Book picks similar to
Hacksaw by Edward R. Jones


biography
crime
crime-mystery-thriller
deane-s-good-reads

Old Habits


John Carson - 2019
    Women were being abducted and murdered, then their corpses were displayed in open shallow graves. Marshall's FBI partner, Jessie Kent, was taken. During the hunt for her, Marshall tracked the killer down, but he was shot five times and left for dead. Less than an hour later, the killer took his own life. None of the remaining victims were ever found. Until now. A female detective comes down to Marshall's home town to ask for his help. Somebody has found the decomposed victims and is displaying them. Despite no longer being with the FBI, Marshall sees this as a chance to find Jessie, and take her home for a proper burial. And to lay to rest the feelings of guilt he's been carrying for the past four years. He agrees to go back with Dani Fox, but it's soon clear somebody doesn't want him back in town. He's warned off, but he ignores it. Then the killings start. Somebody has just accelerated the game from displaying corpses to adding new victims. And this time, he's making it personal...

The Three Mike Cramer Novels: The Chinaman, The Long Shot, The Double Tap


Stephen Leather - 2013
    Three page-turning action thrillers from Stephen Leather: THE CHINAMAN, THE DOUBLE TAP and THE LONG SHOT.

The Sweetest Thing


Susan Sallis - 2010
    But a strange encounter with a beautiful blond boy on the beach leads to a terrible tragedy, the consequences of which are to affect Connie and William for the rest of their lives.

A Need to Kill: The True-Crime Account of John Joubert, Nebraska's Most Notorious Serial Child Killer


Mark Pettit - 1990
    Now, dramatic and chilling new evidence comes to light exposing the sinister thoughts running through the mind of John Joubert--the man behind the Nebraska killings. Former TV news anchorman, investigative reporter and three time Emmy winner Mark Pettit returns to the case to write the final chapter in his best-selling, and now newly updated book: A Need to Kill: The True-Crime Account of John Joubert, Nebraska’s Most Notorious Serial Child Killer. In the spirit of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood,” Pettit delves into the Joubert case to tell the dramatic story from all angles as a non-fiction novel. In a series of exclusive, face-to-face interviews with Pettit, Joubert admits to a string of violent crimes and another killing that sends investigators into a frenzy ending with Joubert being convicted for a third murder and ultimately executed in Nebraska’s electric chair. Now, 30 years after the murders in Nebraska, Pettit uncovers shocking new evidence from Joubert’s prison records that proves the killer was fantasizing about committing more violent crimes. Never-before-seen death row drawings made by Joubert while he waited to be executed once again send a chill through Nebraska and those touched by Joubert’s horrific crimes. In the updated version of his book, Pettit opens his investigative files to the public and for the first time, shares handwritten letters Joubert wrote to the journalist while in prison. Pettit also reveals aspects of Joubert’s personality gleaned during the exclusive interviews and details from the death row discussions that have never been shared publicly.

The Black Donnellys: The Outrageous Tale of Canada's Deadliest Feud


Nate Hendley - 2004
    A knee to the groin, a thumb to an eye, all was fair as long as a Donnelly prevailed." "Hit first, talk later," she told her boys. This book will be especially fascinating for all readers interested in: crime biography. The gruesome saga of the Black Donnellys has been heavily mythologized. A thick layer of rumour, legend, and hearsay has built up around the facts of the case. But one thing is clear. No one who reads this book will ever forget the murderous events that occurred near the town of Lucan, Ontario in the 1870s.

Banquet of Consequences: A Juror's Plight: The Carnation Murders Trial of Michele Anderson


Paul Sanders - 2017
     Unbeknownst to them, their daughter was armed with a loaded 9 mm pistol and McEnroe was carrying a .357 Magnum. Both parents were callously shot dead by the pair and their bodies hidden from view. Two and a half hours later, Michele’s brother Scott, his wife Erica and their two children, Olivia (5) and Nathan (3), arrived at the house. Within the hour, they too had been pitilessly slain, in an act of violence that was breath-taking in its scope and cruelty. With his highly-anticipated third book, Paul Sanders takes the reader inside every day of the trial of Michele Anderson with his customary attention to detail, from December 2015 until March 2016. And in a unique digression from his other works, Sanders includes something he has never done before. An interview with one of the killers, Joseph McEnroe, at Walla Walla Penitentiary. Banquet of Consequences is the first of two books on what came to be known as the Carnation murders. Were the killings a premeditated act, or had the defendants acted in self defense? And what of the deaths of Olivia and Nathan? Who shot them and why? It would not be an easy task for a jury to decide. Look for Book Two: The Carnation Murders, “Beyond The Pale: Rogue Juror – The Joseph McEnroe Death Penalty Trial.” Available Christmas Eve, 2017. Reader reviews for Paul Sanders: “Move over Ann Rule and Shanna Hogan and make way for America’s newest crime writer!” “Paul Sanders is now among my favorite authors. Both of his books had me right there!” “The reader is taken into a world few of us who have ever received a jury summons will ever experience.”

Stoked!: An inspiring story about courage, determination and the power of dreams


Chris Bertish - 2015
    That same year, he finished third on the Big Wave World Tour, despite only surfing three of the five events. Chris’s mantra is Dream it, See it, Believe it, Achieve it. With his infectious enthusiasm, Chris tells how he pulled off death-defying antics, time and again, overcame overwhelming obstacles and manoeuvred around the many random twists of fate to achieve his goals and fulfil his dreams.

Million Dollar Agent: Brokering the Dream


Josh Flagg - 2011
    Within the first four years of his career, Josh participated in several record sales, including the highest sale in the history of Brentwood Park and the highest sales on the exclusive Roxbury, Foothill and Monovale Drives, making him one of Los Angeles' hottest agents. Flagg has participated in sales up to $25,000,000."The best thing I have seen Josh do, was wrap an entire house in a big red bow before delivering the keys to the new owners. He is very creative, and that is why he is so successful."In Josh s mind, there are no limitations. Josh is also one of the stars of BRAVO TVs, Million Dollar Listing, returning for its fourth season February 2011. In his new book, Million Dollar Agent: Brokering the Dream, Josh writes about having travelled to more than fifty countries, his years growing up in one of the most famous cities in the world (Beverly Hills) and how to develop a successful career in high-end real estate."My funniest experience so far was when I fell into the pool of a client s house in the middle of a showing, clothes, jewelry and all! Well I couldn t let that slow me down, so I put on the owners robe, threw on some slippers and continued the showing. The buyers sent me a pair of swim-trunks when we closed escrow." -- Josh Flagg

Booky Wook Collection


Russell Brand - 2014
    The bloke can write. He rhapsodizes about heroin better than anyone since Jim Carroll. With the flick of his enviable pen, he can summarize childhood thus: ‘My very first utterance in life was not a single word, but a sentence. It was, ‘Don’t do that.’... Russell Brand has a compelling story." — New York Times Book ReviewThe gleeful and candid New York Times bestselling autobiography of addiction, recovery, and rise to fame from Russell Brand, star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and one of the biggest personalities in comedy today.Picking up where he left off in My Booky Wook, movie star and comedian Russell Brand details his rapid climb to fame and fortune in a shockingly candid, resolutely funny, and unbelievably electrifying tell-all: Booky Wook 2. Brand’s performances in Arthur, Get Him to the Greek, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall have earned him a place in fans’ hearts; now, with a drop of Chelsea Handler’s Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, a dash of Tommy Lee’s Dirt, and a spoonful of Nikki Sixx’s The Heroin Diaries, Brand goes all the way—exposing the mad genius behind the audacious comic we all know (or think we know) and love (or at least, lust).

Manny Pacquiao: A Biography


Gary Andrew Poole - 2010
    But few could have imagined that Pacquiao would have ever reached the pinnacle of his sport, considering his background. He ran away from home—a cardboard shack in General Santos City in the Philippines—at age fourteen. After making his way to Manila, and eventually the United States, Pacquiao hooked up with trainer Freddie Roach in 2001, and, from there, his fighting career took off.Named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” last year, the aptly nicknamed Pac-Man is a fascinating figure who will go down as one of the greatest boxers in history.

Flash of Silver: ...the Leap That Changed My World


Graham Kerr - 2015
    It contains a powerful remedy for indifference in just one word...resilience!Resilience has begun to outstrip 'sustainability' as the action to be taken to preserve many species, including our own.Graham Kerr, as the 'Galloping Gourmet' was referred to, during his international TV series, as the 'High Priest of Hedonism'. He had learned how to eat, cook and profit from some of the finest and richest foods in the world and he used those gifts with enormous enthusiasm and good humor.Suddenly everything changed as an accident severed his success with one blow.Searching for a return to resilience for himself and his family he began an ocean sailing adventure that took them 24,000 miles in 2 years.Then follows one of the most observed U turns ever made by one man. The Kerr's went from a conspicuous gourmet lifestyle to that of a small family living their lives beyond immediate self-interest and they did this in plain sight!Graham uses the literary practice of the 'extended metaphor' to enquire how habits are both formed and relinquished. He does this by comparing his life with that of a wild pacific Chinook salmon. Using poetic license, imagination and good science he asks his readers to hear from the salmon...direct and to see how both man and fish have somewhat similar rites of passage.They are swept 'downstream' where they face continuous discovery, some of which are difficult, some joyful...even hilarious.Upon reaching the salt waters they encounter the challenge of an almost limitless 'ocean of opportunity' where they must eat or be eaten, always driven by immediate self-interest and the need to survive.Finally they turn away from conspicuous consumption and begin to go 'upstream on purpose', this time motivated not just to survive as individuals, but also as a species...It's a wild ride as the scent of their natal river begins to provide direction for their way back home, where it all began.Kerr is not an angry activist, as he puts it."I have a story to tell and it's personal. I have made a series of very obvious leaps over some major obstacles, not unlike the salmon. Their flashes of silver are, for me, a splendid example of the resilience that is ours for the asking."Flash of Silver is supported by an extensive web site that includes an interactive 'REFLECTIVE READERS CLUB' at www.grahamkerr.com/RRC

Undercover


Joe Carter - 2016
    A must-read for fans of Donnie Brasco. For over 20 years Joe Carter has worked for the police as an undercover cop. He travelled the globe on different passports. He fraternised with thieves, international drugs and arms dealers. He worked alongside the most dangerous criminals. Always fearing that this life would come crashing down around him at any point. His story is a gripping account of the secret, solitary work of an undercover officer and the many ‘sticky’ situations he found himself in, as well as the moving confession of the difficulty in reconciling his two identities with his family life. It’s a story of his beginnings from a being a young east end apprentice to the mean streets he walks today – it reveals the many highs and the painful lows of going undercover. This book explores the resilience needed to lead a double life, the thrilling challenge of working with the biggest criminals in Britain, and maintaining a sense of justice through the many adventures he encounters.

Lord High Executioner: The Legendary Mafia Boss Albert Anastasia


Frank DiMatteo - 2020
    legend who helped create the modern American Mafia—one body at a time—featuring shocking eyewitness accounts . . . Umberto “Albert” Anastasia was born in Italy at the turn of the century. Five decades later, he would be gunned down in a barber shop in New York City. What happened in the years in between-- and why every crime family had reason to want him dead-- is one of the most brutal and fascinating stories in the history of American organized crime. This in-depth account of the man who became one of the most powerful and homicidal crime bosses of the twentieth century from Mafia insider Frank Dimatteo is the first full-length book to chronicle Anastasia’s bloody rise from fresh-off-the-boat immigrant to founder of the notorious killer’s club Murder, Inc.—featuring never-before-told accounts from those who feared him most . . . They called him “The One Man Army.” “Mad Hatter.” “Lord High Executioner.” Albert Anastasia came to America mean and became a prolific killer. His merciless assassination of Mafia godfather Vincent Mangano is recounted here in chilling first-hand detail. He set the record: the first man in the history of American justice to be charged with four separate murders—and walk free after each one. But in the end, he was the last obstacle in rival Mafia hoodlum Vito Genovese’s dream of becoming the boss of bosses—and paid the ultimate price . . .

Slow Light (Eddie Flynn Book 4)


Michael Donovan - 2018
    EDDIE FLYNN NOVEL FROM MICHAEL DONOVAN Cheating husbands. P.I. Eddie Flynn doesn't judge. He just brings back the evidence for a fee and lets the client do the judging. Not that the present fee is much. Young mother Lisa Elland can barely afford the bargain basement charge for a quick check on her husband. But pay she will: even bad news is better than not knowing whether she still has a marriage. And for Flynn the job is a nice filler before he shuts up shop for Christmas. But there's a problem. You can't catch a guy cheating until you find him. And Ray Elland isn't findable. He's disappeared completely with just an overnight bag and a sleazy excuse. He's nowhere to be found. No-one has seen him or heard from him. It's like he doesn't exist. And Flynn's quick investigation has hit the rocks. Then complications arise. Flynn is being followed. He's being threatened. And Lisa has stopped answering her phone. The quick investigation has just turned into a nightmare... The fourth P.I. Eddie Flynn novel from award-winning crime author Michael Donovan. WHAT BOOK REVIEWERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE EDDIE FLYNN SERIES... "Masterful... If you haven't been introduced to Eddie Flynn yet, be prepared." RED CITY REVIEW "A chilling thriller crafted with a fluid narrative style ... wild nightmarish scenes..." BOOKPLEASURES "A wonderful debut novel in a hugely competitive market" CUCKOO REVIEWS" Good old fashioned detective work. A slick, dynamic mystery. "KIRKUS REVIEWS" [With] more competition than ever in the crime-writing genre, Donovan's novel is a real winner..." LYTHAM ST ANNES EXPRESS "Brilliantly absorbing. Escapism at its best." POSTCARD REVIEWS "Humour ... violent confrontations ... well recommended. "EUROCRIME" Short chapters ... a brilliant use of format ... the [book] will haunt your days and nights" CUCKOO REVIEWS "Great concise writing style... fast paced action ... Donovan makes you feel as though you are uncovering the truth." NEWBOOKSMAG

Narco Wars: The Gripping Story of How British Agents Infiltrated the Colombian Drug Cartels


Tom Chandler - 2018
    Pablo Escobar lay dead, the Cali Cartel had taken over much of the global supply, and an avalanche of coke was poised to hit Europe. Now the British government wanted Chandler and his team to do the impossible: infiltrate the most powerful crime syndicates on earth and stop their drug shipments. It was a perilous assignment. The cartel bosses operated like a lethal multi-national, with armies of hitmen and myriad spies in ports, airports, police stations and government offices. Their intelligence systems flushed out turncoats and traitors, and they ruthlessly exterminated their enemies. Yet Chandler, an HM Customs investigator fluent in Spanish, knew he could only succeed by recruiting local informants, and went out into the field to find them. Within four years he had a network of fifty agents buried deep inside the trafficking organisations. The result was unprecedented. Their intel led to the arrest of hundreds of narcos and to the seizure of 300 tonnes of drugs, worth a staggering $3 billion. Chandler's web disrupted the Bogotá mafia, who controlled the main airport and boasted they could put anything on a plane, from drugs to bombs; penetrated the go-fast crews who raced coke-laden speedboats to the transit station of Jamaica; dismantled the 'rip-on' teams who smuggled through the coastal ports; and identified the so-called motherships, the largest method of bulk transit ever discovered. He faced appalling risks. Treacherous stool pigeons worked for both sides, and some of his Colombian law-enforcement colleagues were abducted, tortured and killed. Chandler too faced a grave threat when the crime lords learned he was responsible for a string of interdictions. Yet he persisted, driven to continue with the greatest series of sustained seizures ever made, until he finally burned out and his tour of duty came to an end. Two of his best sources were subsequently murdered, and his bosses dropped the entire overseas informant programme, with dire consequences. Narco Wars is an unflinching story of danger fear and stress, and of the tradecraft and unsung heroism of the agents and their handlers.