Other books that might interest you

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  Final Analysis

  Catherine Crier, Cole Thompson

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  In October 2002, Susan Polk was arrested for the murder of her husband, Felix, kicking off what would become one of the most captivating murder trials in recent memory. Now, former judge and current Court TV host Catherine Crier turns an analytical eye to Susan's story, delving into her past and examining how over twenty years of marriage culminated in murder. When Susan was in high school, Felix, who was more than twenty years her senior, had been her psychologist, and during their sessions as therapist and patient, a romantic entanglement began. These troubling beginnings grew into a difficult marriage that produced three healthy boys but led to disturbing accusations of abuse from both Felix and Susan. 
  Crier dissects this dangerous relationship, exposing the painful psychology that motivated this complex marriage. She masterfully reconstructs the tumultuous chronology of the Polk family, telling how Susan and Felix struggled to control their rambunctious sons and disintegrating marriage in the years and months leading up to Felix's death. Here Crier also elucidates the methodic police work of the murder investigation and scrutinizes the remarkable trial, exploring Susan's struggles with her defense attorneys and her shocking decision to represent herself. Dark, psychological, and terrifying, Final Analysis is a harrowing look at the recesses of the human mind and the trauma that reveals them.

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  Hitmen for Hire - Exposing South...

  Mark Shaw

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  Hitmen for Hire takes the reader on a journey like no other, navigating a world of paid hitmen, informers, rogue policemen, criminal taxi bosses, gang leaders, and crooked politicians and businessmen. Criminologist Mark Shaw examines a society in which contract killings have become commonplace, looking at who arranges hits, where to find a hitman, and even what it is like to operate as a hitman – or woman.
  Since 1994, South Africa has seen a worrying increase in the commercialisation of murder – and has been rocked by several high-profile contract killings. Drawing on his research of over a thousand incidents of hired assassinations, from 2000 to 2016, Shaw reveals how these murders are used to exert a mafia-type control over the country's legal and illegal economic activity. Contracted assassinations, and the organised criminal activity behind them, contain sinister linkages with the upperworld, most visibly in relation to disputes over tenders and access to government resources. State security actors increasingly mediate relations between the under and upper worlds, with serious implications for the long-term success of the post-apartheid democratic project.

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  Serial Killers - Reasons Why and...

  Matt Belster

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  Many people try to get a grasp of what goes on in the mind of a serial killer. Today, we can at least show you a limited perspective and some solid insights in the workings of their brains. Their reasons, their background, and their murder stories will be exposed to a certain degree. The serial killers that are specifically discussed in this guide, are: 
    
  Tsutomu Miyazaki 
  Alexander Pichushkin 
  John Haigh 
  Paul John Knowles 
    
  If you haven’t heard of these murderers before, then now is the time. If you have, then you will probably find these facts and stories particularly interesting as well.

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  The Last Jewish Gangster: The...

  David Larson

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  “A captivating and different kind of story” about the life of Bugsy Siegel’s godson, from the author “who captured his voice” (Nick Pileggi, author/screenwriter of Goodfellas and Casino). 
   
  In 1944 Brooklyn, newborn Michael J. Hardy is rejected by his mother so she can run with gangster Bugsy Siegel, Hardy’s godfather. Shirley Rook rose to the top of the criminal ranks. As the Queen of New York City crime, she laundered Mob money, ran the city’s largest bookmaking operation, and handed payouts to dirty cops, politicians, and judges. 
   
  To win his mother’s love and respect, Hardy became a fearless gangster. Throughout his career as a mercenary, he robbed banks and drug dealers alike, ran a kidnapping ring, and even became a hired gun. At his lowest, he ended up doing time for his mother’s counterfeiting operation in Mexico’s most dangerous prison. 
   
  Hardy’s criminal code of conduct combines elements of tough Ukrainian Jew and warm Southern Baptist, whether dealing with family and friends or fellow inmates during a combined twenty-six years spent in prisons and jails. He maintained this characteristic gregarious strength throughout his astonishing life in which Hardy was shot eleven times, committed fourteen hits for the Mob, twice wore wires for Rudy Giuliani to nab dirty cops, wrote a letter to JFK to get out of military prison, choked the Hillside Strangler, shared prison time with notorious criminals, and even spent ten years in Hollywood, cast in non-speaking roles in B-movies. 
   
  “A fascinating character study of an unapologetic criminal. David S. Larson masterfully weaves this tale in Michael Hardy’s own words, resulting in a powerful, inside story of a gangster’s life.” —Cathy Scott, Los Angeles Times-bestselling author

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  The Life of a Smuggler

  Helen Hollick

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  Perfect for maritime historians and fans of Poldark, a look at the true history behind the legends built around smugglers.   “Brandy for the parson, baccy for the clerk . . .”   We have an image, mostly from movies and novels, of a tall ship riding gently at anchor in a moonlit, secluded bay with the “Gentleman” cheerfully hauling kegs of brandy and tobacco ashore, then disappearing silently into the night shadows to hide their contraband from the excise men in a dark cave or a secret cellar. But how much of the popular idea is fact and how much is fiction?   Smuggling was big business—it still is—but who were these derring-do rebels of the past who went against paying taxes on the importation of luxury goods? Who purchased the illicit contraband? How did smugglers operate? Where were the most notorious locations? Was it profitable, or just an inevitable path to arrest and the hangman’s noose? Author Helen Hollick attempts to answer these queries and more.

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  Gangsters and Organized Crime in...

  Michael F. Rizzo

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  Take a tour of Buffalo, New York's mobster and mafia history. Local mob expert reveals gangsters' stories, hangouts, and more.Buffalo has housed its fair share of thugs and mobsters. Besides common criminals and bank robbers, a powerful crime family headed by local boss Stefano Magaddino emerged in the 1920s. Close to Canada, Niagara Falls and Buffalo were perfect avenues through which to transport booze, and Magaddino and his Mafiosi maintained a stranglehold on the city until his death in 1974. Local mob expert Michael Rizzo takes a tour of Buffalo's mafia exploits everything from these brutal gangsters' favorite hangouts to secret underground tunnels to murder.

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