Crime Online

Corinne Gray is a woman whose life is falling apart. When probationary detective Kyle Nazarian unexpectedly knocks on her door on a rainy morning, she knows why. He wants to talk about her son, Ben. This is her chance to finally explain how her sweet-natured child – who loved history and dreamed of swimming for Olympic Gold – grew up to do the unthinkable. What really happened to Ben? And could anyone have prevented it?

In his book To Catch a Predator, Chris Hansen, the on-air correspondent for one of Dateline's most successful series, looks deeper into the world of child predators. The book expands beyond the Dateline series to include more commentary from psychological and criminal experts about the origins and methods of child predators, and includes substantive advice for both parents and children on how to protect kids who use the Internet.

On May 31, 2014, in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, two 12-year-old girls attempted to stab their classmate to death. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier’s violence was extreme, but what seemed even more frightening was that they committed their crime under the influence of a figure born by the internet: the so-called “Slenderman”. Yet the even more urgent aspect of the story, that the children involved suffered from undiagnosed mental illnesses, often went overlooked in coverage of the case.

To their followers, influencer couple Jess and Nick Brooks are beyond aspirational—they’re proof that you can have it all. They can dance and cook and surf, and somehow, they’re still madly in love despite juggling two young boys, Oliver and Archie. When a brand deal lands the family a free trip to an idyllic Balinese luxury resort, their dream holiday becomes a nightmare when Archie goes missing from the Kids Club. As the hunt for Archie begins, the loving and wholesome family that the Brooks present to their millions of followers starts to unravel.

This Is Not a Game is the extraordinary untold story of the internet’s first conspiracy theory, the legend of Ong’s Hat. Marc Fennell will dive deep into a previously unexplored world of tech hippies, eccentric web subcultures and simmering paranoia, uncovering how this tongue-in-cheek artistic experiment backfired on its creator and went on to influence much of what’s wrong with the internet today.

THE PIG BUTCHERS OF CAMBODIA A Story of Scams, Slavery, and Survival in Southeast Asia They answered job ads. They were trafficked. Then they were forced to scam the world — or be beaten. Across the glittering skyline of Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and behind the guarded gates of shadowy compounds in Myanmar and Laos, an invisible empire has risen. One built not on drugs or guns — but on texts, crypto, and heartbreak. Welcome to the world of pig butchering scams: the cruel fusion of digital fraud and modern slavery that’s quietly raking in billions. In this in depth exposé, the author ...

To Catch A Predator, You Need Prey. Anne Burge knows what it means to fail. The public fallout surrounding the revelation of her real identity as the daughter of the notorious serial killer known as The Postman has forced Anne to leave the FBI in disgrace. She has moved to the middle of nowhere, as far as she can get from the demons that haunt her. A new home, a new love, a new town, but Anne will always hear the siren call of her past. Meanwhile, young teenage girls are disappearing in the Heartland. One by one, the girls vanish without a trace. Someone is taking the girls in broad ...

Mistakes You Make That Predators Exploit by Greg Pasden They’re watching. They’re waiting. And they’re counting on you to make a mistake. Predators don’t search for the strongest. They search for the easiest—the distracted, the careless, the trusting. And every day, ordinary people open the door for them without even realizing it. A woman locks her hotel door but forgets the extra latch. A man makes a late-night ATM run without noticing the eyes on him. A family posts vacation photos while their home sits empty. A lonely heart believes the sweet words of an online romance scammer....

Number-one New York Times best-selling author Harlan Coben set huge sales records with last year’s Six Years - and he’s poised to do it again in his next breathtaking stand-alone thriller. Harlan Coben, author of six consecutive instant number-one New York Times best sellers and a total of 24 award-winning, best-selling, and internationally acclaimed novels, returns with another ripped-from-real-life thriller full of impossibly high emotional stakes and the real-to-life characters for which he has become famous.

Most of the true crime genre centers around the gritty and bloody world of homicide, serial killers and those crimes that are sensationalized in the media. But what about the crimes that take place behind the keyboard, impacting hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable and innocent victims? Since the popular Dateline show To Catch a Predator, very little attention has been provided to pull back the veil of secrecy surrounding internet crimes against children. Until now. Go down the electronic rabbit hole through a series of true cases conducted revolving around the world of child ...

BIRDS OF A FEATHER, KILL TOGETHER A smuggling operation, orchestrated by paramilitary groups representing both religious factions, takes a fatal turn when a local farmer loses his life, and journalist Jock McDevitt is left injured from a gunshot. This incident hits close to home for Ian Wilson, the leader of the Belfast Murder Squad, intensifying his determination to apprehend the perpetrators. As the Belfast Murder Squad delves into the investigation, they uncover a web of criminal conspiracies that transcend old rivalries, uniting former foes from opposite sides of the sectarian divide. ...

Based on extensive insider interviews and participation, acclaimed author Ben Mezrich's Straight Flush tells the captivating rags-to-riches tale of a group of University of Montana frat brothers who turned a weekly poker game in the basement of a local dive bar into AbsolutePoker.com, one of the largest online companies in the world. But then the U.S. Department of Justice placed a bull's-eye on Absolute Poker. Did they fold - or double down and ride their hot hand?

Chaos and order clash in this riveting exploration of crime and punishment on the Internet. Once considered a borderless and chaotic virtual landscape, the Internet is now home to the forces of international law and order. It's not just computer hackers and cyber crooks who lurk in the dark corners of the Web - the cops are there, too. In The Internet Police, Ars Technica editor Nate Anderson takes readers on a behind-the-screens tour of landmark cybercrime cases, revealing how criminals continue to find digital and legal loopholes even as police hurry to cinch them closed.

The Jackson women, Indiana and Amanda, have always had each other. Though their bond is strong, mother and daughter are as different as night and day. Indiana, a beautiful holistic healer, is a free-spirited bohemian. Long divorced from Amanda's father, she's reluctant to settle down with either of the men who want her - Alan, the wealthy scion of one of San Francisco's elite families, and Ryan, an enigmatic, scarred former Navy SEAL. While her mom looks for the good in people, Amanda is fascinated by the dark side of human nature - as is her father, the SFPD's deputy chief of homicide.

A Modern day suspense thriller based around the dangers of social media, what we share, and how we never really know who is watching. A single photo taken in college defined Eve Kelly’s entire life. The iconic image of the falling girl in a red dress brought her unintentional fame. Twenty years later, @beli’EVE, a successful model turned influencer, is a reluctant leader. Over a million people follow her every move but sharing images of a #perfectlife can be dangerous, especially when you have secrets. When someone begins to scratch beneath the glossy surface she presents to the world, ...

A fifty-year-old signature connects three forgotten murders. For Kara Valens, the obsessive host of the popular online cold case forum "Unsolved Threads," the twisted POW/MIA bracelets are a chilling discovery. Her explosive post linking the 1969 slayings goes viral, breathing new life into a historical crime. But it also attracts a ghost from the past. A cryptic comment appears from a shadow account: “You missed one.” The message vanishes as quickly as it came, launching Kara into a hunt for a killer who has operated in the shadows for decades. The trail leads from dusty microfilm to a...

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace exposes the dark side of internet dating in the intriguing crime novel Dead at First Sight, by award winning author Peter James. A man waits at a London airport for the love of his life to arrive. Across the Atlantic, a retired cop waits in a bar in Florida’s...

The year is 1855, and on the LNWR train to London, a criminal is being escorted to his appointment with the hangman. But the wily Jeremy Oxley, conman, thief and murderer, has one last ace up his sleeve: a beautiful and ruthless accomplice willing to do anything to save her lover, including committing cold-blooded murder... When Inspector Robert Colbeck learns that Oxley, his nemesis, has once again escaped, black memories of their shared past leave him no choice but to do his duty.

After a fierce storm hits Scotland, a mysterious cargo ship is discovered in the Orkney Isles. Boarding the vessel uncovers three bodies, recently deceased and in violent circumstances. Forensic scientist Dr Rhona MacLeod’s study of the crime scene suggests that a sinister game was being played on board, but who were the hunters? And who the hunted? Meanwhile in Glasgow DS Michael McNab is called to a horrific incident where a young woman has been set on fire. Or did she spark the flames herself?

It's a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart - and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years. Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her.