September 25, 2011

Anyone You Want Me to Be by John Douglas

Format: NOOK Book (eBook)
Pub. Date: May 2003
Publisher: Scribner
Non-Fiction, True Crime
Read: 09/14/2011

A True Story of Sex and Death on the Internet

Legendary FBI profiler and #1 New York Times bestselling author John Douglas explores the shocking case of John Robinson, a harmless, unassuming family man whose criminal history began with embezzlement and fraud — and ended with his arrest for the savage murders of six women and his suspected involvement in at least five disappearances. Most disturbing was the hunting ground in which Robinson seduced his prey: the world of cyberspace. Haunting chat rooms, targeting vulnerable women, and exploiting the anonymity of the Internet, his bloody spree was finally halted by a relentless parole officer who spent ten years trying to nail Robinson as a cold-blooded killer.

A cautionary tale set in a virtual world where relationships are established without the benefit of physical contact, and where mainstream Americans can be drawn down a dark path of temptation and death, Anyone You Want Me To Be is a contemporary real-life drama of high-tech crime and punishment.

John Robinson was a con man, when he discovered the internet it widened his ‘hunting grounds’ beyond what anyone could conceive. He could draw victims from all over the world, this is also what led to his downfall, as with more victims it was harder to keep his ‘identities’ straight. This case made necessary new skills with police, new wording on warrants.

Besides relating the crime and trail, John Douglas also relates fact about crime in relation to the internet and different groups that have cropped up both crime related and crime prevention related.

I recommend this book.

Posted by on September 25, 2011 in 2011, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , , .

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September 18, 2011

Acquisitions

Our Little Secret: The True Story of a Teenager Killer and the Silence of a Small New England Town by Kevin Flynn, Rebecca Lavoie

True Crime, E-book, from Kobo Books

Posted by on September 18, 2011 in Acquisitions, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , .

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September 6, 2011

Acquisitions

I Would Find a Girl Walking by Kathy Kelly, Diana Montane

True Crime, E-book, from Kobo Books

Posted by on September 6, 2011 in Acquisitions, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , .

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September 6, 2011

Short Stories

Each of these was purchased for my Kindle app for my iPhone. I hesitate to call them books, since each is about the length of a magazine article. They are all well written, and although I am not writing a review for each one, I recommend them all. They are written with the same quality and attention to detail as these authors take in their full length books.

4 stars for each True Crime Short in the following list.

Taken in the Night ~ Gregg Olsen ~ Read: August 25, 2011

Texas Love Triangle Murder ~ Kathryn Casey ~ Read: August 25, 2011

True Crime Files: My Most Memorable Cases (3 cases) ~ Kathryn Casey ~ Read: August 25, 2011

The Drag Queen Murder ~ Kathryn Casey ~ Read: June 22, 2011

Blues & Bad Blood ~ Kathryn Casey ~ June 22, 2011

Posted by on September 6, 2011 in 2011, Acquisitions, Historical True Crime, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , , , , , .

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September 6, 2011

Through the Window by Diane Fanning

E-Book
Rating: 4 stars
Pub. Date: April 2003
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Read: 7/23/2011
Non-Fiction, True Crime

The Terrifying True Story of Cross-Country Killer Tommy Lynn Sells

Ten-Year-Old Krystal Surles Watched In Horror

As Her Best Friend Was Murdered At The Hands Of An Intruder.

Then with cold-blooded precision he brought a twelve-inch boning knife to Krystal’s throat. With a single, violent slash, he severed her windpipe and left her for dead. Miraculously, she survived and would lead authorities to the arrest of 35-year-old Tommy Lynn Sells, a former truck driver, carnival worker, and cross-country drifter…

He Aspired To Become “The Worst Serial Killer Of All Time.”

With no apparent motive and no common pattern to his inconceivable bloodshed, the elusive Sells had carved his way across the country for two decades slaughtering women, men, transients, entire families, teenagers, and even infants with ghoulish abandon.

Through The Window is more than an investigation into a crime spree that stunned a nation. It’s an utterly terrifying plunge into the unfathomable dark mind of a serial killer, and the heart-wrenching story of the brave child who finally brought him to justice.

Through extensive interviews with law enforcement personnel, prosecuting attorneys, the victims family and Tommy Lynn Sells (another serial killer with 3 names, it’s a pattern) Diane Fanning has recreated a life of crime and details the bravery of one little 10-year old, who even when doctor’s were saving her life insisted on talking to police, her goal was justice for her friend.

This is a compelling read and Dianne Fanning’s writing keeps you interested until the last page, she sticks to the facts, always telling when something has or hasn’t been able to be verified.

For readers of True Crime, I recommend this book.

Posted by on September 6, 2011 in 2011, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , .

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September 6, 2011

Caught by Harlan Coben

Pub. Date: March 2011
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Format: E-book/Library Book
Read: 6/25/2011
My rating: 4 stars

Seventeen-year-old Haley McWaid is a good girl, the pride of her suburban New Jersey family, headed off to college next year with all the hopes and dreams her doting parents can pin on her. Which is why, when her mother wakes one morning to find that Haley never came home the night before and three months quickly pass without word from the girl, the community assumes the worst.

Wendy Tynes is a reporter on a mission: to bring down sexual predators via elaborate—and nationally televised—sting operations. Wendy and her team have shamed dozens of men by the time she encounters her latest target. Dan Mercer is a social worker known as a friend to troubled teens, but his story soon becomes more complicated than Wendy could have imagined.

Caught tells the story of a missing girl, the predator who may have taken her, and the reporter who suddenly realizes she can’t trust her own instincts about this story—or the motives of the people around her.

Harlan Coben is one of the few fiction writers I like, mainly because when he writes a mystery, he includes the human element, his books are part mystery, partly a commentary on human nature.

In this book, like in many of his books, he shows how the things we do affect us for the rest of our lives. It is also interesting how he reveals thought processes, he weaves modern technology into the story and provides enough twists to keep me interested.

More then a mystery, this is a story of how modern technology can be abused, and how revenge is ‘a dish best served cold’ for many people.

Posted by on September 6, 2011 in 2011, Crime Fiction, Mystery, Novel, Suspense and tagged , , , , , .

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July 2, 2011

The Strand, near Central Park

Today after bike riding and having lunch and walking around we stopped at the Strand Central Park Kiosk. There I got two paperback books for half price.

American Sphinx (The Character of Thomas Jefferson) by Joseph J. Ellis
Hellhound on His Trail by Hampton Sides

Posted by on July 2, 2011 in Acquisitions, Biography, Historical True Crime, History, Non-Fiction, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , .

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June 24, 2011

The Killer of Little Shepherds by Douglas Starr

E-Book
Pub. Date: October 2010
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Non-Fiction, True Crime

A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science

In 1893 Louise Barant crossed paths with Joseph Vacher, he became obsessed with her, stalked her and shot her then himself. Both survived the shooting, Vacher was sent to an insane asylum. He was released on April 1, 1894, on May 19 he committed his first admitted murder. Investigators involved with the murders believe that this murder was not his first, but Vacher insisted it was. His last murder was committed on June 18, 1897 and he attacked his last victim on August 4, 1897. He confessed to 11 killings but is believed to have committed more than 25. His victims were spread throughout the French countryside, that was one of the reasons he was not caught for so long. By the time most of his victims were found he was miles away. In a couple of instances, someone else was blamed for the crime, even when Vacher was seen and reported to police as being in the area. Joseph Vacher was known and feared as “The Killer of Little Shepherds”.

Douglas Starr also covers the history of Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne and the development of forensic science. He shows the relationship between his science and a popular theory of the day, promulgated by Cesare Lombroso who believed there were people that were ‘born criminal’ and that the tendency to commit crimes is genetic and revealed in certain telltale body traits. He also writes about Alphonse Bertillon who developed an identification systems consisting of ‘eleven critical measurements’ and Hans Gross, Austrian criminologist who promoted the idea of psychology for interrogation instead of the methods used as the time, namely torture.

This a well researched book. Douglas Starr takes the time to educate his readers on the social and economic conditions of the area and the time period. It is also well written, fascinating to read and not boring in any way. I recommend this book.

Posted by on June 24, 2011 in 2011, Historical True Crime, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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June 22, 2011

Added to my library

Blues and Bad Blood by Kathryn Casey

The Drag Queen Murder by Kathryn Casey

E-books for Kindle

Kathryn posted about these books on Facebook. Someone commented, “I only deal in real books. Is it available hard back?” I almost posted ‘aren’t you a snob! E-books are real books.’. I didn’t because it wasn’t my wall. The other thing is, these are short stories something you would find in a magazine or collection, not hard bound.

Posted by on June 22, 2011 in Acquisitions, Non-Fiction, True Crime.

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June 21, 2011

I just bought

True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa by Michael Finkel

E-book from Sony E-Book Store

Posted by on June 21, 2011 in Acquisitions, Memoir, Non-Fiction, True Crime and tagged , .

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