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Book SynopsisIn 1935, three people went missing on separate occasions in the rugged canyon country of southeastern Utah. A thirteen-year old girl, Lucy Garrett, was tricked into heading west with the man who had murdered her father under the pretense of reuniting with him. At the same time, a search was underway for Dan Thrapp, a young scientist on leave from the American Museum of Natural History. Others were scouring the same region for an artist, Everett Ruess, who had disappeared into “the perfect labyrinth.”Intrigued by this unusual string of coincidental disappearances, Scott Thybony set out to learn what happened. His investigations took him from Island in the Sky to Skeleton Mesa, from Texas to Tucson, and from the Green River to the Red. He traced the journey of Lucy Garrett from the murder of her father to her dramatic courtroom testimony. Using the pages of an old journal he followed the route of Dan Thrapp as he crossed an expanse of wildly rugged country with a pair of outlaws. Thrapp’s story of survival in an unforgiving land is a poignant counterpoint to the fate of the artist Everett Ruess, which the New York Times has called “one of the most enduring mysteries of the modern West.” Thybony draws on extensive research and a lifetime of exploration to create a riveting story of these three lives.Trade ReviewFor a long time, many of us have known a simple truth: No one writes better about the American West than Scott Thybony. He proves that fact again with The Disappearances. It is a compelling book from the first sentence to the last as he interweaves startling stories with poetic descriptions of time and place. With The Disappearances, Thybony shows why he has to be ranked alongside Ed Abbey and Chuck Bowden as a brilliant interpreter of the West."" —W.K. Stratton, author of Chasing the Rodeo and Ranchero Ford/Dying in Red Dirt Country“Scott Thybony once again provides a wonderful mix of natural history, history, and mystery in this story of the disappearances of three young people and the efforts to find them. It is set in Utah’s canyon country, a place where people still get lost and die, and that even 75 years later can still legitimately be called the boonies.” —Richard Quartaroli, special collections librarian, Northern Arizona University

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Book SynopsisIn the great modern narrative nonfiction tradition of Ryszard Kapuściński, Burning the Grass is a literary masterpiece of true crime based on the April 2010 murder of Eugène Terre'Blanche, firebrand leader of the far-right AWB (Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging--the Afrikaner Resistance Movement), who espoused white Afrikaner rule even as it was ending in South Africa. It tells a universal story of small-town life where every face is familiar and people's immediate experience is hardly touched by national trends or ideologies. Jagielski intrudes on the intimate lives of the inhabitants to give us writing that jumps off the page for its immediacy, scope, and ambition. Never before has there been a book about South Africa like this.A white Afrikaner runs the Blue Crane Tavern on the outskirts of Ventersdorp that caters to blacks, a failing enterprise that he clings to obstinately. A black African is a local politician from the township of Tshing who commutes to the Town Hall in the white town as an advisor to the local government, but who is never asked for his advice. Everyone knows Eugène Terre'Blanche--for his cruelty to the workers on his farm as much as for his leadership of the AWB. The Boardman family--outcasts for being of British descent in an Afrikaner world--are at the center of Jagielski's story, a family that is ostracized almost equally by their black and white neighbors.Like Janet Malcolm in her true-crime narratives, or even Truman Capote in In Cold Blood, Jagielski uses death to enter into life, keeping our faces close enough to the pulse of it to let us smell the blood and know it as our own.

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Book SynopsisA beloved film comedienne who worked alongside the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, and dozens of others, Thelma Todd was a rare Golden Age star who successfully crossed over from silent films to talkies. This authoritative new biography traces Todd’s life from a vivacious little girl who tried to assuage her parents’ grief over her brother’s death, to an aspiring teacher turned reluctant beauty queen, to an outspoken movie starlet and restaurateur.Increasingly disenchanted with Hollywood, in 1934 Todd opened Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk CafÉ, a hot spot that attracted fans, tourists, and celebrities. Despite success in film and business, privately the beautiful actress was having a difficult year–receiving disturbing threats from a stranger known as the Ace and having her home ransacked–when she was found dead in a garage near her cafÉ. An inquest concluded that her death, at age just twenty-nine, was accidental, but in a thorough new investigation that draws on interviews, photographs, documents, and extortion notes–much of these not previously available to the public–Michelle Morgan offers a compelling new theory, suggesting the sequence of events on the night of her death and arguing what many people have long suspected: that Thelma was murdered.But by whom?The suspects include Thelma’s movie-director lover, her would-be-gangster ex-husband, and the thugs who were pressuring her to install gaming tables in her popular cafÉ–including a new, never-before-named mobster. This fresh examination on the eightieth anniversary of the star's death is sure to interest any fan of Thelma Todd, of Hollywood's Golden Age, or of gripping real-life murder mysteries.Trade Review"The Ice Cream Blonde is a riveting mystery about the death of Thelma Todd. It's also an eerie exploration of the Todd dichotomybreezy comedienne on the one hand; serious businesswoman with underworld connections on the other. Highly recommended." Robert Matzen, author of Fireball: Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3" The Ice Cream Blonde gives an engaging and balanced look at the fascinating life and notorious death of Thelma Todd. Michelle Morgan proves once again that she is expert researcher who can tackle a controversial subject justly, and through her, Thelma Todd becomes much more than just a scandalous Hollywood footnote." Christina Rice, author Ann Dvorak: Hollywood's Forgotten Rebel"In Ice Cream Blonde , biographer Michelle Morgan shows us why Thelma Todd was so beloved to her family, co-workers, and fans. In the final riveting chapters, Morgan exposes the dangerous world Todd lived in and the shadowy figures she let into her life. Finally, 80 years after her death, we understand why Todd's last days were more unsettling and disturbing than any role Hollywood could have written for her." Michael G. Ankerich, author of Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips"I loved [author Michelle] Morgan's writing style; she makes Thelma Todd an accessible human being." On Wednesdays We Wear Capes"Morgan presents a biography sure to appeal to fans of Hollywood's Golden Era rich in significant details about Todd's life and aimed at ending speculation about the death of this versatile actress." Booklist"Morgan digs into the complexities of Thelma's last night, and the events that would follow, with a strong investigative eye." indieWIRE"a great read, and also timely." Huffington Post"Michelle Morgan weaves another insightful examination of a much maligned figure, highlighting the darkness but never ignoring the light surrounding Thelma Todd." Journeys in Classic Film"[For] anyone already acquainted with Todd and the controversy surrounding her death, the book offers a concise and thoughtful glimpse into an actress' untimely demise." Pre-code.com"Author Morgan does meticulous work, not only about all the strangeness surrounding Todd's death, but the actresses' slow, steady and mostly unsatisfying climb." New York Social Diary"A truly exceptional and impressively researched biography that reads as smoothly as any riveting suspense novel." The Midwest Book Review

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Book SynopsisAlmost before the gunsmoke from the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre cleared, Chicago police had a suspect: Jack McGurn. They just couldn’t find him. McGurn, whose real name was Vincent Gebardi, was Al Capone’s chief assassin, a baby-faced Sicilian immigrant and professional killer of professional killers. But two weeks after the murders, police found McGurn and his paramour, Louise May Rolfe, holed up downtown at the Stevens Hotel. Both claimed they were in bed on the morning of the famous shootings, a titillating alibi that grabbed the public’s attention and never let go.Deadly Valentines tells one of the most outrageous stories of the 1920s, a twin biography of a couple who defined the extremes and excesses of the Prohibition era in America. McGurn was a prizefighter and the ultimate urban predator and hit man who put the iron in Al Capone’s muscle. Rolfe, a beautiful blonde dancer and libertine, was the epitome of fashion, rebellion, and wild abandon in the new jazz subculture. They were the prototypes for decades of gangster literature and cinema, representing a time that has never lost its allure.Trade Review"An engrossing look inside Al Capone's murderous ranks." Kirkus Reviews on cloth edition

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Book SynopsisThe city of Salinas, California, is the birthplace of John Steinbeck and the setting for his epic masterpiece, East of Eden, but it is also the home of Nuestra Familia, one of the most violent gangs in America. Born in the prisons of California in the late 1960s, Nuestra Familia expanded to control drug trafficking and extortion operations throughout the northern half of the state, and left a trail of bodies in its wake. Prize-winning journalist and Nieman Fellow Julia Reynolds tells the gang’s story from the inside out, following young men and women as they search for a new kind of family, quests that usually lead to murder and betrayal.Blood in the Fields also documents the history of Operation Black Widow, the FBI’s questionable decade-long effort to dismantle the Nuestra Familia, along with its compromised informants and the turf wars it created with local law enforcement agencies. Journalist Reynolds uses her unprecedented access to gang members, both in and out of prison, as well as undercover wire taps, depositions, and court documents to weave a gripping, comprehensive history of this brutal criminal organization and the lives it destroyed.Trade Review" Blood in the Fields is a fascinating yet troubling look at a generation grappling with identity. It is a powerful account, one crafted with sensitivity and sharp human insights, of another Mexico within the United States. Julia Reynolds is a masterful storyteller." Alfredo Corchado, author of Midnight in Mexico and Mexico bureau chief for the Dallas Morning News"Both chilling and sadso many lives lost, so many households ruined, and so many hearts torn apart. Blood in the Fields is a must-read for anybody interested in stopping the cycle of violence for safer communities." Gabe Morales, author, trainer, gang specialist, and founder of the International Latino Gang Investigators Association"Journalist Reynolds's debut offers a well sourced account of the most important criminal organization you've never heard of: Nuestra Familia." Publishers Weekly"A sprawling, literary true-crime effort that will reward patient readers with its gloomy account of an unstoppable, violent subculture." Kirkus"Reynolds skillfully limns the tough lives, heartlessness, misgivings, and bad decisions made for the sake of family and the home country of Mexico. . . . A riveting tale of a monster of criminality that is still not dead but merely changing shape." BOOKLIST

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Book SynopsisIn 2009, the United States was hit broadside by Somali pirates who attempted to capture the U.S. flag ship Maersk Alabama. Suddenly, the pirates were no longer a distant menace. They had thrust themselves onto the American stage. Are the Somali pirates a legion of desperate fishermen attacking cargo ships and ocean cruisers to reclaim their waters? Or is piracy connected to crime networks and the madness that grips Somalia? What threats do pirates pose to international security? To answer these questions, Peter Eichstaedt crisscrosses East Africa, meeting with pirates both in and out of prisons, talking with them about their lives, tactics, and motives. Ultimately, he comes face-to-face with a former fighter with Somalia’s brutal Islamic al-Shabaab militia. He discovers that piracy is a symptom of a much deeper problem: Somalia itself. Pirate State explores the links between the pirates, global financiers, and extremists who control southern Somalia and whose influence extends across the Gulf of Aden into Yemen and connects to extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Somali pirates are desperate and dangerous men who will do just about anything for money, and Pirate State argues that turning a blind eye to piracy and the problems of Somalia is inviting a disaster of horrific proportions.Trade Review"Clear, expert reporting on a region of which many Americans may be unaware." Kirkus Reviews"[A] compelling book . . . [Eichstaedt's] even-handed polished style, and impressive documentation let the horrors and ramifications of piracy speak for themselves." Publishers Weekly web-exclusive reviews (February 28, 2011)"Peter Eichstaedt traveled through some of Africa's most dangerous territory to piece together the inside story of Somalia's pirate scourge. . . . Exhilarating, exhaustive, and written with a passion for a troubled land." --Rob Crilly, journalist and author, Saving Darfur"This no-holds-barred book should be on the desk of every politico in our nation and beyond . . . . A gripping, page turner . . . . Not a single person can afford to walk away and continue to believe that this is an 'African Problem'; this is a world problem." Salem-News.com"Disentangles the complex web of greed, extremism, and sheer desperation that manifests itself in the increasingly bold attacks by Somali pirates . . . . [Eichstaedt] passionately makes the case that the world cannot afford to ignore the threat posed by the continuing chaos in the Horn of Africa." Dr. J. Peter Pham, senior fellow and Africa project director, National Committee on American Foreign Policy; editor-in-chief, Journal of the Middle East and Africa

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Book SynopsisNo one did political corruption quite like Rod Blagojevich. The 40th governor of Illinois made international headlines in 2008 when he was roused from his bed and arrested by the FBI at his Chicago home. He was accused of running the state government as a criminal racket and, most shockingly, caught on tape trying to barter away President-elect Barack Obama’s US Senate seat. Most politicians would hunker down, stay quiet, and fight the federal case against them. But as he had done for years, Rod Blagojevich proved he was no ordinary politician. Instead, he fueled the headlines, proclaiming his innocence on seemingly every national talk show and street corner he could find. Revealing evidence from the investigation never before made public, Golden is the most complete telling yet of the Blagojevich story, written by two Chicago reporters who covered every step of his rise and fall and spent years sifting through evidence, compiling documents, and conducting more than a hundred interviews with those who have known Blagojevich from his childhood to his time in the governor’s office. Dispensing with sensationalism to present the facts about one of the nation’s most notorious politicians, the authors detail the mechanics of the corruption that brought the governor down and profile a fascinating and frustrating character who embodies much of what is wrong with modern politics. With Blagojevich now serving 14 years in prison, the time has come for the last word on who Blagojevich was, how he was elected, how he got himself into trouble, and how the feds took him down.Trade Review"Through indefatigable reporting and deft writing, [Chase and Coen] take us into a fascinating, Byzantine world of Chicago politics and power that largely goes unseen." David Mendell, author, Obama: From Promise to Power"This is a lively, intimate primer on the bad and the ugly of Chicago and Illinois politics that reads like a novel by reporter-authors who were there from Blagojevich's promising beginning to humiliating end." Jim Nowlan, senior fellow, Institute of Government and Public Affairs" Golden is the definitive book on former governor Rod Blagojevich. The saga of his life and two trials provide a road map to the highest levels of corruption in Illinois. This cautionary tale leaves us with the task of ending the corrupt political culture that made his crooked wheeling and dealing possible." Dick Simpson, professor, Political Science, University of Illinois and former Chicago alderman"[A] definitive account of one of America's most morally reprehensible political-corruption sagas." Kirkus Reviews"All those interested in the Blago drama or political intrigue in general can dive into this book with relish." -- Publishers Weekly , starred review"[The authors] offer a nuanced context of political corruption overlaid with Blagojevich's extraordinarily flamboyant personality, from the profanity to the hair obsession and outsized ego." Booklist" Golden tells the story of Blagojevich's downfall with admirable detail, although it can be a slog at times." Illinois Issues magazine"It's a crackerjack book that will have you shaking your head with wonder at every turn of a page." Daily Times

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Book SynopsisFred Pascente is the man who links Tony Spilotro, one of Chicago’s most notorious mob figures, to William Hanhardt, chief of detectives of the Chicago Police Department. Pascente and Spilotro grew up together on Chicago’s Near West Side, and as young toughs they were shaken down by Hanhardt. While Spilotro became one of the youngest made men in Chicago Outfit history, Pascente was drafted into the army and then joined the police department. Soon taken under Hanhardt’s wing, Pascente served as his fixer and bagman for more than a decade. Pascente also remained close to Spilotro, making frequent trips to Las Vegas to party with his old friend and help him rob the casinos blind. Mob Cop reveals information about the inner workings of the Outfit, and Fred Pascente’s positions as an insider on both the criminal and law enforcement fronts make this story a matchless tell-all.Trade Review"Worthwhile glimpse into the schizoid world of a corrupt cop." Kirkus Reviews"A tale from the underworld that's rich in Outfit history and the characters that come with it. Pascente's memories unspool like letters from a dark and fading Chicago."Jeff Coen, author, Family Secrets: The Case That Crippled the Chicago Mob"A detailed, gritty account of growing up around Grand Avenue and of life on both sides of the law, from someone who was a mob associate and a Chicago police officerat the same time. Sam Reaves's commentary that goes along with Fred Pascente's story is excellent."John J. Binder, author, The Chicago Outfit"The book is chock full of the dark side of both the police department and the mob but it is surprisingly also full of strong friendship, family devotion, unswerving loyalty and at times had me laughing out loud at some of the ridiculous antics on both sides of the law." Chicago History Cop"­Pascente's tale is fascinating." Library Journal"Fans of mobster stories will want to grab a copy of the foul-mouthed but fascinating memoir of Fred Pascente, the corrupt former Chicago cop who was tight with Tony Spilotro and a host of Las Vegas ne'er-do-wells. Written with novelist Sam Reaves, the book is titled Mob Cop: My Life of Crime in the Chicago Police Department . A friend and business partner of former Crazy Horse Too boss Rick Rizzolo, Pascente also was a member of Nevada's casino Black Book. Pascente died in 2014, so I'm guessing the book tour is out." Las Vegas Review-Journal

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Book SynopsisAn Italian immigrant who spoke little English and struggled to scrape together a living on her primitive family farm outside Chicago, Sabella Nitti was arrested in 1923 for the murder of her missing husband. Within two months, she was found guilty and became the first woman ever sentenced to hang in Chicago. Journalist Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi leads readers through Sabella’s sensational case, showing how, with no evidence and no witnesses, she was the target of an obsessed deputy sheriff and the victim of a faulty legal system. She was also—to the men who convicted her and the reporters fixated on her—ugly. For that unforgiveable crime, the media painted her as a hideous, dirty, and unpredictable immigrant, almost an animal.Lucchesi brings to life the sights and sounds of 1920s Chicago—its then-rural outskirts, downtown halls of power, and headline-making crimes and trials, including those of two other women (who would inspire the musical and film Chicago) also accused of killing the men in their lives. But Sabella’s fellow inmates Beulah and Belva were beautiful, charmed the all-male juries, and were quickly acquitted, raising doubts among many Chicagoans about the fairness of the “poor ugly immigrant’s” conviction.Featuring an ambitious and ruthless journalist who helped demonize Sabella through her reports, and the brilliant, beautiful, twenty-three-year-old lawyer who helped humanize her with a jailhouse makeover, Ugly Prey is not just a page-turning courtroom drama but also a thought-provoking look at the intersection of gender, ethnicity, class, and the American justice system. Trade Review"Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi's riveting and creepy tale of violence, betrayal, and injustice is an uncomfortable yet all-too-familiar story of anxious Americans' willingness to believe that illiterate, poor immigrants can be guilty of a crime because of who they were, not what they did." Kate Clifford Larson, author of The Assassin's Accomplice: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln"An elegantly researched and beautifully written example of investigative journalism. Sabella Nitti's story is a cracking-good mystery. It's a monument to Jazz-era misogyny, true crime, women's rights, immigrant prejudice, and the brutal inequities in the system of jurisprudence in 1920s Chicago." Jeffrey Gusfield, author of Deadly Valentines: The Story of Capone's Henchman "Machine Gun" Jack McGurn and Louise Rolfe, His Blonde Alibi"Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi has told a long-neglected story that needed tellinga story about class, fear of the Other, and justice denied. Her rigorous history is shocking and moving. It has a lot to tell us about both who we were then and who we are today." Douglas Perry, author of The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired Chicago"The author's inclusion of contemporary sensational Chicago trials helps readers place the importance of the case. VERDICT For lovers of historical true crime." Library Journal"Lucchesi's writing is lean and vivid as she recreates Nitti's trial as well as the legal and social issues it put in the spotlight." Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

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Book SynopsisIn the Margins Book Award Winner Ronald Kitchen was walking to buy cookies for his young son on a summer evening in 1988 when Chicago detectives picked him up for questioning. As the officers’ car headed toward the precinct, the twenty-two-year-old called out the window to his family, “I’ll be back in forty-five minutes.” It took him twenty-one years to make it home. Kitchen was beaten and tortured by notorious police commander Jon Burge and his cronies until finally confessing to a gruesome quintuple homicide he did not commit. Convicted of murder and sentenced to die, he spent the next two decades in prison—including a dozen years on death row—before at last winning his release and exoneration. Written with passion and defiance, My Midnight Years is more than just a memoir—because Ronald Kitchen’s ordeal is not his alone. Kitchen was only one of scores of victims of Jon Burge and his notorious Midnight Crew, a group of rogue police detectives who spent decades terrorizing, brutalizing, and incarcerating men—118 have come forward so far—in Chicago’s African American communities. Overcoming overwhelming difficulties, Kitchen cofounded the Death Row 10 from his maximum security cellblock. Together, these men fought to expose the grave injustices that led to their wrongful convictions. The Death Row 10 appeared on 60 Minutes II, Nightline, Oprah, and Geraldo Rivera and, with the help of lawyers and activists, were instrumental in turning the tide against the death penalty in Illinois. Kitchen was finally exonerated in 2009 and filed a high-profile lawsuit against the Chicago Police Department, Jon Burge, Mayor Richard Daley, and the Cook County state’s attorney. Kitchen’s story is outrageous and heartbreaking. Largely absent from social justice narratives are the testimonies of the victims themselves. The atrocities of the Midnight Crew were brought to light through Kitchen’s actions, and he is a rare survivor who has turned his suffering into a public cause. He is poised to become a powerful spokesperson who will play a major part in the ongoing discussion of institutional racism.Trade Review"Ronald Kitchen's story is scalding, emotional, and ultimately redemptivea descent into hell with a happy ending. My Midnight Years should be read by all Americans, but especially those who still live in denial about police corruption and institutional racism. Read this book, then pass it on to a friend, neighbor, sibling, or coworker; it will open eyes and raise the ire of anyone who cares about criminal justice in the United States." T. J. ENGLISH, author of The Savage City , The Corporation , and Havana Nocturne"Decades of police torture and prosecutorial complicity devastated black Chicago and filled Illinois's prisons. In this moving memoir, Ronald Kitchen chronicles what that violence meant for him, his family, and so many others. . . . Don't miss this harrowing, heartbreaking tale of injustice, survival, and resistance." DAN BERGER, author of Captive Nation: Black Prison Organizing in the Civil Rights Era"Ronald Kitchen not only survived his prison ordeal but describes his experience in moving detail; he has emerged as a strong spokesman against the atrocities of Jon Burge and his Midnight Crew." JEFFREY HAAS, author of The Assassination of Fred Hampton"Ronald Kitchen's memoir of surviving and resisting racist police torture and thirteen years on death row is maddening and moving. It's hard to read and hard to put down. . . . The full rot of the criminal injustice system is on display here, but Ronnie's stark prose makes us also see the courage and resilience of those on the inside." MARTHA BIONDI, author of The Black Revolution on Campus and To Stand and Fight

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Book SynopsisThe horrific 1988 murder of four-year-old Barbara Jean Horn shocked the citizens of Philadelphia. Plucked from her own front yard, Barbara Jean was found dead less than two and a half hours later in a cardboard TV box dragged to a nearby street curb. After months of investigation with no strong leads, the case went cold. Four years later it was reopened, and Walter Ogrod, a young man with autism spectrum disorder who had lived across the street from the family at the time of the murder, was brought in as a suspect.Ogrod bears no resemblance to the composite police sketch based on eyewitness accounts of the man carrying the box, and there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime. His conviction was based solely on a confession he signed after thirty-six hours without sleep. “They said I could go home if I signed it,” Ogrod told his brother from the jailhouse. The case was so weak that the jury voted unanimously to acquit him, but at the last second—in a dramatic courtroom declaration—one juror changed his mind. As he waited for a retrial, Ogrod’s fate was sealed when a notorious jailhouse snitch was planted in his cell block and supplied the prosecution with a second supposed confession. As a result, Walter Ogrod sits on death row for the murder today.Informed by police records, court transcripts, interviews, letters, journals, and more, award-winning journalist Thomas Lowenstein leads readers through the facts of the infamous Horn murder case in compelling, compassionate, and riveting fashion. He reveals explosive new evidence that points to a condemned man’s innocence and exposes a larger underlying pattern of prosecutorial misconduct in Philadelphia. Trade Review" Serial and Making a Murderer have focused national attention on the injustices that can result from shoddy police investigations. The public outrage that has been generated by these programs will be eclipsed tenfold by the events that unfold in The Trials of Walter Ogrod . Lowenstein takes readers through the convoluted twists and turns of this case as few true crime writers have ever been able to do." James L. Trainum, former Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department detective and author of How the Police Generate False Confessions" The Trials of Walter Ogrod is not only a compelling read and a fascinatingly detailed examination of a grotesquely botched murder case, it is a critically important work that rips the lid off the stew of secrets and lies hiding beneath what most think of as 'criminal justice.' Innocuous terms like 'police and prosecutorial misconduct' take on a new and chilling meaning thanks to Lowenstein's dogged pursuit and thoughtful analysis." Mike Farrell, author of Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist and Of Mule and Man"...fans of the Making a Murderer series will be especially outraged by this unjust case." Booklist"an important volume about how the criminal justice system does and doesn't function." Library Journal

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Book SynopsisOn Thursday, December 15, 1994, Joann Katrinak and her three-month-old son, Alex, went missing from their Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, home. Four months later, when their bodies were found in a lonely patch of woods, the police would launch a three-year investigation leading to the arrest of Patricia Lynne Rorrer—a young mother who had never met either victim—as the monster responsible. In Pennsylvania’s first use of mitochondrial DNA in a criminal case, Patricia Rorrer was quickly tried, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison without parole. But did the jury make the right decision? Is Patricia Rorrer truly guilty? As new evidence continues to surface, including allegations of evidence tampering, that question requires an answer even more.With a subject matter and storytelling style reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial, Convenient Suspect will keep readers on the edge of their seats. The book reveals information never before made public—information gathered directly from more than 10,000 official documents, including Pennsylvania State Police reports, FBI files, forensic lab results, and the 6,500-page trial transcript. After four years of intensive research, countless interviews with those involved, and hundreds of letters, phone calls, and personal visits with Patricia Rorrer, the truth about the evidence used to convict her can finally be revealed.Trade Review"In this riveting story of shoddy police work and prosecutorial overreach, Tammy Mal takes an already rickety double-murder case and blows it to pieces, building a compelling case that an innocent woman was put behind bars." Michael Fleeman, author of The Black Widower , Crazy for You , and Laci"A methodical, clear-sighted, and deeply moving book. . . . Convenient Suspect seeks to right a terrible injustice that flies in the face of common sense and to show us how easily any of us might be ensnared in the same trap." Ken Klonsky, coauthor of Eye of the Hurricane and author of Freeing David McCallum"Deserving of shelf space alongside such similar true-crime works as those by Ann Rule." Booklist"...a heartbreaking and searing piece of investigative journalism." BUST magazine

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Book SynopsisThis exposé investigates the evolution of the Almighty Black P Stone Nation, a motley group of poverty-stricken teens transformed into a dominant gang accused of terroristic intentions. Interwoven into the narrative is the dynamic influence of leader Jeff Fort, who—despite his flamboyance and high visibility—instilled a rigid structure and discipline that afforded the young men a refuge and a sense of purpose in an often hopeless community. Details of how the Nation procured government funding for gang-related projects during the War on Poverty era and fueled bonuses and job security for law enforcement, and how Fort, in particular, masterminded a deal for $2.5 million to commit acts of terrorism in the United States on behalf of Libya are also revealed. In examining whether the Black P Stone Nation was a group of criminals, brainwashed terrorists, victims of their circumstances, or champions of social change, this social history provides both an exploration of how and why gangs flourish and insight into the way in which minority crime is targeted in the community, reported in the media, and prosecuted in the courts.Trade Review"Moore and Williams demystify the gang--and bring out the quirks of charismatic founder Jeff Fort--in this well-researched book that digs out the truth, finds the humanity in urban legend and shows how church, state and community together created the most powerful, and contradictory, of street organizations." -- Ebony (April 2011)"A rigorous mixture of scholarship and journalism that is rendered with a contextual empathy that's rare in other literature on street gangs." --Salim Muwakkil, senior editor, In These Times , and host of The Salim Muwakkil Show , WVON, Chicago"A provocative tale." -- Chicago Citizen"Filled with amazing and little known details and framed within Chicago African American history. The best and most accurate book on a contemporary Chicago gang ever written." --John Hagedorn, author, People & Folks: Gangs, Crime, and the Underclass in a Rustbelt City"A stunning book." -- StreetWise (March 2, 2011)"A must-read for anyone interested in the history of Chicago." -- Chicago Crusader"A powerful exposé of disturbing realities underlying enduringly misunderstood urban legends." -- Kirkus Reviews"A valuable addition to a serious library about crime, shedding light on the overlooked world of black Chicago gangs." -- Foxhill Review

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Book SynopsisThe Watchman didn’t arrive in a Batmobile but drove a tan, four-door Pontiac. He was in costume, of course—a trench coat, motorcycle gloves, army boots, a domino mask, and a red hooded sweatshirt emblazoned with a W logo. Journalist Tea Krulos had spoken to him over the phone but never face-to-mask. By the end of the interview, he wasn’t sure if the Watchman was delightfully eccentric or completely crazy. But he was going to find out.Heroes in the Night traces Krulos’s journey into the strange subculture of Real Life Superheroes, random citizens who have adopted comic book–style personas and hit the streets to fight injustice. Some concentrate on humanitarian or activist missions—helping the homeless, gathering donations for food banks, or delivering toys to children—while others actively patrol their neighborhoods looking for crime to fight. By day, these modern Clark Kents work as dishwashers, pencil pushers, and executives in Fortune 500 companies. But by night, only the Shadow knows.Well, the Shadow and Tea Krulos. Through historical research, extensive interviews, and many long hours walking patrol in Brooklyn, Seattle, San Diego, Minneapolis, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Krulos discovered what being a RLSH is all about. He shares not only their shining, triumphant moments but some of their ill-advised, terrifying disasters as well. It’s all part of the life of a superhero. As the Watchman explains, “If everyone made little changes in what they did, gave a little more to charity, watched out for their neighbors, we wouldn’t have the problems that we have.”Trade ReviewA "colorful new page-turner." -- Milwaukee AV Club"It probably would have been easy for Krulos to make fun of these people, but, for the most part, he treats RLSH with respect because, if you factor out the comicbookish elements, these are men and women who are risking their own safety to make others feel a bit safer. And it's hard to make fun of that." --Booklist

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