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This reference guide documents white-collar crimes by individuals and businesses over the past 150 years, offering the most comprehensive array…
of documents and interpretations available. From Gilded Age railroad scandals to the muckraking period and from the Savings and Loan debacle to corporate fallout during the recent economic meltdown, some individuals and companies have chosen to take the low road to achieve "the American dream." While these offenders throughout modern history may have lacked ethics, morals, or good judgment, they certainly were not wanting in terms of creativity. White-Collar and Corporate Crime: A Documentary and Reference Guide traces the fascinating history of white-collar and corporate criminal behavior from the 1800s through the 2010 passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform measure. Author Gilbert Geis scrutinizes more than a century of episodes involving corporate corruption and other self-serving behaviors that violate antitrust laws, bribery statutes, and fraud laws. The various attempts made by authorities to rein in greed and the methods employed by wrongdoers to evade these controls are also discussed and evaluated.By Jason K. Foster. 2024
&‘This is a strange and gripping tale of one of Australia&’s most notorious criminals.&’ – TROY LENNON – ByTheBook, Sydney Daily TelegraphFrom…
goldfields to gallows – the international manhunt for Australia&’s first serial killer.The Devil&’s Butterfly is the harrowing true story of the killer conman, Frank Butler, whose deception and duplicity sent the colony of New South Wales into a state of fear and panic. Advertising in the Sydney papers, the charismatic Butler lured his prey towards the western goldfields with exaggerated tales of untold wealth and riches. Five men answered, three men went missing. Fearing capture and searching for new killing grounds, Butler flees Australia, headed for San Francisco. Two detectives, certain they are hunting Australia&’s first &‘true&’ serial killer, steam across the Pacific on a speedier ship. A third detective traverses the globe, racing to America via London. Desperate to reach San Francisco before a sociopathic killer disappears once again; will they capture their man or will the now notorious Butler escape forever? Praise for the Book &‘What a phenomenal true crime/who-dunnit!... It's an amazing true story of lies, deception, and surprising twists you won't forget!&’ – Karen Dustman &‘Required meticulous research and a desire to dig into the life and times of a man with a mysterious background and a talent for trickery.&’ – Jen Gourley, View of the Valleys, August 2021 &‘A great read&’ – Ann Hewitt, The Book Tree. &‘An intriguing, colourful tale&’ – Mildura WeeklyBy Mike Vance, John Nova Lomax. 2014
Houston, we have a problem. The largest city in Texas has a wild west past filled with dodgy criminals and…
murderous madmen. When the Allen brothers sold Houston&’s first lots, the city became a magnet for enterprising tycoons and opportunistic crooks alike. As the young city grew, a scourge of crime and vice accompanied the success of oil and real estate. The Bayou City&’s seedy side—flashing Bowie knives, privileged bad boys, hardened prostitutes and unchecked serial killers—established its hold. From a young Clyde Barrow to the Man Who Killed Halloween, Houston&’s past is filled with bloody tales, heartbreaking loss and despicable deeds. Authors Mike Vance and John Nova Lomax shine a light on these dark days. Includes photos!By Jerry Roberts. 2012
A &“this day in Hollywood history&” reference that recounts the scandals of the stars—from Charlie Chaplin to Charlie Sheen. …
The real-life scandals of Hollywood&’s personalities rival any drama they bring to life on the silver screen. This book provides 365 daily doses of high and low crimes, fraud and deceit, culled from Tinseltown&’s checkered past. Whether it&’s the exploits of silent-era star Fatty Arbuckle, the midcentury misdeeds of Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe, or the modern excesses of Lindsay Lohan, this calendar of Hollywood transgressions has a sensational true tale for every day of the year. It&’s an entertaining and sometimes shocking trip down memory lane filled with sneaky affairs, box-office bombs, and careers cut short—sometimes by murder. It shows that the drama doesn&’t end when the credits roll.By Gene Mustain, Jerry Capeci. 2002
He was a little-known wiseguy out of Howard Beach, Queens, who blasted his way into the public eye with the…
assassination of Gambino Family boss Paul Castellano in December 1985, a rubout that&’s the stuff of Mafia legend. Ruthless, cunning, and tougher than the streets that produced him, John Gotti seized control of the nation&’s most powerful crime family, beat the law on rap after rap, and became an American legend. First published in 1988 and fully revised and updated for this edition, Mob Star traced John Gotti&’s spectacular rise and eventual downfall after the betrayal of his closest ally, Salvatore &“Sammy Bull&” Gravano. At his death, ten years after he was jailed for life and four years after he began battling cancer, John Gotti was still the biggest name in today&’s Mafia.You never go against the family. Here is the most comprehensive introduction to and explanation of the most infamous crime…
organization in history. Completely updated with more than 70 pages of new material and photographs, it includes information about the shifts in power and tightening of ranks of different families after convictions of their key members; new inside information on the role of the families in Chicago, Boston, Las Vegas, Rochester, and even Montreal; and updates on the DeCavalcante family who bragged they were the real &“Sopranos&” on FBI wiretaps. • More than 70 pages of new material. • Full of dramatic anecdotes and photos about everything from Capone to Gotti and beyond. • Written by acclaimed expert author and reporter of all things Mafia in his weekly online column &“Gang Land&” (ganglandnews.com).By Dr Lee Mellor. 2020
Uncover the twisted tales that inspired the big screen's greatest screams.Which case of demonic possession inspired The Exorcist? What horrifying…
front-page story generated the idea for A Nightmare on Elm Street? Which film was based on the infamous skin-wearing murderer Ed Gein?Unearth the terrifying and true tales behind some of the scariest Horror movies to ever haunt our screens, including the Enfield poltergeist case that was retold in The Conjuring 2 and the serial killers who inspired Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.Behind the Horror dissects these and other bizarre tales to reveal haunting real-life stories of abduction, disappearance, murder, and exorcism.By Emily G. Thompson. 2020
The mysterious is all around us...UFOs, extraterrestrial encounters, baffling disappearances-Mysteries Uncovered investigates, without prejudice, some of the most notorious, disturbing,…
and enduring mysteries ever recorded.- UFO activity: the Roswell Incident, the Phoenix Lights, the Rendlesham Incident...- Alien abduction: the Barney and Betty Hill case...- Uncanny events: the missing crew of the Marie Celeste, the lost colony of Roanoke, the fate of Amelia Earhart...- Notorious disappearances: the cases of Lord Lucan and "D.B. Cooper"...For every instance rationalized away, there is another that defies explanation...By Amber Hunt, Emily G. Thompson. 2020
This true crime book makes you the detective, investigating some of the most infamous unsolved cases of the 20th and…
21st centuries.MURDERS THAT DEFY DETECTION.Discover the stories behind some of the most infamous unsolved murders of the last century, including the Black Dahlia, the Zodiac Killer and the JonBenét Ramsey case.Detailing essential evidence.Profiling key suspects.Tracking police investigations.Sorting facts from speculation.By Mitzi Szereto. 2020
“Here be monsters! This brilliant collection of gruesome small-town misdeeds . . . will have you running for the comfort and safety of…
the big city.” —Peter Houlahan, author of Norco ’80We’ve been told nothing bad happens in small towns. You can leave your doors unlocked, and your windows wide open. We picture peaceful hamlets with a strong sense of community, and everyone knows each other. But what if this wholesome idyllic image doesn’t always square with reality? Small towns might look and feel safe, but statistics show this isn’t really true.From the vicious murderers of the Clutter family to Ted Bundy and his small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story—they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe. Discover how unsolved murders, kidnapping, shooting sprees, violent robbery, and other bad things can and do happen in small towns all over the world.“Mitzi Szereto has assembled a group of today’s brightest and best authors for this truly extraordinary anthology. Brilliant!” —Dan Zupansky, author and host of True Murder“Chills. Endless chills.” —Cup of Books“These well-researched, globe-trotting, bite-sized tales are perfect for a lazy summer afternoon?especially at a time when it’s much safer to travel through the pages of a book.” —Ellery Queen Mystery MagazineBy Jon Krakauer. 2003
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes…
readers inside America&’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU.&“Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner&’s Song.&” —San Francisco ChronicleDefying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer&’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America&’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.By Emily G. Thompson. 2023
They thought they had gotten away with murder. They were wrong.Discover the vital clues, the crucial evidence, the lucky breaks,…
the chases, the painstaking detective work, the unlikely heroes that led to the capture of serial killers such as &“The Good Nurse&” poisoner Charles Cullen, finally detected by a young colleague; Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, revealed by false license plates; Night Stalker Richard Ramirez, spotted by a 13-year-old boy; Hotelier of Death H. H. Holmes, apprehended selling his victims&’ skeletons…Killers Caught reveals the downfall of these ruthless individuals, as well as the stories of how many more of crime&’s most notorious and prolific murderers were brought to justice.By Robert Loerzel. 2002
On May 1, 1897, Louise Luetgert disappeared. Although no body was found, Chicago police arrested her husband, Adolph, the owner…
of a large sausage factory, and charged him with murder. The eyes of the world were still on Chicago following the success of the World's Columbian Exposition, and the Luetgert case, with its missing victim, once-prosperous suspect, and all manner of gruesome theories regarding the disposal of the corpse, turned into one of the first media-fueled celebrity trials in American history. Newspapers fought one another for scoops, people across the country claimed to have seen the missing woman alive, and each new clue led to fresh rounds of speculation about the crime. Meanwhile, sausage sales plummeted nationwide as rumors circulated that Luetgert had destroyed his wife's body in one of his factory's meat grinders. Weaving in strange-but-true subplots involving hypnotists, palmreaders, English con artists, bullied witnesses, and insane-asylum bodysnatchers, Alchemy of Bones is more than just a true crime narrative; it is a grand, sprawling portrait of 1890s Chicago--and a nation--getting an early taste of the dark, chaotic twentieth century.By Jamie King. 2024
A gripping true crime compendium of some of the world's most infamous and shocking mass murderers, such as John Wayne…
Gacy, the Boston Strangler, the Moors murderers and Harold Shipman, as well as some lesser-known figures. This book not only relates the disturbing events that transpired but also delves into the psychology of the perpetrators.By Lara Love Hardin. 2023
'Lara Love Hardin shares compelling and important truths in her beautifully told personal story.' PIPER KERMAN, author of the no.…
1 New York Times bestseller Orange is the New Black'Thrilling, funny, heartbreaking and moving. I'll return to this book when I need to be reminded of the power of the human spirit.' DAVID SHEFF, author of the no. 1 New York Times bestseller Beautiful Boy'Compelling and timely' BRYAN STEVENSON, author of the New York Times bestseller Just MercyThe Neighbour From Hell is the astonishing tale of Lara's descent from middle class soccer mum with an enviable lifestyle, beautiful home and family to an opiate addict and identity thief. Convicted of 32 felonies, her children are taken away and she is placed in a local jail.In this strange and frightening new world, she has to get grips with life behind bars. Lara becomes known in prison as Mama Love. She helps the women around her get to grips with their own troubles, writes letters for them, acts as an advocate, and comforts them in their darkest moments. Soon she climbs the jailhouse social ladder to become 'the shot caller' showing that jailhouse politics and PTA politics are not that different.Through her incarceration, Lara reveals a world where makeshift furniture is made from tampon boxes and snicker bars are currency, a world of brutal corruption and abuse, and of surprising humanity and tenderness.Her story gives us a rare glimpse into the lives of the women in jail she spent time with and the very real challenges they, and she, faced trying to make it out of prison, regain custody of their children and start life afresh.By Douglas Preston. 2023
Douglas Preston, the #1 bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God, presents the jaw-dropping discovery of a…
vast Egyptian tomb containing dozens of sealed burial chambers, as well as recounting tales of pirate treasure, mysterious deaths, archaeological mysteries, and more… What&’s it like to be the first to enter an Egyptian burial chamber that&’s been sealed for thousands of years? Where might a blocked doorway or newly excavated corridor lead? And what might this stupendous tomb reveal about the most powerful pharaoh in Egyptian history? From the jungles of Honduras to macabre archaeological sites in the American Southwest, Douglas Preston's journalistic explorations have taken him across the globe. He broke the story of an extraordinary mass grave of animals killed by the asteroid impact that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, he explored what lay hidden in the booby-trapped Money Pit on Oak Island, and he roamed the haunted hills of Italy in search of the Monster of Florence. When he hasn't been co-authoring bestselling thrillers featuring FBI Agent Pendergast, Preston has been writing about some of the world&’s strangest and most dramatic mysteries.The Lost Tomb brings together an astonishing and compelling collection of true stories about buried treasure, enigmatic murders, lost tombs, bizarre crimes, and other fascinating tales of the past and present.By Peter Eichstaedt. 2010
In 2009, the United States was hit broadside by Somali pirates who attempted to capture the U.S. flag ship Maersk…
Alabama. Suddenly, the pirates were no longer a distant menace. They had thrust themselves onto the American stage. Are the Somali pirates a legion of desperate fisherman attacking cargo ships and ocean cruisers to reclaim their waters? Or is piracy connected to crime networks and the madness that grips Somalia? What threats do pirates pose to international security? To answer these questions, Peter Eichstaedt crisscrosses East Africa, meeting with pirates both in and out of prisons, talking with them about their lives, tactics, and motives. Ultimately, he comes face-to-face with a former fighter with Somalia's brutal Islamic al-Shabaab militia. He discovers that piracy is a symptom of a much deeper problem: Somalia itself. Pirate State explores the links between the pirates, global financiers, and extremists who control southern Somalia and whose influence extends across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen and connects to extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Somali pirates are desperate and dangerous men who will do just about anything for money, and Pirate State argues that turning a blind eye to piracy and the problems of Somalia is inviting a disaster of horrific proportions.By Petra Kuppers. 2024
A decaying psychogeography unfurls the landscapes of the 1967–69 Michigan Murders, the 2019 Detroit serial killer, and the COVID-19 lockdown…
in this visceral poetry collection. Author, performance artist, and disability culture activist Petra Kuppers dissects traces of violence in the richness of the soil while honoring lost community members. Dynamic and somatic poems traverse the realms of urban space, wild rivers, and the hinterlands of suburbia, glimpsing the decay of bodies, houses, carpets, hair, and bones by way of ecopoetry. Poems like "Reintegration" and "Earth Séance" delve into cycles of decomposition and decreasing biodiversity across the micro- and macroworlds. Others such as "Dancing Princesses" tie timeless fairy-tale tropes of violence toward women to modern murders and lived experience. Moments in lockdown are embodied through somatic exploration of nature and self in works like "Dear White Pine in My Garden." This evocative entanglement of life and death, joy and horror, natural and artificial processes and particles offers an intriguing lyrical and poetic quality as well as unique perspectives through the lenses of feminist, queer, and disability studies.By Sarah Horowitz. 2022
"An unforgettable portrait of a woman who became one of the most notorious figures of her day and whose scandalous…
story sheds fascinating light not only on her own tumultuous time but ours as well." — Harold Schechter, author of Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Guinness, Butcher of MenSex, corruption, and power: the rise and fall of the Red Widow of ParisParis, 1889: Margeurite Steinheil is a woman with ambition. But having been born into a middle-class family and trapped in a marriage to a failed artist twenty years her senior, she knows her options are limited.Determined to fashion herself into a new woman, Meg orchestrates a scandalous plan with her most powerful resource: her body. Amid the dazzling glamor, art, and romance of bourgeois Paris, she takes elite men as her lovers, charming her way into the good graces of the rich and powerful. Her ambitions, though, go far beyond becoming the most desirable woman in Paris; at her core, she is a woman determined to conquer French high society. But the game she plays is a perilous one: navigating misogynistic double-standards, public scrutiny, and political intrigue, she is soon vaulted into infamy in the most dangerous way possible.A real-life femme fatale, Meg influences government positions and resorts to blackmail—and maybe even poisoning—to get her way. Leaving a trail of death and disaster in her wake, she earns the name the "Red Widow" for mysteriously surviving a home invasion that leaves both her husband and mother dead. With the police baffled and the public enraged, Meg breaks every rule in the bourgeois handbook and becomes the most notorious woman in Paris.An unforgettable true account of sex, scandal, and murder, The Red Widow is the story of a woman determined to rise—at any cost.By Casey Sherman. 2024
"A wild ride beneath the glitz and glamour of 1950s Hollywood, proving once again that Casey Sherman is a master…
of the genre."—Ben Mezrich, New York Times bestselling author of Dumb Money, Bringing Down the House, and The Accidental BillionairesThe dark story behind the bright lights of TinseltownFrom the outside, Hollywood starlet Lana Turner seemed to have it all—a thriving film career, a beautiful daughter, and the kind of fame and fortune that most people could only dream of. But when the famous femme fatale began dating mobster Johnny Stompanato, thug for the infamous west coast mob boss Mickey Cohen, her personal life became violent and unpredictable. Lana's teenage daughter, Cheryl, watched her beloved mother's life deteriorate as Stompanato's intense jealousy took over. Eventually, the physical and emotional abuse became too much to bear, and Lana attempted to break it off with Johnny—with disastrous consequences. The details of what happened that fateful night remain foggy, but it ended in a series of frantic phone calls and Stompanato dead on Lana's bedroom floor, with Cheryl claiming to have plunged a knife into his abdomen in an attempt to protect her mother. The subsequent murder trial made for the biggest headlines of the year, its drama eclipsing every Hollywood movie.New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman pulls back Tinseltown's velvet curtain to reveal the dark underbelly of celebrity, rife with toxic masculinity and casual violence against women, and tells the story of Lana Turner and her daughter, who finally stood up to the abuse that plagued their family for years. A Murder in Hollywood transports us back to the golden age of film and illuminates one of the 20th century's most notorious true crime tales.