Assassin: The True Story of One of America's Most Successful Assassins


Book Description

This is a factual, no-nonsense book as told by a professional American assassin. The stories he tells are descriptions of true events with only a few names changed for obvious reasons. The author pulls no punches and never softens the story to make it more palatable. What you will read describes accurately the preparation, dedication, training and mind-set of a man and his associates who kill America's enemies for a living.




Killers of the Flower Moon


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, “one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."—New York Magazine • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NOW A MARTIN SCORSESE PICTURE “A shocking whodunit…What more could fans of true-crime thrillers ask?”—USA Today “A masterful work of literary journalism crafted with the urgency of a mystery.” —The Boston Globe In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history. Look for David Grann’s latest bestselling book, The Wager!




Hell's Half-Acre


Book Description

One of NPR's "Books We Love" New York Times Book Review's "The Best True Crime of 2022" "Rich in historical perspective and graced by novelistic touches, grips the reader from first to last.”—Wall Street Journal A suspense filled tale of murder on the American frontier—shedding new light on a family of serial killers in Kansas, whose horrifying crimes gripped the attention of a nation still reeling from war. In 1873 the people of Labette County, Kansas made a grisly discovery. Buried by a trailside cabin beneath an orchard of young apple trees were the remains of countless bodies. Below the cabin itself was a cellar stained with blood. The Benders, the family of four who once resided on the property were nowhere to be found. The discovery sent the local community and national newspapers into a frenzy that continued for decades, sparking an epic manhunt for the Benders. The idea that a family of seemingly respectable homesteaders—one among the thousands relocating farther west in search of land and opportunity after the Civil War—were capable of operating "a human slaughter pen" appalled and fascinated the nation. But who the Benders really were, why they committed such a vicious killing spree and whether justice ever caught up to them is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. Set against the backdrop of postbellum America, Hell’s Half-Acre explores the environment capable of allowing such horrors to take place. Drawing on extensive original archival material, Susan Jonusas introduces us to a fascinating cast of characters, many of whom have been previously missing from the story. Among them are the families of the victims, the hapless detectives who lost the trail, and the fugitives that helped the murderers escape. Hell’s Half-Acre is a journey into the turbulent heart of nineteenth century America, a place where modernity stalks across the landscape, violently displacing existing populations and building new ones. It is a world where folklore can quickly become fact and an entire family of criminals can slip through a community’s fingers, only to reappear in the most unexpected of places.




The American West on Film


Book Description

More than a history of Western movies, The American West on Film intertwines film history, the history of the American West, and American social history into one unique volume. The American West on Film chronicles 12 Hollywood motion pictures that are set in the post–Civil War American West, including The Ox-Bow Incident, Red River, High Noon, The Searchers, The Magnificent Seven, Little Big Man, and Tombstone. Each film overview summarizes the movie's plot, details how the film came to be made, the critical and box-office reactions upon its release, and the history of the time period or actual event. This is followed by a comparison and contrast of the filmmakers' version of history with the facts, as well as an analysis of the film's significance, then and now. Relying on contemporary accounts and historical analysis as well as perspectives from filmmakers, historians, and critics, the author describes what it took to get each movie made and how close to the historical truth the movie actually got. Readers will come away with a better understanding of how movies often reflect the time in which they were made, and how Westerns can offer provocative social commentary hidden beneath old-fashioned "shoot-em-ups."




Serial Killer Quarterly Vol.1 No.3 “Unsolved in North America”


Book Description

Another triple feature! “Unsolved in North America” - the third issue of Serial Killer Quarterly - focuses on 6 American and 2 Canadian cases of multiple murderer in which the slayer has eluded justice. Three years before Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of Whitechapel, a bold and barefoot killer was slipping into Austin's outbuildings to murder and rape black servant girls, sometimes after death. In his Servant Girl Annihilator, acclaimed true crime writer Harold Schechter drags this gruesome piece of Texan history back into the light for modern eyes to behold. 2500 miles north as the crow flies, and 20 years later, a series of bizarre decapitation/arson murders commenced in the gold-gutted Yukon. Canadian serial murder specialist Lee Mellor takes a look at these slayings, along with providing nail-biting articles on America's most infamous unsolved serial murder case, the Zodiac Killer of San Franscisco, as well as the Montreal Child Murders: a spate of tragic pedophile killings which plagued the city throughout the Eighties. Another Franco-American cultural centre was shaken to the core between 1918-1919, when the shadowy Axeman of New Orleans slashed and bludgeoned unsuspecting Italian couples in their beds. Grinning Man Press co-founder Aaron Elliott tells of this jazz-happy native of Tartarus, and his possible (but improbable) connection to organized crime. The mob also appear as unlikely suspects in prolific author Michael Newton's The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. Set against the backdrop of prohibition-era Cleveland, a seemingly-bisexual butcher left at least 10 victims dismembered and disfigured in and around the city while legendary detective Eliot Ness faltered in his attempts to capture the perpetrator. In more recent events, Robert Hoshowsky and Kim Cresswell reveal the details of intriguing serial murder mysteries on America's two coasts: California's menacing Golden State Killer (aka the Original Night Stalker) and New York's Long Island Serial Killer. Considering how many of these offenders may still be at large and lurking in a community near you, Grinning Man Press warns that “Unsolved in North America” may destabilize your sense of personal security, result in intense fear and paranoia, and lead you to invest great quantities of money in alarm systems, intricate locks, and firearms.




The Assassin's Wife


Book Description

The Assassin's Wife This is the true story of the events that occurred before and during the day America's president John F. Kennedy was murdered, but it's only the beginning of the story. This is the, until now, untold true story about the events that followed the assassination. It's the never-before-revealed story, a still-unfolding story of betrayal, revenge, assassination, and, as some might say, treason. All revealed by those who actually know why it happened, by those who know the truth, and by those who know the actual identities, the never-before-revealed identities of many of those involved. THE HOOK 2




Darker than Night


Book Description

A chilling account of the murders of two hunters in rural Michigan—a mystery that haunted a community and baffled the police for two decades. In the bitter cold of 1985, two buddies from Detroit embark on a hunting trip to the Michigan wilderness, unaware they will soon become the hunted. The eerie silence surrounding their sudden disappearance is broken after nearly two decades when a relentless investigator inspires a terrified witness to break her silence. The witness narrates a haunting scene that had unfolded years back, pointing fingers at the prime suspects—the Duvall brothers. With no bodies unearthed, the justice system is riveted by the startling revelations during an electrifying trial in 2003. The brothers, Raymond and Donald Duvall, had bragged about the murders, evocatively explaining how they dismembered their victims and fed them to pigs. Despite the shocking confession, the case holds its ground purely on a single witness’s account, taking the courtroom through a labyrinth of dark secrets and sinister acts. This gripping thriller presents a vivid tale of crime that reveals the devastating power of evil.




The Midnight Assassin


Book Description

A New York Times bestseller, The Midnight Assassin is a sweeping narrative history of a terrifying serial killer--America's first--who stalked Austin, Texas in 1885. In the late 1800s, the city of Austin, Texas was on the cusp of emerging from an isolated western outpost into a truly cosmopolitan metropolis. But beginning in December 1884, Austin was terrorized by someone equally as vicious and, in some ways, far more diabolical than London's infamous Jack the Ripper. For almost exactly one year, the Midnight Assassin crisscrossed the entire city, striking on moonlit nights, using axes, knives, and long steel rods to rip apart women from every race and class. At the time the concept of a serial killer was unthinkable, but the murders continued, the killer became more brazen, and the citizens' panic reached a fever pitch. Before it was all over, at least a dozen men would be arrested in connection with the murders, and the crimes would expose what a newspaper described as "the most extensive and profound scandal ever known in Austin." And yes, when Jack the Ripper began his attacks in 1888, London police investigators did wonder if the killer from Austin had crossed the ocean to terrorize their own city. With vivid historical detail and novelistic flair, Texas Monthly journalist Skip Hollandsworth brings this terrifying saga to life.




Mass and Serial Murder in America


Book Description

This timely reference examines the psychological and social phenomena of mass and serial murder, bringing scholarly depth to a frequently sensationalized subject. Its review of the literature features case studies of serial and mass murderers to expand on salient theories of evil, with biopsychosocial profiles highlighting core personality traits, particularly malignant narcissism, associated with psychopathy and its often deadly outcomes. The author’s insightful analysis separates misconceptions from reality, poses questions for critical thinking and discussion, and offers realistic suggestions for prevention. Public fascination with these violent figures—the mystique of serial killers and their popularity in the entertainment media—is explored as well. Included in the coverage: · Public interest in mass and serial murder. · Concepts of evil: where it comes from, and why people kill. · Mass murder: classification, motivation, and typologies. · Serial murder: motivation and typologies. · Current trends in prevention, and areas for improvement. · Plus instructive case studies, both famous and less-known. Mass and Serial Murder in America is illuminating reading for undergraduate and graduate students and practitioners in social science disciplines such as criminal justice, criminology, social work, psychology, forensic psychology, and related fields. It will also find an audience among educators teaching courses in these areas, as well as interested laypersons.




The Snapshot Killer


Book Description

Christopher Wilder was about as bad as they get. A serial killer and predator, he first came to the attention of police in Sydney when as a teenager in 1963 he was charged with rape. As a young adult he relocated to Florida, USA. Wilder plied his vile and deadly trade on two continents and did so undetected for more than twenty years. He was a chameleon and a predator with a modus operandi refined over the decades, luring young teenage girls with the promise of a career as a photographic model. His final flourish was a six-week spree of abduction, sexual assault and murder crisscrossing the USA and earning him the top spot on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Wilder could have been stopped a few times in his evil career - but he wasn't. In addition to his many crimes in the US, he is now also a prime suspect for the infamous Wanda Beach murders - one of Australia's most notorious unsolved crimes. The Snapshot Killer explores how a monster was able to hide in plain sight and tells the tragic story of the many victims - at least twelve, but likely more - whose lives Wilder destroyed, with consequences that continue to resonate to this day.