Other books that might interest you

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  Public Enemies

  Editors Charles River

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  Nobody was ever convicted for the “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre,” the most famous gangland hit in American history, but it’s an open secret that it was the work of America’s most famous gangster, Al Capone. Indeed, “Scarface” has captured the nation’s popular imagination since Prohibition, managing to be the most notorious gangster in America while living a very visible and high profile life in Chicago. 	In the end, it wasn’t the bodies or the violence that landed Capone in the slammer; it was taxes. After being convicted, Capone managed to continue running his business rackets from behind bars, forcing authorities to move America’s most notorious gangster to America’s most notorious prison on Alcatraz Island.  
  	Two months after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s inauguration in 1933, a petty thief who had spent almost a decade behind bars for attempted theft and aggravated assault was released from jail. By the end of the year, that man, John Dillinger, would be America’s most famous outlaw: Public Enemy Number One. From the time of his first documented heist in early July 1933, until his dramatic death in late July of the following year, he would capture the nation’s attention as had no other outlaw since Jesse James. 
  	The man who became Public Enemy Number One after the deaths of John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd was Lester Joseph Gillis, whose alias “George Nelson” eventually gave way to the nickname “Baby Face Nelson”. Despite the almost playfully innocent nickname, and the fact that he was not as notorious as two of his partners in crime, Dillinger and Floyd, Baby Face Nelson was the worst of them all.  
  While the Barrow Gang was no more murderous than other outlaws of the era, their romantic relationship and the discovery of photographs at one of their hideouts added a more human dimension to Bonnie and Clyde. In some way though, the sensationalized version of their life on the run is less interesting than reality.

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  Running Amok - Inside the Mind...

  Paul E. Mullen

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  What drives someone to commit the unthinkable?
  Austin 1966. Dunblane 1996. Port Arthur 1996. Utøya 2011. 
  In this deeply insightful account, pre-eminent forensic psychiatrist Paul E. Mullen examines the complex psychology behind lone mass killers. With unflinching clarity, he burrows into the minds of these damaged individuals, drawing on his decades of forensic work assessing mass murderers first-hand. 
  Mullen brings readers into a dark landscape populated with killers who have achieved the ugly fame they had sought – in the US, UK, Australia, Norway and beyond – as well as lesser-known, equally chilling cases. He illuminates troubling patterns that unite the perpetrators, such as obsessive rage, personal grievance, fascination with weapons and yearning for infamy, often culminating in suicide. He also considers the impact of media sensationalism on the killers' grandiose fantasies and proposes steps toward better threat assessment and identification of warning signs. 
  Challenging myths around madness and violence, Mullen reveals the unsettling truth: these killers are not incomprehensible monsters, but profoundly disturbed people shaped by knowable forces that, when properly understood, can be countered effectively. Running Amok does not simply examine tragedy; it is a call to action, urging society to confront the shadows and prevent the next horror.

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  Polkinghorne

  Steve Braunias

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  In Polkinghorne, literary journalist Steve Braunias takes readers on an extraordinary and often chilling journey through the most high-profile murder case in modern New Zealand history. With unparalleled access to the key players, Braunias offers readers his unique insight into the investigation, trial, and the astonishing revelations that kept the New Zealand public utterly transfixed. 
   
   
  The death of Pauline Hanna in her home in Remuera, and the arrest of her husband, eye surgeon Dr Philip Polkinghorne, led to an epic trial that played out like a scandalous exposé of rich Auckland life. Braunias pieces it all together and presents it as unforgettable opera - including an extraordinary encounter that will leave readers stunned. 
   
   
  Fascinating, engrossing, and filled with unforeseen turns, Polkinghorne goes deep inside the courtroom case that shocked a nation and explores the lusts and torments that we try to conceal. This is a must-read for true crime enthusiasts and anyone who has followed the case and wondered about the truth behind the headlines.

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  Gangster's Paradise - The much...

  Jared Savage

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  The much anticipated follow-up to the bestseller that exposed the escalation of organised crime in New Zealand. 
    
  Gangster's Paradise is about drugs, guns, gangs and money. Lots of money. 
  A gang which took over a small rural town. A police officer shot and killed in a routine traffic stop. A port-worker who helped a gang whisk a shipping container off a wharf in the middle of the night. A crew of corrupt baggage handlers smuggling meth into the country during Covid lockdowns. A shooting inside a 5-star hotel in broad daylight. Turf wars, retaliation, and retribution: new gangs like the Mongols and Comancheros have brought with them better connections with international syndicates, challenging the established gangs like the Head Hunters - so dominant for many years - who have had to up their game in response.  
  Jared Savage's bestselling book Gangland was about the evolution of gangs in New Zealand. Gangster's Paradise is about the deadly escalation.   
  HarperCollins Australia 2023

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  Breaking the Bombers - How the...

  Mark Shaw

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  ‘Mark Shaw is the foremost analyst of organised crime in SA.’ – Jonny Steinberg 
  At the dawn of the country’s brave new democracy, Cape Town was at war. Pagad, which began as a community protest action against crime, had mutated into a sinister vigilante group wreaking death and destruction across the city. Between 1996 and 2001, there were hundreds of bomb blasts – most infamously at the Planet Hollywood restaurant at the V&A Waterfront – and countless targeted hits on druglords and gang bosses. 
  The police scrambled desperately to respond. The new ANC government was shaken. Citizens of Cape Town lived in fear. Who could save the city? 
  Mark Shaw tells the incredible tale of how former foes – struggle cadres and the apartheid security apparatus – pulled together to break the Pagad death squads. Out of this crisis emerged the elite law enforcement unit, the Scorpions. 
  It is a story that has never been told in full. Now many involved have broken their silence about this pivotal chapter in South Africa’s history, which offers far-reaching lessons on how to deal with organised crime today.

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  Beauty Turned Deadly: The...

  Davidson David

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  They were nurses, grandmothers, wives—women who seemed incapable of harm. But behind charming smiles and gentle facades lurked some of history's most chilling killers. 
  In Beauty Turned Deadly, narrator Davidson David takes you deep into twelve shocking true crime stories that will keep you listening long into the night. These aren't the famous cases everyone knows. These are the forgotten monsters, the women who poisoned with patience, strangled with precision, and killed without remorse. 
  From Bertha Gifford, the Missouri farmwife who poisoned seventeen neighbors with arsenic-laced meals, to Juana Barraza, the Mexican wrestler who murdered elderly women while hiding in plain sight—each story reveals the disturbing psychology behind female serial killers who shattered every expectation of what evil looks like. 
  You'll discover the Victorian baby farmer who threw infants into the Thames River, the Chicago fortune teller who scheduled deaths like appointments, and the Australian grandmother who served poison in teacups. These women used society's trust against their victims, exploiting the belief that mothers, caregivers, and sweet old ladies could never be capable of murder. 
  Davidson David's narration brings each case to life with gripping detail, psychological depth, and the perfect balance of horror and humanity. Every chapter reads like a thriller, but these nightmares were real. 
  Perfect for fans of dark true crime audiobooks, murder mysteries, and anyone fascinated by the hidden side of criminal history. This collection exposes the terrifying truth: evil doesn't always look like a monster. Sometimes it looks like the woman next door. 
  Warning: Contains mature themes including violence, murder, and psychological abuse. Listener discretion advised.

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