. The bonus chapter is on John Miller. The book ends with a new feature that we are rolling out. It is called Ripped from the Headlines. With each new book in the series, we will be looking at a few cases that we ordinarily might pass on because a murder was not committed. These are short chapters where the cases (at least in this book) are still ongoing.
Inside Parkhurst: Stories of a Prison Officer
David Berridge - 2021
Riots. Cell fires. Medical emergencies. Understaffed wings. Suicides. Hooch. Weapons. It's all in a week's work at HMP Parkhurst.David Berridge has spent 28 years working as a prison officer, with 22 years at Parkhurst. A tough character with a big personality and a dark sense of humour, David has had to deal with it all - serial killers and gangsters, terrorists and sex offenders, psychopaths and addicts. Inside Parkhurst is his raw, uncompromising look at what really went on behind the massive walls and menacing gates of one of Britain's highest security prisons.David has been assaulted and abused, he has tackled cell fires and attempted suicides, riots and dirty protests; he has foiled escaped plans, talked inmates down from rooftop protests, witnessed prisoners setting fire to themselves, and prisoners ruthlessly murdering other prisoners. With this book he takes us inside this secret world for the first time. Thrown in at the deep end, David quickly had to work out how to deal with the most cunning and volatile of prisoners, and how to avoid their scams - and he's been doing this for nearly three decades. Reggie Kray, Gary Glitter, Robert Maudsley, Peter Sutcliffe, Ian Brady and several senior IRA leaders were among David's most high-profile charges.With this raw, searingly honest account, he guides us around the wings, the segregation unit, the hospital and the exercise yard, and gives vivid portraits of the drug taking, the hooch making, the constant and irrepressible violence, and the extraordinary lengths our prison officers go to everyday. Divided into three parts - the first from David's early years on the wings, the second the middle of his career, and the third his disillusioned later years - David will use an episodic format to take readers to the heart of life inside and shine a light on the escalating violence, the lack of support for officers and the impact the government cuts are really having on the wings.Both horrifying and hilarious, David's book will shock, entertain and inspire in equal measure.