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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES • “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment WeeklyJohn Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime masterpiece that tells the story of small town justice gone terribly awry. In the Major League draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the state of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory. Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa. In 1982, a twenty-one-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder. With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row. If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.Don’t miss Framed, John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, co-authored with Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey. Read more

A deep dive into “one of the most spectacular cases of police corruption in the city” from the detective and assistant DA who uncovered the truth (The New York Times).Friends of the Family is a look deep inside the most notorious case to rock the NYPD: The story of Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa, the two police detectives who moonlighted as mob hitmen. As told by Tommy Dades and Michael Vecchione—the cop and District Attorney investigator who solved New York’s coldest case—along with co-writer David Fisher, Friends of the Family is shocking true crime in the tradition of Nicolas Pileggi’s Wiseguys and Underboss by Peter Mass—a chilling, in-depth examination of what the New York Daily News calls “the worst betrayal of the badge in the NYPD’s history.”“A thorough step-by-step procedural. Author Fisher keeps the narrative moving with a good balance of police work, politics and mafia drama, channeling with authority (and the coaching of Dades and Vecchione) the voices of the street as well as the police force . . . true crime fans should be happy to get past the hype and into the nitty-gritty of this infamous case.” —Publishers Weekly Read more

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Now a Netflix original series Discover the classic, behind-the-scenes chronicle of John E. Douglas’ twenty-five-year career in the FBI Investigative Support Unit, where he used psychological profiling to delve into the minds of the country’s most notorious serial killers and criminals.In chilling detail, the legendary Mindhunter takes us behind the scenes of some of his most gruesome, fascinating, and challenging cases—and into the darkest recesses of our worst nightmares. During his twenty-five year career with the Investigative Support Unit, Special Agent John Douglas became a legendary figure in law enforcement, pursuing some of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers of our time: the man who hunted prostitutes for sport in the woods of Alaska, the Atlanta child murderer, and Seattle's Green River killer, the case that nearly cost Douglas his life. As the model for Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, Douglas has confronted, interviewed, and studied scores of serial killers and assassins, including Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, and Ed Gein, who dressed himself in his victims' peeled skin. Using his uncanny ability to become both predator and prey, Douglas examines each crime scene, reliving both the killer's and the victim's actions in his mind, creating their profiles, describing their habits, and predicting their next moves. Read more

The author of The Way of the Gladiator continues his exploration of the dark side of history with this grisly account of pain and punishment through the ages. Human beings have a deep-seated instinct for cruelty, and, so far, have not evolved much past it. History is rife with examples of the infliction of pain used as penalty or execution. In The History of Torture, Daniel P. Mannix takes you from the crucifixions of ancient Rome, to the hanging of women during the Salem witch trials, to the atrocities discovered at Nazi concentration camps. The act of torture has shifted from simple barbarism to advanced psychological techniques thanks to science and technology. Now it’s not just an actual flogging that will have a prisoner spilling his guts, but law enforcement’s coercive tactics that might prompt a confession. Follow Mannix as he: leads you into the chambers of Inquisitors, who elevated torture to an art form; illuminates the myriad miseries of the slave trade, America’s greatest contribution to the torture hall of fame; and explains the most terrible and famous of all Chinese tortures, the Ling-chez or “death of a thousand cuts.” No country or culture is spared in this wide-reaching survey of suffering. Read more

A South Carolina police investigator’s account of solving a thirty-seven-year-old murder—includes photos.   For decades, evidence of the 1978 murder of Gwendolyn Elaine Fogle lay in the evidence room at the Walterboro Police Department. Investigators periodically revisited the case, but it remained the department’s top cold case for thirty-seven years. However, Special Agent Lieutenant Rita Shuler worked on the case shortly after she joined the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), and she couldn't let it go, not even after her retirement in 2001.   In May 2015, Lieutenant Shuler teamed up with new investigator Corporal Gean Johnson, and together they uncovered key evidence that had been overlooked. With new advancements in DNA and fingerprint technology, they brought the case to its end in just four months. In this book, Shuler herself details the gruesome history of this finally solved case. Read more

The explosive memoir of an FBI field operative who has worked more undercover cases than anyone in history.Within FBI field operative circles, groups of people known as “Special” by their titles alone, Michael R. McGowan is an outlier. 10% of FBI Special Agents are trained and certified to work undercover. A quarter of those agents have worked more than one undercover assignment in their careers. And of those, less than 10% of them have been involved in more than five undercover cases. Over the course of his career, McGowan has worked more than 50 undercover cases. In this extraordinary and unprecedented book, McGowan will take readers through some of his biggest cases, from international drug busts, to the Russian and Italian mobs, to biker gangs and contract killers, to corrupt unions and SWAT work. Ghost is an unparalleled view into how the FBI, through the courage of its undercover Special Agents, nails the bad guys. McGowan infiltrates groups at home and abroad, assembles teams to create the myths he lives, concocts fake businesses, coordinates the busts, and helps carry out the arrests. Along the way, we meet his partners and colleagues at the FBI, who pull together for everything from bank jobs to the Boston Marathon bombing case, mafia dons, and, perhaps most significantly, El Chapo himself and his Sinaloa Cartel.Ghost is the ultimate insider's account of one of the most iconic institutions of American government, and a testament to the incredible work of the FBI. Read more

From the creator of HBO's The Wire, the classic book about homicide investigation that became the basis for the hit television showThe scene is Baltimore. Twice every three days another citizen is shot, stabbed, or bludgeoned to death. At the center of this hurricane of crime is the city's homicide unit, a small brotherhood of hard men who fight for whatever justice is possible in a deadly world. David Simon was the first reporter ever to gain unlimited access to a homicide unit, and this electrifying book tells the true story of a year on the violent streets of an American city. The narrative follows Donald Worden, a veteran investigator; Harry Edgerton, a black detective in a mostly white unit; and Tom Pellegrini, an earnest rookie who takes on the year's most difficult case, the brutal rape and murder of an eleven-year-old girl. Originally published fifteen years ago, Homicide became the basis for the acclaimed television show of the same name. This new edition—which includes a new introduction, an afterword, and photographs—revives this classic, riveting tale about the men who work on the dark side of the American experience. Read more

"A profession built on resilience must now prove its own ability to adapt in order to survive."The Thinning Blue Line exposes one of the greatest threats to American law enforcement today: the unprecedented recruitment and retention crisis. With agencies nationwide struggling to fill their ranks, public safety hangs in the balance.Colin Whittington, the 2019 Virginia Deputy Sheriff of the Year, best-selling author, and CEO of Recruiting Heroes LLC, delivers a compelling analysis of the causes behind this staffing emergency, from generational shifts and public scrutiny to outdated hiring practices. He examines how societal changes, like the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-George Floyd era, have reshaped the profession’s image.Whittington offers a roadmap for rebuilding law enforcement staffing through data-driven insights and real-world solutions. He highlights modern recruitment tactics, the power of social media, and why retention, not recruitment, is the real key to solving this crisis. With strategies to improve career growth, leadership, and officer well-being, he provides a blueprint for keeping experienced officers on the force.A must-read for department leaders, policymakers, recruiters, and all those who support our men and women in uniform, The Thinning Blue Line delivers bold strategies to revitalize hiring, strengthen retention, and secure the future of policing in America. Read more

On 29th February 2000, John Price took out a restraining order against his girlfriend, Katherine Knight. Later that day, he told his co-workers that she had stabbed him and if he were ever to go missing, it was because Knight had killed him. The next day, Price didn’t show up for work.A co-worker was sent to check on him. They found a bloody handprint by the front door and they immediately contacted the police. The local police force was not prepared for the chilling scene they were about to encounter.Price’s body was found in a chair, legs crossed, with a bottle of lemonade under his arm. He’d been decapitated and skinned. The “skin-suit” was hanging from a meat hook in the living room and his head was found in the kitchen, in a pot of vegetables that was still warm. There were two plates on the dining table, each had the name of one of Price's children on it. She was attempting to serve his body parts to his children.Man-Eater is a dramatic and gripping account of the first women in Australia to be given a life sentence without parole and a special addendum ‘never to be released’. Ryan Green’s riveting narrative draws the reader into the real-live horror experienced by the victim and has all the elements of a classic thriller.CAUTION: This book contains descriptive accounts of abuse and violence. If you are especially sensitive to this material, it might be advisable not to read any further Read more

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The true story of a teenage killer and the silence of a small New England town. For twenty years Daniel Paquette's murder in New Hampshire went unsolved. It remained a secret between two high school friends until Eric Windhurst's arrest in 2005. What was revealed was a crime born of adolescent passion between Eric and Daniel's stepdaughter, Melanie- redefining the meaning of loyalty, justice, and revenge. Read more

The true story of how a small-town lawman in upstate New York busted a Cosa Nostra conference in 1957, exposing the Mafia to America.In a small village in upstate New York, mob bosses from all over the country—Vito Genovese, Carlo Gambino, Joe Bonanno, Joe Profaci, Cuba boss Santo Trafficante, and future Gambino boss Paul Castellano—were nabbed by Sergeant Edgar D. Croswell as they gathered to sort out a bloody war of succession.For years, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover had adamantly denied the existence of the Mafia, but young Robert Kennedy immediately recognized the shattering importance of the Apalachin summit. As attorney general when his brother JFK became president, Bobby embarked on a campaign to break the spine of the mob, engaging in a furious turf battle with the powerful Hoover.Detailing mob killings, the early days of the heroin trade, and the crusade to loosen the hold of organized crime, this momentous story will captivate fans of Gus Russo and Luc Sante. Reavill scintillatingly recounts the beginning of the end for the Mafia in America and how it began with a good man in the right place at the right time.“The best, and best-written, true-crime story I’ve ever read. It’s as suspenseful, detailed, racy, and knowing as a novel by Hammett or Chandler.” —Howard Frank Mosher, award-winning author of North Country“A close investigation into the crime bosses’ upstate New York summit and its grisly aftermath, Reavill’s book accurately recreates one of the golden eras of American organized crime.” —Publishers Weekly Read more

From the bestselling author of Public Enemies and The Big Rich, an explosive account of the decade-long battle between the FBI and the homegrown revolutionary movements of the 1970sThe Weathermen. The Symbionese Liberation Army. The FALN. The Black Liberation Army. The names seem quaint now, when not forgotten altogether. But there was a stretch of time in America, during the 1970s, when bombings by domestic underground groups were a daily occurrence. The FBI combated these groups and others as nodes in a single revolutionary underground, dedicated to the violent overthrow of the American government.The FBI’s response to the leftist revolutionary counterculture has not been treated kindly by history, and in hindsight many of its efforts seem almost comically ineffectual, if not criminal in themselves. But part of the extraordinary accomplishment of Bryan Burrough’s Days of Rage is to temper those easy judgments with an understanding of just how deranged these times were, how charged with menace. Burrough re-creates an atmosphere that seems almost unbelievable just forty years later, conjuring a time of native-born radicals, most of them “nice middle-class kids,” smuggling bombs into skyscrapers and detonating them inside the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, at a Boston courthouse and a Wall Street restaurant packed with lunchtime diners—radicals robbing dozens of banks and assassinating policemen in New York, San Francisco, Atlanta. The FBI, encouraged to do everything possible to undermine the radical underground, itself broke many laws in its attempts to bring the revolutionaries to justice—often with disastrous consequences. Benefiting from the extraordinary number of people from the underground and the FBI who speak about their experiences for the first time, Days of Rage is filled with revelations and fresh details about the major revolutionaries and their connections and about the FBI and its desperate efforts to make the bombings stop. The result is a mesmerizing book that takes us into the hearts and minds of homegrown terrorists and federal agents alike and weaves their stories into a spellbinding secret history of the 1970s. Read more

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The first definitive account of the rise and fall of the Secret Service, from the Kennedy assassination to the alarming lapses of the Obama and Trump years—from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Carol Leonnig “This book is a wake-up call, and a valuable study of a critically important agency.”—The New York TimesA WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Carol Leonnig reported on the Secret Service for nearly a decade, bringing to light the secrets, scandals, and shortcomings that plague the agency today—from a toxic workplace culture to dangerously outdated equipment to the deep resentment within the ranks at key agency leaders, who put protecting the agency’s once-hallowed image before fixing its flaws.The Secret Service was born in 1865, in the wake of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, but its story begins in earnest in 1963, with the death of John F. Kennedy. Shocked into reform by its failure to protect the president on that fateful day in Dallas, this once-sleepy agency was radically transformed into an elite, highly trained unit that would redeem itself several times, most famously in 1981 by thwarting an assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan. But by Barack Obama’s presidency, the once-proud Secret Service was running on fumes and beset by mismanagement and mistakes in judgement: break-ins at the White House, an armed gunman firing into the windows of the residence while confused agents stood by, and a massive prostitution scandal among agents in Cartagena, to name just a few. With Donald Trump’s arrival, a series of promised reforms were cast aside, as a president disdainful of public service instead abused the Secret Service to rack up political and personal gains. To explore these problems in the ranks, Leonnig interviewed dozens of current and former agents, government officials, and whistleblowers who put their jobs on the line to speak out about a hobbled agency that is in desperate need of reform. Read more

“No one who enjoys mystery can fail to savor this study of a classic case of detection.”  —TONY HILLERMAN  On the night of September 14, 1935, George Conniff, a town marshal in Pend Oreille County in the state of Washington, was shot to death.  A lawman had been killed, yet there seemed to be no uproar, no major investigation.  No suspect was brought to trial.  More than fifty years later, the sheriff of Pend Oreille County, Tony Bamonte, in pursuit of both justice and a master’s degree in history, dug into the files of the Conniff case—by then the oldest open murder case in the United States.  Gradually, what started out as an intellectual exercise became an obsession, as Bamonte asked questions that unfolded layer upon layer of unsavory detail.                In Timothy Egan’s vivid account, which reads like a thriller, we follow Bamonte as his investigation plunges him back in time to the Depression era of rampant black-market crime and police corruption.  We see how the suppressed reports he uncovers and the ambiguous answers his questions evoke lead him to the murder weapon—missing for half a century—and then to the man, an ex-cop, he is convinced was the murderer.                 Bamonte himself—a logger’s son and a Vietnam veteran—had joined the Spokane police force in the late 1960s, a time when increasingly enlightened and educated police departments across the country were shaking off the “dirty cop” stigma.  But as he got closer to actually solving the crime, questioning elderly retired members of the force, he found himself more and more isolated, shut out by tight-lipped hostility, and made dramatically aware of the fraternal sin he had committed—breaking the blue code.                Breaking Blue is a gripping story of cop against cop.  But it also describes a collision between two generations of lawmen and two very different moments in our nation’s history. Read more

Once a job of serving their community by providing safety, police officers could rest relatively easy knowing their efforts were worth the sacrifice. However, over the past decade, the trade-offs between the rewards and risks of policing have increasingly sloped toward the latter. Today, officers are routinely being confronted with more pressure and scrutiny because of unfortunate bad actions by a few of their own. Then they still encounter constant threats of danger, and continued exposure to the darkest corners of society. It is no surprise that policing remains one of the most stressful occupations on the planet – stress that dramatically increases suicide risk among this population. There currently exists very little avenues police can turn towards for help with such a unique problem. This is detrimental because of not only the suicide risk, but it affects an officer's capability of being the upstanding hero the citizens want.This book was written by a police officer who, speaking from personal experience, and sourcing the help of trusted experts, walks anyone through the steps law enforcement officers can take to be shielded from having mental breakdowns and God forbid, become a suicide statistic. Within this resource are five key methodologies proven to increase mental clarity as a police officer:1. Acknowledging and counteracting the “warrior socialization” of police officers. You’re not a tough person – you’re a person. 2. Realizing the truth about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and how to overcome it.3. Uncovering the secret system of your mind that can make or break your mental health as a police officer.4. Unraveling and addressing the numerous and often surprising contributors to on-the-job stress.5. Introducing habits and strategies for developing the strongest defense against the traumas and other stressors involved with policing. You will also benefit from the expert consultation of multiple guest authors, who have shared their expertise in mental health, coaching, and more to bring you the most effective treatments available in their respective fields of study. All this will be for not, however, if you don’t take the first step and acknowledge that you’re a human being who needs help.It’s time we start prioritizing mental health as police officers. Acknowledge that you’re not perfect, follow the methods in this book, save your own life, and provide the protection and service to your community. Read more

📚 Betrayed By the Badge:The Overlooked Crisis of Neglected Mental Health In Law EnforcementIn Betrayed By The Badge, we confront a growing yet often ignored crisis in law enforcement: the neglect of mental health among officers. Law enforcement professionals face traumatic and high-stress situations daily, yet mental health care for them remains underfunded, underappreciated, and stigmatized. This book shines a light on the emotional and psychological toll that policing takes on officers and their families and how neglecting this vital aspect is costing lives, careers, and relationships.📖 Inside this book, you'll discover:🧠 The reality of mental health struggles in law enforcement and the stigma that prevents officers from seeking help.🔥 Stories of trauma and resilience from officers who have faced the worst of the job and the impact it had on their well-being.💔 The ripple effect on families, how untreated stress and trauma affect spouses, children, and loved ones.💼 The systemic failures that have allowed mental health care to be overlooked in police departments.🛠 Actionable strategies for officers and families to heal, cope with stress and build emotional resilience.👫 The importance of mandatory mental health care and why departments must prioritize regular, free therapy for officers and their families.💡 Expert insights on how to manage PTSD, anxiety, and the unique challenges faced by those in law enforcement.🌟 Real-life success stories of officers who broke the silence and reclaimed their mental health.🛑 Why peer support alone isn’t enough and the need for professional help from those trained to deal with law enforcement trauma.👊 A call to action for law enforcement agencies, leaders, and communities to prioritize the mental health of those who serve and protect.💪 Whether you're an officer, a family member, or someone who cares about the law enforcement community, this book is a crucial guide to understanding and addressing the mental health crisis within the force. Together, we can make a difference and support the heroes behind the badge. Read more

Was the JonBenét Ramsey case solved years ago—just not in the way the world expected?NO theory had been developed that answered EVERY question about the murder scene.UNTIL NOW. Is this the ONLY theory that answers EVERY question regarding the murder scene?Using the unique lens of AI analysis and critical deep-dives, this book explores a theory that has rarely been discussed in public: the potential involvement—or at least proximity—of a family member not commonly scrutinized.Drawing from public records, interviews, and overlooked evidence, this book reveals:✔️ Why traditional theories may have missed key psychological and behavioral clues✔️ How the Melinda Ramsey theory reframes the case timeline and key players✔️ New angles on the sibling dynamics and family patterns that shaped the Ramsey household✔️ AI-assisted analysis of crime scene inconsistencies and media misdirection✔️ Why this cold case still haunts America—and how it might one day be solvedWhether you're a seasoned true crime reader, a JonBenét case follower, or simply someone who seeks truth beneath sensational headlines, this book challenges you to think differently.A must-read for fans of cold case investigations, psychological crime theory, and unsolved murder cases.YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/@MichaelInvestigates-i7kEmail: [email protected] Read more