Book picks similar to
East Coast Murders: Mysteries, Crimes and Scandals by Allison Finnamore
true-crime
jenns
library-books
Mosquito Point Road: Monroe County Murder & Mayhem
Michael Benson - 2020
There’s Killer of the Cloth, The Baby in the Convent, Mosquito Point Road, Death of a First Baseman, The Blue Gardenia, and Pure/Evil. Three of the killers are female.
A Stranger Killed Katy: The True Story of Katherine Hawelka, Her Murder on a New York Campus, and How Her Family Fought Back
William D. LaRue - 2021
On the dimly lit path beside the university's ice hockey arena, a stranger emerged from the darkness. The brutal sexual assault and strangulation that followed rocked the campus and the local community to its core.When Katy was declared brain-dead three days later, her family's nightmare had only just begun.Terry Connelly soon learned details about her daughter's death that would make her blood boil. From the bungling campus guards who could have stopped the murder, to mistakes by others that allowed the killer to wander the streets committing violence, Katy's mother became certain of one thing: The criminal justice system only meant justice for the criminals.A STRANGER KILLED KATY is the true story of a life cut tragically short, and of the fight by a grieving mother and others more than 30 years later to ensure that a killer would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Black Hands: Inside the Bain Family Murders
Martin Van Beynen - 2020
One lay dead from a single bullet to the head. The other was the only survivor: David Bain. Since then, the country has asked: Who killed the Bain family? David, or his father Robin? And why?Award-winning journalist Martin van Beynen has covered the Bain story closely for decades. His 2017 Stuff podcast, Black Hands - based on the manuscript for this book - topped the charts in New Zealand and around the world and has been downloaded more than 5 million times. Now, his book brings the story completely up to date: exploring the case from start to finish, picking through evidence old and new, plumbing the mysteries and motives, interviewing never-before-spoken-to witnesses andguiding readers through the complex police investigation and court cases, seeking to finally answer the question: Who was the killer?Black Hands is a riveting read from the first word to the last, by a skilled writer who knows his subject inside out.“If anyone can pass judgement it can only be those who sat through the whole trial.” - David Bain in New Idea
The Life: A True Story About A Brooklyn Boy Seduced Into The Dark World Of The Mafia
Larry Mazza - 2016
young Larry later learns she is married to the vicious gangster Greg Scarpa known as "The Grim Reaper." Greg takes a liking to Larry and makes him his protegé. He likes him so much that he gives his blessing for the affair to continue and brings Larry deep into the "family."
Tunnel Vision
N.P. Simpson - 2017
Simpson and edited by New York Times bestseller and True Crime legend, Jerry Bledsoe, Tunnel Vision is a chilling tale of triple murder like no other. A horrific crime that shook the largest Marine base in America quickly becomes much more than meets the eye in this meticulously researched account from N.P. Simpson. A family’s life is in shambles when a mother and two children are found brutally murdered in their home. To make matters worse, the prime suspect is their own relative. Fifteen-year-old Butch Smith was a troubled teen. Despite being kicked out of school for his aggressive behavior, his family was fiercely loyal to him. During visits home while attending a camp for troubled boys, Butch lived a fairly normal life with his mother and two siblings in their duplex at Camp Lejeune. After returning home from a rare trip to New York with his aunt and cousins in tow, tragedy struck this unsuspecting family. In the dark of the night, his aunt, cousin and one of Butch's siblings were found savagely slain. When clashing confessions point to Butch as a suspect, his life is changed forever. From its portrayal of one young man’s harrowing past, to the shocking murder that shook the North Carolina Supreme Court, Tunnel Vision is true crime reporting at its most gripping.
Sole Survivor: The Inspiring True Story of Coming Face to Face with the Infamous Railroad Killer
Holly K. Dunn - 2017
On August 28, 1997, just as she was starting her junior year at the University of Kentucky, Holly Dunn and her boyfriend, Chris Maier, were walking along railroad tracks on their way home from a party when they were attacked by notorious serial killer Angel Maturino Reséndiz, aka The Railroad Killer. After her boyfriend is beaten to death in front of her, Holly is stabbed, raped, and left for dead. In this memoir of survival and healing from a horrific true crime, Holly recounts how she lived through the vicious assault, helped bring her assailant to justice, and ultimately found meaning and purpose through service to victims of sexual assault and other violent crimes. She has worked as a motivational speaker and activist and founded Holly's House, a safe and nurturing space in her hometown of Evansville, Indiana.
The Murders of Christopher Watts
Cheryln Cadle - 2020
Cheryln Cadle contacted him and started visiting him in prison. Christopher started writing her letters from his prison cell in Wisconsin. These letters had his confessions of things he had never told anyone else. Now she shares the letters and the truth about what happened that fateful night in Frederick Colorado to Shanann, Nico, Bella and Celeste Watts at the hands of their father. Was he just a monster or was it truly his girlfriend that he wanted to start a life with the reason he was willing to kill his family?
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.
Murder in Grosse Pointe Park: Privilege, Adultery, and the Killing of Jane Bashara
Steve Miller - 2015
When Joe turned himself in, he told the cops everything— including how he was hired for a hit by Jane’s husband. His payment: $2,000 and a used Cadillac.Born into one of Michigan’s elite families, Bob was sweeping out the back alley of a property he owned when his wife was being killed. He made sure the bartenders at the Hard Luck Lounge saw him there at the time of her murder. He’d often brought girlfriends by the same bar, and for the last year had been seen with one Rachel Gillett—riding around town in her convertible, even showing up at BDSM events in the suburbs of Detroit. .When Joe Gentz confessed, his 67 IQ and barfly reputation made him less than credible. Bob successfully denied any part in his wife’s murder. But he couldn’t deny his attempt to have Joe killed in prison.INCLUDES PHOTOS
Baby You're Worthy: Marcus & Nikki
Shantaé - 2017
But what do you do when the object of your affection refuses to love and want you the same way you want them? Not because they don’t feel the same but because in their eyes you don’t quite measure up? Even after you’ve done everything in your power to prove your worth to this person, they continue to purposely withhold the love that you so desperately crave. Walking away may seem like the most logical and healthy route to take but when it comes to that authentic, consuming, deep down in your soul type of love, doing so is easier said than done. Considered an unlikely pair, Marcus, the reformed dope boy and Nikki, the pampered princess, have undeniable chemistry. Problems arise when only one of them is willing to be honest and acknowledge the obvious attraction. Because she doesn’t feel that he fits into her world or the plan she has mapped out for her life, Nikki curves Marcus without hesitation from their first encounter. Unable to see past her fears, she doesn’t realize that rejecting him just may cost her the man she was meant to spend her life with. With the street life in his rearview, Marcus is now a proud uncle and the owner of a thriving business. He’s hoping to add the title of being the man in Nikki‘s life to the growing list of blessings in this new chapter but she’s not on board with that plan. Although he’s fed up with trying to convince her that he is enough, does Marcus have it in him to throw in the towel for good? Ride shotgun with Marcus, Nikki, and a few other couples, as they navigate through this crazy, drama filled game of life and love.
What Happened to Mary Faye Hunter?: A Novel Based on a True Story
Brad Golson Glenda Yarbrough - 2019
Daddy Knows Best: A Raw, Uncut True Story
Matt Gable - 2011
Thereafter, he was his worst enemy. A tough-as-nails father who firmly enforces his old-fashioned ways, a mother who has little or no say, and a son with a penchant for getting into misadventures. The boy tries to convince his parents that something is wrong with him, and he is really physically ill. He suffers three years of humiliation, agony, and punishment from the school and his father. The school principal, gave him swats, detention and isolation, where he spent all day locked up in an empty storage room. His emotionally unstable father spanked him ferociously. The boy was also whipped shirtless with his shorts on leaving him with welts all over his body from head to toe. He suffered other cruel punishments as well. The school and his parents misjudge him almost costing him his life. The parents get a divorce. The mother and brothers moved back to Wisconsin from Texas. They found themselves in an all-black housing project, being the only whites there for almost four years. He grows up quick and learns that life isn't as simple as black and white. When he turns 18, he decides to move back to Texas to seek vengeance from his father in a small country town with his father and his new mother. He hasn't seen or talked to his father in almost four years. Things fall apart fast. The young man and his younger brother end up out on the streets being homeless for two months and encounters unpredictable adventures. A raw, uncut true story.
Sold in Secret: A mother’s desperate search to find the men who trafficked and killed her daughter
Karen Downes - 2018
Because I would never, ever know peace again.' Charlene Downes was 14 when she went missing in Blackpool's seedy underbelly. Once a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl, she had become a truant - hanging out with the wrong crowd by the takeaway shops and pier. But Charlene's mum, Karen, always knew her typical teenage daughter would come home.Until one day she didn't.Karen has been searching for 15 years, campaigning for the truth of what happened to her daughter. To this day, Karen and her family have no body, no convictions and no answers. Arrests were made and a murder trial took place, but no one has ever been brought to justice.On the 15th anniversary of Charlene's disappearance, Karen shares this heartbreaking account of every parent's worst nightmare.
The Real Top Boys: The True Story of London's Deadliest Street Gangs
Wensley Clarkson - 2020
Dear Daddy: The child abuse true story that will break your heart (Child Abuse True Stories)
Emily Summers - 2015
They captivate us with their forbidden mystery and promises of excitement. Yet once inside us, they become toxic; compelling us to infect others, who in turn want nothing more than to be bitten. It's a vicious cycle that ensures nothing remains secret forever. The only way to protect yourself from their destructive energies is to simply turn the other way when offered one. To resist the lure of the forbidden fruit. But sometimes, something just happens to you - or you just happen to witness something - that forces one upon you; like an uninvited guest that arrives without warning, and leaves only under great duress. Unfortunately, I have been burdened by such a secret for over twenty years. You see, my childhood was stolen from me in broad daylight, right under my nose, by a cunning thief who dazzled me with his charms, only to run away with my innocence forever. It was the perfect crime, and at the time I was the perfect victim. But thankfully, I was able to pick up the pieces of my life and gradually go on to live quite normally. In fact, I even forgot all about my childhood trauma. Or so I thought. Because it was during a recent chance encounter with my old teenage diary that I realized my demons had never truly left me. They had only been lurking in the shadows all along as I busied myself with other things. I suppose I learned the hard way that a secret kept in darkness only grows in potency. But there is one way to diffuse a secret. To take away all of its power. And that is to make it public. For no vampire can survive in the cold light of day. So it is at the behest of my wonderfully supportive husband that I have decided to lay bare the ghosts of my childhood in this book, in the hope that in doing so, I'll finally be able to lay them to rest forever. It's been a long, hard journey for me to get to this point. And I thank you, dear reader, for playing your part in my recovery. Emily WARNING: This book is based upon a true story of child abuse, and as such contains passages that some readers may find disturbing.