Book picks similar to
She Won't Be Silenced: A True Story by Lisa Freeman


biographies-and-memoirs
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true-crime

Doctor Satan: A Despicable True Story of Hope, Exploitation, Greed and Murder (Ryan Green's True Crime)


Ryan Green - 2021
    Inside the house, they were confronted with a scene from a nightmare.The thick black smoke was rising from a series of wood-burning stoves throughout the property that were stocked with human remains. In the basement, they discovered a furnace with larger body parts and a pit filled with quicklime and decay. There were suitcases full of the deceased’s belongings, and in the other rooms, they came upon something like a factory line of bodies. This was not mere murder – it was methodical processing of corpses.The homeowner was Dr. Marcel Petiot, an admired and charismatic physician. When questioned, Dr. Petiot claimed that he was a part of the Resistance and the bodies they discovered belonged to Nazi collaborators that he killed for the cause. The French Police, resentful of Nazi occupation and confused by a rational alternative, allowed him to leave.Was the respected Doctor a clandestine hero fighting for national liberty or a deviant using dire domestic circumstances to his advantage? One thing is for certain, the Police and the Nazis both wanted to get their hands on Dr. Marcel Petiot to find out the truth.Doctor Satan is a chilling account of Dr. Marcel Petiot and one of the most disturbing true crime stories in French history. Ryan Green’s riveting narrative draws the reader into the real-live horror experienced by the victims and has all the elements of a classic thriller.CAUTION: This book contains descriptive accounts of torture, abuse and violence. If you are especially sensitive to this material, it might be advisable not to read any further.

A Family Business: A Chilling Tale of Greed as One Family Commits Unspeakable Crimes Against the Dead


Ken Englade - 1992
    An unsettling look at the Sconce family from the acclaimed true crime author of Deadly Lessons.   For sixty years, families in Southern California trusted the Sconce Family Funeral Home with their loved ones’ remains. That trust was betrayed in an extraordinary, horrifying fashion, as it was discovered that the family, seeing an opportunity, had been stealing gold fillings and harvesting the organs of the newly deceased, hiding the evidence by burning the bodies in their crematorium.   When the shocking acts came to light, a trial brought every gruesome detail to the forefront, and Ken Englade has—with even-handed, clear-eyed reporting—chronicled every chilling detail.

Allen Iverson: Fear no One


John N. Smallwood Jr. - 2001
    But he had The Plan: his never-say-die dream to become an NBA superstar. So he began his journey down a road full of obstacles. But the world underestimated Allen Iverson....Fear No OneFrom his first days playing college hoops...to his turbulent early years in the pros...to his leading the Philadelphia 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals and being named league MVP, here is the real story of controversial superstar Allen Iverson. Acclaimed sports journalist John Smallwood -- who has covered Iverson extensively -- shows readers the Iverson they never knew: the boy, the man, the rapper, the player, the role model, and the icon.Get to know ALLEN IVERSON...the man behind the legend.

Destiny of choice: Based on a true story


Mary Jordan - 2014
     The award-winning author Mary Jordan writes literacy narratives and articles since the early 1980s. Literature is her great love and she easily and with joy writes. Her narratives have been published since the 1990s. In 1994 she won a literature competition and her narratives were published in ‘High Club Magazine’. The idea for the novel “Destiny of choice” was born suddenly, when in her home a young girl found a home, who had experienced the horror of child flesh trade. Her confession and need of protection woke up in the author the will to tell this pathetic story and thus to express her empathy in her own way to stand against the global problem of human trafficking with women and children. The book has been published and found wide response. With it the author gained popularity. Ionna is a young girl with a restless soul. As a result of the physical violence she experienced at home, she ran away from her parents. Life outside is freedom, but it is filled with dangers and surprises. Will this beautiful young girl survive unharmed after the countless underwater reefs of the criminal world? Will she find love? Will she grow up? Will be emerge victorious in the harsh struggle for survival? She probably will, as long as she unerringly follows the path of her lucky star. Mary Jordan goes further in her own fight with the flesh trade. She has decided to donate 50 per cent of the royalties to diverse organisations, whose aim is the liquidation of the human trafficking. As a further goal, in front of her remains the creation of a foundation for child protection-victims of abuse. For her, basic care for the society now and forever has to remain as the protection of the child, the small and vulnerable, but so important for the future of the human race.

The Tsars


Alexander Ivanov - 2018
    Here, historian Alexander Ivanov reveals their fears and betrayals, privilege and debauchery, conspiracies and rivalries, love and tragedy as they forged Russia into one of the world's greatest empires. No ruler in history has embodied the oppressive domination of these rulers more vividly than Alexander Ivanov's opening subject, Tsar Ivan IV, the first of all the Russian tsars, known to history as Ivan the Terrible. Although a gifted ruler who did much to unite and improve the conditions in his primitive country, Ivan was also a notorious sadist who delighted in torturing and murdering anyone who displeased him. Ivan's death in 1584 ushered in the Time of Troubles, thirty-five years of famine, plague, and war that crippled the nation. A series of rulers attempted to cope with the devastation, beginning with Ivan's successor Boris Godunov. Finally, grasping for stability, Russia's nobles begged young Michael Romanov, the great-nephew of Ivan's beloved wife Anastasia, to take the throne. Michael successfully united the war-torn and ravaged nation and founded a dynasty that would rule for 300 years. The Romanov line produced Russia's most brilliant yet most unconventional sovereign: Peter the Great, a towering figure of a man whose restless, creative mind led him on an inexorable quest to modernize and civilize the still backward nation. The reforms he enacted so enraged nobles and peasants alike that Peter had to quash a series of rebellions to keep his crown. Ruthlessly stifling dissent and massacring rebels, he ultimately cowed the Russian people into submission, achieving a legacy that nearly equaled his ambitions. It was left to a woman - and a foreigner, at that - to lead the nation further out of the darkness. German princess Sophie Friederike Auguste of Anhalt-Zerbst, known to the world as Catherine the Great, absorbed the principles of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment and applied them to a country built on the backs of millions of serfs. However ineffective some of her policies, in the end, she made Russia a major player on the European stage. Serfdom was finally abolished in the nineteenth century, but it would be decades before Russian peasants could own land of their own and learn to farm it productively. The boyars and tsars clung to power until the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. The sad fate of the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family, marked the end of the absolute power that Ivan the Terrible had so exploited. The abuses would continue but under a new and drastically different form of government.

The Assassination of JFK - Who Really Did It And Why


Craig Newman - 2013
     So what's different about this book, "The Assassination of JFK - Who Really Did It And Why"? Written by a lawyer, it cuts through all the misinformation surrounding the Kennedy assassination and focuses only on the evidence available. Something the Warren Commission strangely failed to do. It also reveals how the assassination went wrong and why the subsequent cover-up was so important for the perpetrators. This is something that almost all other studies into the John F Kennedy assassination overlook. And it takes us back to the early days of the Kennedy family business empire, in the 1920s, and throws light on aspects ignored by other Kennedy assassination investigators. Such as the activities and boundless ambition of Joe Kennedy, the family patriarch and father of the president. Talking of boundless ambition, how did Johnson, JFK's Vice-President, feel at the 1960 Democratic Party Convention, when JFK won the nomination in the first round? Why did he accept the comparatively menial post of Vice-President under Kennedy? Especially when throughout much of the preceding Eisenhower administration he had been more senior in rank to JFK as Senate Majority Leader? And at 52 years of age he wasn't getting any younger. Did he know something even then? Since 1978 the official version of the Kennedy assassination acknowledges that it took place "probably as the result of a conspiracy". So there WAS a Kennedy conspiracy! Who, then, were the conspirators and why did they plan and carry out this murder? Who benefited? How did US policy towards certain foreign countries change after November 1963? What happened with domestic and financial policy? The clues are there. Craig Newman takes us behind the scenes for a glimpse of who really makes the decisions, and who has the power to murder the President of the United States and then order an "investigation" that covers up their crimes? This is one book that no-one remotely interested in the JFK Assassination Conspiracy should be without. This Second Edition contains some new material, including an additional Appendix on the Warren Whitewash/Report.

Prime Suspect: The True Story of John Cannan, the Only Man the Police Want to Investigate for the Murder of Suzy Lamplugh


Christopher Berry-Dee - 1992
    After Cannan's conviction, the Lamplugh case was closed. Yet to this day, Cannan denies his involvement in the Lamplugh case and protests his innocence in the murder of Shirley Banks—his appeal has been dismissed. Drawing on the latest psychological profiling knowledge developed in America by the FBI and, most importantly, an intense three-year correspondence with Cannan, this book provides a chillingly personal and comprehensive portrait of a complex and intelligent man.

Deadly Hero: The High Society Murder that Created Hysteria in the Heartland


Jason Lucky Morrow - 2015
    Two days later, the son of one of the most powerful men in the state walked into the sheriff's office with his lawyer and surrendered. The killer's name, and who his father was, would shock the entire nation and make news around the world. In a convoluted story, the mentally unstable genius claimed he killed in self-defense and to protect wealthy debutante Virginia Wilcox-the object of his unrequited love. But prosecutors claimed their star prisoner was actually the mastermind of a diabolical plot in which he would emerge as the hero, win Virginia's heart, and gain acceptance into the Wilcox family by her mega-rich father. Tulsa's high-society murder scandalized the Oil Capitol of the World when the investigation churned up unsubstantiated reports of rich kids wildly out of control. Looking out over their Christian, conservative city, adults imagined sex-mad teens driving dangerously over their streets to get to hole-in-the-wall gambling joints and breast-bouncing dance parties where they would plan big crimes-all while high on marijuana and drunk on 3.2 beer. A tornado of rumors and gossip tore through town, stirring up mass hysteria and igniting a moral crusade to save the souls of Tulsa's youth. When a key witness was found dead in his car under similar circumstances, it only confirmed their worst fears. In a notable year for famous criminals, this case from the Oklahoma heartland received nationwide coverage each step of the way. This true story is not a "whodunit," but rather, a "will he get away with it?" The answer to that question is still up for debate after the killer did something only the bravest of men would ever do.

A Vulgar Display of Power: Courage and Carnage at the Alrosa Villa


Chris Armold - 2007
    evil. Heavy Metal guitarist, Dimebag Darrell Abbott, was attacked and murdered on stage, December 8th, 2004 at the Alrosa Villa Nightclub. Erin Halk, Jeff Thompson and Nathan Bray each lost their lives trying to help Dimebag and others from the attack of an armed madman. While Dimebag is certainly a part of the story contained within the book, the focus is squarely on the background of Halk, Bray & Thompson, in addition to the killer, his motives and the actual incident at the venue. "A Vulgar Display Of Power: Courage And Carnage At The Alrosa Villa" is a deep, moving story which does an amazing job of honoring the memories Jeff, Nate, Erin, and Darrell. Of the victims who lost their lives, Nathan Bray is the only person who is survived by a wife and child. MJS Music Publications is contributing proceeds from every copy sold to a college fund set up for his son, Anthony. Music History/True Crime/Biography 352 pages, 240+ pictures.

Learning to Love Amy: The foster carer who saved a mother and a daughter (HarperTrue Life - A Short Read)


Mia Marconi - 2014
    She came to foster carer Mia Marconi’s house when she was three; she’d already been in care for five months by then. But her mum Amy didn’t get on with her carer and threatened to kill her so India was moved.But no matter how inadequate parents are, children in care love them and want the world to love them too.Amy had had a hard life: she was one of seven siblings, all of who had been abused and ended up in care. She was an alcoholic and she phoned all times of day and night threatening suicide.When India finally settled in Mia’s happy household, Mia embarked on amazing journey to help Amy too.

Dixie's Last Stand: Was It Murder or Self-Defense?


John Ferak - 2015
    Then one summer day in 2002, Dixie’s mean and wicked husband was gone. Some of the local residents presumed that Scott packed his bags and left town. But others were skeptical. After all, Scott’s brown Ford pick-up truck was still parked in his driveway. The disappearance mystified Defiance for more than a year. Then in late October, 2003, the truth emerged … or did it?

The Murder of Sheree


Wayne B. Miller - 1996
    At its heart, it's a powerful and compelling account of how one of the most infamous and shocking murders in Australian history came to happen - and how justice came to be done. But it's also a forensic examination of how the crime would shatter the lives of dozens of people, some of whom had never met six-year-old Sheree Beasley. Wayne Miller's newspaper reporting on the case earned him a Walkley Award for excellence in journalism. With The Murder of Sheree he went much deeper, his enduring relationship with those most deeply affected by the murder revealing just how much devastation such a crime can cause. Miller's writing is as clear, passionate and compelling as ever, and The Murder of Sheree remains one of the finest books of its kind ever published in Australia. Brad Newsome, Fairfax Media

Seduced by Evil: The True Story of a Gorgeous Stripper-Turned-Suburban-Mom, Her Secret Past, and a Ruthless Murder


Michael Fleeman - 2011
    Three of them were convinced she was engaged to them. Then one spring morning in 1996, one man, Kent Leppink, was found in the snow, shot in the head…Days before his death, Kent had removed Mechele's name from his million-dollar life insurance policy. He wrote a letter to his family stating that, should he meet foul play, Mechele would likely be among those involved. But she wasn't charged with Kent's death. She married a doctor, moved to Olympia, Washington, and began a new life.For years, Mechele's suburban friends never suspected a thing. She went to school meetings, hosted backyard barbeques, and was beloved by her neighbors. But authorities eventually found enough evidence to mount a case against her and an alleged accomplice. Did Mechele conspire to kill her ex-fiancé? Or is she the innocent victim as she claims? Seduced by Evil is the shocking true story about a love triangle that ended in mystery—and murder…

Fatal Sunset: Deadly Vacations


Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff - 2012
    Over 170 people have disappeared from cruise ships around the world since 1995, several under very suspicious circumstances. Others have their lives senselessly stolen, like the 8-year-old boy sucked into an unprotected pool drain at a major resort, leaving his mother crying out his name as security staff held her at gunpoint. Or 22-year old Nolan Webster, denied proper medical care after being pulled unconscious from a Cancun resort pool, only to have his dead body left in plain view for hours and his parents billed for his room.Vacations are meant to be joyous and fun. Sometimes terrible things happen unexpectedly. A parasailing newlywed plummets hundreds of feet to her death on the last day of her honeymoon when her harness snaps in midair. Hikers make a fatal plunge on an improperly-marked Kauai cliffside trail. And of course, there's every mother's nightmare: the disappearance of Natalee Holloway while on a high-school graduation trip to Aruba with members of her senior class.

When Nashville Bled: The untold stories of serial killer Paul Dennis Reid


Judith A. Yates - 2014
    In the Spring of 1997, a serial killer held Nashville, Tennessee in an icy grip of terror. In February, he murdered two employees at a Captain D's restaurant. In March, he struck a McDonalds just miles away, killing three people and maiming one. In April, he kidnapped and slaughtered two Baskin-Robbins employees.They called him "The Fast Food Killer" but his real name is Paul Dennis Reid, Jr. When he was caught and sentenced to seven death sentences, yet a new chapter began in the saga of one of the most heinous serial killers in our time, and the people whose lives he cut short. The victims were reduced to being called "the victims of Paul Reid." Until now. Here, for the first time, and with the approval of the family and friends, are the stories of those innocent, young people whose lives were ended far too soon. It is also the story of how a crime ripped a city apart.