Street Justice


Chuck Zito - 2002
    From Hells Angel to celebrity bodyguard. The revealing autobiography of an American man.Chuck Zito comes by his reputation honestly as one of the toughest, most uncompromising men ever to sit astride a Harley. Now, with tales both hilarious and chilling, violent and truthful, Zito tells his life story in his own words.From growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx, where fighting was a way of life, to becoming president of the New York chapter of the Hells Angels, to the wild and crazy life of protecting some of the world's biggest celebrities, Zito might be seen as a latter-day outlaw, the last of a dying breed of men. But throughout his tempestuous days, one thing defined him: his unfailing sense of justice, of what's really right and what's really wrong. That's how Zito found himself facing his biggest challenge: refusing to cooperate with a federal investigation into his brothers, the Hells Angels, and in the process losing the very thing he cherished most-his freedom.Zito's astonishing recovery from this experience, and the unique kind of stardom he forged based on hard work and sheer will, is a testament to his courage, his ambition, and his indomitable heart-a testament now recorded unflinchingly in Street Justice.

April: A mother and father's heart-breaking story of the daughter they loved and lost


Paul Jones - 2015
    The nation was shocked by her disappearance from the tiny Welsh village of Machynllech in October 2012. Her body was never fully recovered but paedophile Mark Bridger was convicted of her murder and abduction following a month-long trial in May 2013. In this gripping and harrowing book, April's heartbroken parents Coral and Paul speak at length about their beloved daughter and the search for her, their ordeal as they faced Bridger in court every day during the trial, and their ongoing fight against the vile child pornography he viewed in the days leading up to April's abduction. They remember with enduring love the daughter who fought so bravely to survive premature birth and mild disability, and who was enchanted by all the things a little girl finds magical. Paul Jones kept a diary throughout the ordeal, the contents of which are revealed for the first time in this searingly honest account of unimaginable emotional pain. Alongside books such as Madeleine by Kate McCann and Goodbye Dearest Holly by Kevin Wells, April will stand as a poignant reminder of what it means to lose the thing you most love.

Four Seconds: A Memoir


Laura Andrade - 2019
     “You’ll like it,” she argued. “I know I’ll like it,” I said. “That’s why I’m not going to try it.” “Try it just this once and I’ll never ask you to do it again.” That was a deal. I slipped back into the driver’s seat while Pat corn-rowed two neat lines of the silky white powder on the back of a plastic cassette tape cover. Fifteen hundred dollars every month, an abusive boyfriend, a molested child, a lost family, hotels for houses, a ruined leg, a gun to my head, a knife to my butt, a jail cell all my own. Black eyes, bruised days, broken hours. Looking back, it seems strange what I gave up to get my roommate off my back. It only took four seconds. *** In her debut memoir, Andrade tells of her years with cocaine and crystal methamphetamines—using, then selling—until all she had left of the life she wanted was a chalk outline and a pack of cigarettes. This is the story of her use and recovery, of the people who frustrated and inspired her, of her decision to leave the drug world. It is the story of her slow, often unsteady walk home.

The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked


David Benjamin - 2002
    Whether he’s stalking frogs through the bogs of Tomah, Wisconsin, playing four-kid baseball with his bothersome little brother and two favorite cousins, or sneaking into the theater to watch Saturday-afternoon Westerns, Benjamin is the kind of little kid who would have fallen in eagerly with the redoubtable Tom Sawyer.Traversing the nooks and crannies of kidhood, from ballfields to swimming holes, The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked captures a time and a place in twentieth-century American life and celebrates the adventures and wanderlust that once made childhood such an exhilarating enterprise.

Do Not Go Gentle. Go to Paris.: Travels of an Uncertain Woman of a Certain Age


Gail Schilling - 2019
    So begins the journey through France of an optimistic, infinitely curious, 62-year-old woman, who seeks to ransom her self-confidence and learn how to age. Deftly weaving scenic description with sketches of feisty Frenchwomen and flashbacks of older women she has admired, Gail draws wisdom from people and places that have gracefully endured the passing years. By the time she reaches the Mediterranean village that once existed only on her calendar, she feels revitalized. Her refreshed self-concept takes a hit, however, when her beloved proves fickle and a train strike maroons her on the edge of the sea. By the end of her journey, Gail recognizes the joie de vivre beneath the wrinkles of bygone beauty in French women. Now she awakens to her own joy of living and finds that it has no expiration date.

Blood, Sweat and McAteer: A Footballer's Story


Jason McAteer - 2016
    But for eleven-year-old Jason McAteer, growing up in the shadow of Liverpool FC, football became the dream. After signing with Bolton Wanderers at the age of twenty-one, the call to the international scene followed with the Republic of Ireland and, soon after, to his beloved Liverpool FC. The dream had become a reality. From his time with the Irish World Cup squad of 1994 to those tumultuous days in Saipan in 2002; on through his decision to leave Liverpool for Blackburn Rovers; his move to Sunderland, and the depression he fell into after finishing his professional career with Tranmere Rovers, Jason McAteer looks back with characteristic honesty and humour on his life - the jokes, the matches, and the personalities.This is the real Jason McAteer: a little bit bruised, a little bit battered. But still fighting.

Murder for Hire: My Life As the Country's Most Successful Undercover Agent


Jack Ballentine - 2009
    His specialty: posing as an undercover hit man. None of the people who hired him had any inkling that he was actually a cop, and his work led to a perfect rate of twenty-four convictions out of twenty-four indictments on murder conspiracy charges.Murder for Hire is Ballentine's story. He worked with criminals of all sorts, from vengeful spouses and partners to the criminally insane, all who had one thing in common: the desire to have someone killed. Ballentine could change his character at the drop of a hat, often imitating characters and "bad guys" from television and movies. In assuming an alternate identity and developing a reputation among the Phoenix underground---bikers, strippers, junkies, and thugs---he developed an intricate network of sources who fed him work and kept him extremely busy. All the while, the author strove for the semblance of a normal life and balanced his rough-and-tumble career with a new wife and stepson. His story is a unique look at how law enforcement delves into the heart of the criminal world.

The Soul Survivor


Joe Townsend - 2011
    

A Brave Face: Two Cultures, Two Families, and the Iraqi Girl Who Bound Them Together


Barbara Marlowe - 2019
    This is a story of the astonishing power of self-sacrificial love.On a typical Sunday morning in 2006, Barbara Marlowe saw a photo that changed her life: a photo of four-year-old Teeba Furat Fadhil, whose face, head, and hands had been severely burned during a roadside bombing in the Diyala Province of Iraq. Teeba’s eyes captivated Barbara, and she yearned to help this child who had already endured more pain and suffering than anyone should bear.Because surgeons were fleeing the war-torn country, Teeba would be unable to receive much-needed treatments if she stayed in Iraq. With powerful faith and determination, Barbara overcame obstacle after obstacle to bring Teeba from Iraq to the United States for medical treatments.A Brave Face explores the connection forged between Barbara and Teeba’s Iraqi mother Dunia over the past decade—a deep bond between two mothers that has flourished despite the distance, the strife of war, and the horrors of Al-Qaeda and ISIS. With chapters written by Teeba, now a young woman, and Dunia, the three women recount the story of courage and sacrifice that bound them together.A Brave Face contains the messages that:Tremendous trust can cross borders and war zonesTragedies can turn into miraclesLove can be found in the most unexpected of placesIn the end, this is a story of hope. A story of building bridges. A story of the always astonishing power of self-sacrificial love.

My Story, My Song: Mother-Daughter Reflections on Life and Faith


Lucimarian Roberts - 2012
    It details pivotal moments in Mrs. Roberts' intriguing life, revealing how faith in God has given her strength and hope. Good Morning America viewers have come to know and love Lucimarian Tolliver Roberts. For many, the heartfelt connection began the day after Hurricane Katrina blew through the Gulf Coast. They watched as Robin stood among the remnants of her hometown and talked about her desperate search for her elderly mother, who had ridden out the storm in her Mississippi home.Robin writes, "Folks are drawn to Mom's humility, wisdom, and spirituality." Reflections from Robin on her mother's life and faith cap each chapter."God has brought the most wonderful and sometimes the most unlikely people, of all ages and races, into my life to encourage and guide me on this spiritual journey of life," Mrs. Roberts says with bright eyes.

Onward The Absolute No B.S. Raw Ridiculous Soul-Stirring Truth About Training for Your First Marathon


Brook Kreder - 2013
    Her business was on the skids, her marriage was stalling out, and her future looked anything but bright. In a flash of insight, she made a spontaneous decision that ultimately changed everything. Armed with little more than a iron-willed determination, a pair of old running shoes, and a blog, Brook began training for her first marathon. Onward! is her story of false starts, redemption, and triumph as she pushed herself to ultimately cross the finish line. Told with grit, raw honesty and in-your-face hilarity, Onward! celebrates Brook’s 5-month trek to 26.2 miles, and how running her race, her way, transformed her body, spirit and life.

Now Everyone Will Know: The Perfect Husband, His Shattering Secret, My Rediscovered Life


Maggie Kneip - 2015
    Devastated by his betrayal, Maggie struggles to protect herself and her children from stigma, keeping the circumstances of her husband's death a secret for nearly twenty-five years. It is only when a journey of self-discovery aligns with her children's coming of age and a new world of sexual tolerance that she can finally embrace the truth and set herself free.With a foreword by Wall Street Journal editor Laura Landro and an afterword by Today show psychologist Dr. Dale Atkins, Now Everyone Will Know is an honest, unflinching look at the damaging nature of family secrets and an inspiring call to embrace every truth--the good, the bad, the ugly--that makes us who we are.

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.

A Life Worth Living


Lady Colin Campbell - 1997
    She enjoyed privileges, but her teenage years were blighted, leaving her unable to receive essential medical treatment until she was 21. She became a model and a designer, and in the 1970s embarked on a short and violent marriage to Lord Colin Campbell. In this autobiography she writes of a life-long struggle to be accepted as the woman she is. She tells of her formative years in Jamaica and New York, her many love affairs, her connection with members of the Royal Family, her activities as a socialite and international charity organizer, and her current life as the fulfilled mother of two adopted Russian children.

Where's Me Plaid?: A Scottish Roots Odyssey


Scott Crawford - 2013
    Armed with a newfound swagger, the author transforms a much anticipated, romantic holiday with his wife into a decidedly unromantic, though highly romanticized roots tour with comic results. Crammed into their tiny rental car (a Fiat Crumb or some such model), the couple scour the countryside, from castles to trailer parks, looking for something more to commemorate Crawford history than a family crest refrigerator magnet - and ultimately discover something altogether richer: a thriving country with the most beautiful and haunting scenery imaginable, a romantic history full of blood, intrigue and heroism, and some of the friendliest and most fiercely loyal people in the world. Award-winning travel writer Scott Crawford resides in the British Virgin Islands. A professional educator, he has a keen interest in travel and history, which infuse his writings. Where's Me Plaid is his first book.