Download or read book The Man from the Train written by Bill James and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime, this “impressive…open-eyed investigative inquiry wrapped within a cultural history of rural America” (The Wall Street Journal) shows legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applying his analytical acumen to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history. Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Jewelry and valuables were left in plain sight, bodies were piled together, faces covered with cloth. Some of these cases, like the infamous Villasca, Iowa, murders, received national attention. But few people believed the crimes were related. And fewer still would realize that all of these families lived within walking distance to a train station. When celebrated baseball statistician and true crime expert Bill James first learned about these horrors, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the same know-how he brings to his legendary baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery: they learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal. In turn, they uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in America. Riveting and immersive, with writing as sharp as the cold side of an axe, The Man from the Train paints a vivid, psychologically perceptive portrait of America at the dawn of the twentieth century, when crime was regarded as a local problem, and opportunistic private detectives exploited a dysfunctional judicial system. James shows how these cultural factors enabled such an unspeakable series of crimes to occur, and his groundbreaking approach to true crime will convince skeptics, amaze aficionados, and change the way we view criminal history.

Download or read book Victims of the Ax Fiend Mystery Mayhem and the Church of Sacrifice Murders written by Troy Taylor and published by Whitechapel Productions. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The true story of a little-known series of murders that shaped the lives of scores of people in the early twentieth century and a real-life monster that prowled the darkness of Louisiana and Texas between 1909 and 1912, claiming the lives of men, women, and children alike.

Download or read book Inside the Mind of BTK written by John Douglas and published by Wiley + ORM. This book was released on 2008-11-03 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The FBI profiler & co-author of the #1 New York Times–bestseller Mindhunter recounts his role in catching one of America’s most notorious serial killers. Inside the Mind of BTK tells the incredible true story of how FBI profiler John Douglas tracked and participated in the hunt for one of the most notorious serial killers in US history. For thirty-one years a man who called himself BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) terrorized the city of Wichita, Kansas, sexually assaulting and strangling a series of victims, taunting the police with cryptic communications, and bragging about his vicious crimes to local newspapers and television stations. After disappearing for nine years, he suddenly reappeared, complaining that no one was paying enough attention to him and claiming that he had committed other crimes for which he had not been given credit. When he was finally captured, BTK was revealed to be Dennis Rader, a sixty-one-year-old churchgoing, married man with two children. As a leading serial killer profiler for the FBI, John Douglas was first called to consult about the case in 1980 and remained involved with the story and all of its principal players up to the arrest and prosecution. After Rader was arrested, Douglas was granted both an exclusive interview with the killer after his sentencing, as well as access to friends, family, and police. In this page-turning book, Douglas reveals both new information and insight into why Rader did what he did, why he stopped for a mysterious nine-year period, and his current psychological state in custody. Praise for Inside the Mind of BTK “Legendary profiler and bestselling author Douglas (Mindhunter), who pioneered the FBI’s systematic study of serial killers, offers his insights into one of this country’s most chilling killers—Dennis Rader, a seemingly innocuous family man and municipal employee, whose brutal murders terrorized Wichita, Kans., for three decades. . . . While the stomach-turning story of BTK's crimes has been told by others, Douglas's unique professional experience and his exclusive personal access to Rader offers a different perspective, even as the answer to the question of how such a monster comes to be remains elusive.” —Publishers Weekly “Riveting! Douglas and Dodd have focused a laser sight on one of the most fascinating and disturbing serial killers of our time. Their in-depth analysis of BTK’s early childhood, his seemingly “normal” everyday life, and his shockingly well-hidden “other” life deftly explores the nature of evil and how we can better protect ourselves from such cunning predators.” ―Lisa Gardner, New York Times–bestselling suspense author of Hide

Download or read book American Hauntings written by Troy Taylor and published by Whitechapel Productions. This book was released on 2017-04-13 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the mediums of Spiritualism's golden age to the ghost hunters of the modern era, Taylor shines a light on the phantasms and frauds of the past, the first researchers who dared to investigate the unknown, and the stories and events that galvanized the pubic and created the paranormal field that we know today.

Download or read book Black Rage Confronts the Law written by Paul Harris and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 1997-05-01 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the origins of the black rage defense in criminal court history In 1971, Paul Harris pioneered the modern version of the black rage defense when he successfully defended a young black man charged with armed bank robbery. Dubbed one of the most novel criminal defenses in American history by Vanity Fair, the black rage defense is enormously controversial, frequently dismissed as irresponsible, nothing less than a harbinger of anarchy. Consider the firestorm of protest that resulted when the defense for Colin Ferguson, the gunman who murdered numerous passengers on a New York commuter train, claimed it was considering a black rage defense. In this thought-provoking book, Harris traces the origins of the black rage defense back through American history, recreating numerous dramatic trials along the way. For example, he recounts in vivid detail how Clarence Darrow, defense attorney in the famous Scopes Monkey trial, first introduced the notion of an environmental hardship defense in 1925 while defending a black family who shot into a drunken white mob that had encircled their home. Emphasizing that the black rage defense must be enlisted responsibly and selectively, Harris skillfully distinguishes between applying an environmental defense and simply blaming society, in the abstract, for individual crimes. If Ferguson had invoked such a defense, in Harris's words, it would have sent a superficial, wrong-headed, blame-everything-on-racism message. Careful not to succumb to easy generalizations, Harris also addresses the possibilities of a white rage defense and the more recent phenomenon of cultural defenses. He illustrates how a person's environment can, and does, affect his or her life and actions, how even the most rational person can become criminally deranged, when bludgeoned into hopelessness by exploitation, racism, and relentless poverty.

Download or read book Girls with Swords written by Lisa Bevere and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2014-02-18 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A passionate call for Christian women to effectively "wield the sword" of their God-given feminine strength against any evil that threatens them and those they love. What if you discovered you have been entrusted with an invisible, invincible, and incorruptible weapon? Would you use it? In a day of worldwide trafficking, gendercide, discrimination, and other hostility against women, Lisa Bevere points to a biblical foundation to present a model of feminine strength that will empower women to live confidently. Drawing on the many references to swords throughout Scripture, the author constructs a revealing and compelling female paradigm that will impact every area of a woman's self identity, spiritual awareness, relationships, and life vision and mission. Long known for her passionate and articulate expression of biblical womanhood, Bevere presents fresh imagery--as enticing and strong as polished steel--to prepare women boldly for the challenges they face in today's world. It's not enough to just be wise and strong: Now a woman must know how to wield her sword. Creatively forging the imagery of swords, the Word of God, and the Cross, Girls with Swords will teach you: • How to speak the language of heaven on earth • What it means to intercede • What it means to carry your cross • What it means to be discerning • How to disarm the enemy • Why women are the enemy’s target—and why God needs them to be heroes It’s time to take up your sword and be a hero.

Download or read book A Companion to Crime Fiction written by Charles J. Rzepka and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-07-13 with total page 648 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Companion to Crime Fiction presents the definitive guide to this popular genre from its origins in the eighteenth century to the present day A collection of forty-seven newly commissioned essays from a team of leading scholars across the globe make this Companion the definitive guide to crime fiction Follows the development of the genre from its origins in the eighteenth century through to its phenomenal present day popularity Features full-length critical essays on the most significant authors and film-makers, from Arthur Conan Doyle and Dashiell Hammett to Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese exploring the ways in which they have shaped and influenced the field Includes extensive references to the most up-to-date scholarship, and a comprehensive bibliography

Download or read book Why I Believed written by Kenneth W. Daniels and published by Kenneth W Daniels. This book was released on 2008-06-28 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part auto-biography and part exposé of Ken Daniels' experience and long time belief in Christianity and the questions and answers he's had to ask about with regard to the validity of Christian theories.

Download or read book Deadlands Reloaded written by Pinnacle Entertainment and published by . This book was released on 2010-10-04 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Marshal's Handbook is the setting book for Deadlands Reloaded." -- From back cover

Download or read book The Smoke of the Gods written by Eric Burns and published by Temple University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-06 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of The Spirits of America, an energetic history of tobacco use.

Download or read book The Devil In The White City written by Erik Larson and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'An irresistible page-turner that reads like the most compelling, sleep defying fiction' TIME OUT One was an architect. The other a serial killer. This is the incredible story of these two men and their realization of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and its amazing 'White City'; one of the wonders of the world. The architect was Daniel H. Burnham, the driving force behind the White City, the massive, visionary landscape of white buildings set in a wonderland of canals and gardens. The killer was H. H. Holmes, a handsome doctor with striking blue eyes. He used the attraction of the great fair - and his own devilish charms - to lure scores of young women to their deaths. While Burnham overcame politics, infighting, personality clashes and Chicago's infamous weather to transform the swamps of Jackson Park into the greatest show on Earth, Holmes built his own edifice just west of the fairground. He called it the World's Fair Hotel. In reality it was a torture palace, a gas chamber, a crematorium. These two disparate but driven men are brought to life in this mesmerizing, murderous tale of the legendary Fair that transformed America and set it on course for the twentieth century . . .

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers written by Lee Server and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an introduction to American pulp fiction during the twentieth century with brief author biographies and lists of their works.

Download or read book Film written by Maria Pramaggiore and published by Pearson College Division. This book was released on 2008-07-31 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Film: A Critical Introduction "provides a comprehensive framework for studying films, with an emphasis on writing as a means of exploring film's aesthetic and cultural significance. This text's consistent and comprehensive focus on writing allows students to master film vocabulary and concepts while learning to formulate rich interpretations. Part I introduces readers to the importance of film analysis, offering helpful strategies for discerning the way films produce meaning. Part II examines the fundamental elements of film, including narrative form, mise en scene, cinematography, editing, and sound, and shows how these concepts can be used to interpret films. Part III moves beyond textual analysis to explore film as a cultural institution and introduce students to essential areas of film studies research.

Download or read book Exit Laughing written by Irvin S. Cobb and published by . This book was released on 2013-10 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a new release of the original 1941 edition.

Download or read book Holy Barbarians written by Lawrence Lipton and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mr. Lipton’s book is the first complete and unbiased survey of the beat generation and its role in our society. Here are the intimate facts about these people and their attitudes toward sex, dope, jazz, art, religion, parents, landlords, employers, politicians, draft boards, the law and, most important, toward the “square”. The author presents a picture of their way of life, their individual backgrounds, the language they have appropriated, in terms made clear for the first time to those of us who have been confused and puzzled about them. He also provides a balanced discussion of their literature, art and music, of what they produce and fail to produce in the arts they practice.—Print Ed.

Download or read book Radio Voices written by Michele Hilmes and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 1997 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Looks at the history of radio broadcasting as an aspect of American culture, and discusses social tensions, radio formats, and the roles of African Americans and women

Download or read book Murdered in Their Beds written by Troy Taylor and published by Whitechapel Productions. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Something terrible has happened here..." Those were the words uttered by Ross Moore after discovering the bodies of his brother, his family and two houseguests in Villisca, Iowa in June 1912. That horrifying discovery created a legend that became both an unsolved mystery and a haunting that continues to this day. The small town of Villisca received an unwelcome visitor on that dark night and the town was touched by a horror unlike anything that it had seen before - or has seen since. Over the years, the brutal murders committed that night have earned a place in infamy and they remain the most famous in a series of murders that were committed across the prairie during that era. But that night in June was not the first time that the monster who committed the "Villisca Ax Murders" had tasted blood. He blazed a terrible trail across the region in the years before and after the Villisca murders, using the railroad lines to carry out his horrific deeds. This book will bring you the story of the Villisca Ax Murders, along with the history and the hauntings that followed, but it tells another story as well. It is a tale of madness, murder, horror and blood and the story of the "transient butcher" who wreaked havoc in the American Midwest and then vanished into history, his name and face forever unknown. Only his dark legacy lingers behind with us today and it remains a chronicle of one of the bloodiest unsolved murders sprees in our history. The small towns of the American prairie were never the same again.