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Ripped from the Headlines!
- The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies' Most Memorable Crimes
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
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Ripped from the Headlines!
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Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
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Publisher's summary
Bestselling true-crime master Harold Schechter explores the real-life headline-making psychos, serial murderers, thrill-hungry couples, and lady-killers who inspired a century of classic films.
The necktie murders in Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy; Chicago’s Jazz Age crime of passion; the fatal hookup in Looking for Mr. Goodbar; the high school horrors committed by the costumed slasher in Scream. These and other cinematic crimes have become part of pop-culture history. And each found inspiration in true events that provided the raw material for our greatest blockbusters, indie art films, black comedies, Hollywood classics, and grindhouse horrors.
So what’s the reality behind Psycho, Badlands, The Hills Have Eyes, A Place in the Sun, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Dirty Harry? How did such tabloid-ready killers as Bonnie and Clyde, body snatchers Burke and Hare, Texas sniper Charles Whitman Jr., nurse-slayer Richard Speck, and Leopold and Loeb exert their power on the public imagination and become the stuff of movie lore?
In this collection of revelatory essays, true-crime historian Harold Schechter takes a fascinating trip down the crossroads of fact and fiction to reveal the sensational real-life stories that are more shocking, taboo, and fantastic than even the most imaginative screenwriter can dream up.
Critic reviews
“The exploits of Depression-era homicidal sweethearts Bonnie and Clyde and the 1960s strangler who inspired the necktie murders in Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy are among the true stories behind many of cinema’s most famous crimes and criminals. Schechter, author of numerous books on serial killers, tracks the path from felony to film.” (Publishers Weekly)
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Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story - they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.
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Crime in other countries is not my cup of tea.
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In the fall of 1941, a momentous trial was set to begin that threatened to end the careers and lives of New York’s most brutal mob kingpins. The lead witness, Abe Reles, had been a trusted executioner for Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of a coast-to-coast mob network known as the Syndicate. But the man responsible for coolly silencing hundreds of informants was about to become the most talkative snitch of all. In exchange for police protection, Reles was prepared to rat out his murderous friends, from Albert Anastasia to Bugsy Siegel....
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On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day - chosen completely at random - was Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. That Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s turned out to be filled with comedy, tragedy, implausible irony, cosmic comeuppances, kindness, cruelty, heroism, cowardice, genius, idiocy, and much more....
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In this fascinating, in-depth account of the hunt for serial killers, Colin Wilson, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, examines the ways they can be tracked down and caught, from the tried-and-true methods of the early 20th century to the high-tech processes in use today. Wilson examines such areas as psychological profiling, genetic fingerprinting, and the launch of the Behavioral Science Unit. He delves into the importance of fantasy to serial killers, the urge to keep on killing, the desire to become notorious, and murder as an addictive drug.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Reprinted Material, Questionable Commentary
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In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath who's gotten ink for spilling blood, there's a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of US history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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True crime enthusiast's dream
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-
The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns
- By: Mitzi Szereto - editor
- Narrated by: Holly Palance, Phil Thron
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 48
Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story - they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Crime in other countries is not my cup of tea.
- By Brenda on 01-03-21
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The Serial Killer Files
- The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World’s Most Terrifying Murderers
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 802
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 707
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 705
Hollywood's make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can't hold a candle to real-life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Made me feel sick, yet I didn't want it to end
- By Neuron on 02-07-17
By: Harold Schechter
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A Brotherhood Betrayed
- The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc.
- By: Michael Cannell
- Narrated by: Gary Galone
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
In the fall of 1941, a momentous trial was set to begin that threatened to end the careers and lives of New York’s most brutal mob kingpins. The lead witness, Abe Reles, had been a trusted executioner for Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of a coast-to-coast mob network known as the Syndicate. But the man responsible for coolly silencing hundreds of informants was about to become the most talkative snitch of all. In exchange for police protection, Reles was prepared to rat out his murderous friends, from Albert Anastasia to Bugsy Siegel....
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4 out of 5 stars
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History from the bottom up
- By Mark on 12-12-21
By: Michael Cannell
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One Day
- The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America
- By: Gene Weingarten
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day - chosen completely at random - was Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. That Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s turned out to be filled with comedy, tragedy, implausible irony, cosmic comeuppances, kindness, cruelty, heroism, cowardice, genius, idiocy, and much more....
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3 out of 5 stars
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I'm giving this book more credit for its concept
- By J. F. Boyd on 12-24-19
By: Gene Weingarten
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Manhunters
- Criminal Profilers and Their Search for the World’s Most Wanted Serial Killers
- By: Colin Wilson
- Narrated by: Brandon Massey
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 146
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4 out of 5 stars 132
In this fascinating, in-depth account of the hunt for serial killers, Colin Wilson, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, examines the ways they can be tracked down and caught, from the tried-and-true methods of the early 20th century to the high-tech processes in use today. Wilson examines such areas as psychological profiling, genetic fingerprinting, and the launch of the Behavioral Science Unit. He delves into the importance of fantasy to serial killers, the urge to keep on killing, the desire to become notorious, and murder as an addictive drug.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Reprinted Material, Questionable Commentary
- By B on 10-18-15
By: Colin Wilson
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Psycho USA
- Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 204
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 188
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 186
In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath who's gotten ink for spilling blood, there's a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of US history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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True crime enthusiast's dream
- By Athelsten on 08-24-17
By: Harold Schechter
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Undisclosed Files of the Police
- Cases from the Archives of the NYPD from 1831 to the Present
- By: Bernard Whalen, Philip Messing, Robert Mladinich
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Story4 out of 5 stars 110
More than 175 years of true crimes culled from the city's police blotter, told through an insightful text by two NYPD officers and a NYC crime reporter. From atrocities that occurred before the establishment of New York's police force in 1845 through the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 to the present day, this audio is an insider's look at more than 80 real-life crimes that shocked the nation, from arson to gangland murders, robberies, serial killers, bombings, and kidnappings.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good History of Crime in NYC
- By Bob Shinders on 03-10-17
By: Bernard Whalen, and others
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Our Little Secret
- The True Story of a Teenage Killer and the Silence of a Small New England Town
- By: Kevin Flynn, Rebecca Lavoie
- Narrated by: Aven Shore
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 246
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
For 20 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.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A
- By Diana Hart 33 on 04-28-21
By: Kevin Flynn, and others
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Killer Triggers
- By: Joe Kenda
- Narrated by: Joe Kenda
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,526
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,348
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,344
The most common triggers for homicide are fear, rage, revenge, money, lust, and, more rarely, sheer madness. This isn’t an exact science, of course. Any given murder can have multiple triggers. Sex and revenge seem to be common partners in crime. This book offers my memories of homicide cases that I investigated or oversaw. In each case, I examine the trigger that led to death. I chose this theme for the book because even though the why of a murder case may not be critical in an investigation, it can sometimes lead us to the killer.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Joe Kenda is always fun.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 03-10-21
By: Joe Kenda
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The Want Ad Killer
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 422
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 392
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 387
After his first grisly crime, Harvey Louis Carignan beat a death sentence and continued to manipulate, rape, and bludgeon women to death - using want ads to lure his young female victims. And time after time, justice was thwarted by a killer whose twisted legal genius was matched only by his sick savagery. Here, complete with the testimony of women who suffered his unspeakable sexual abuses and barely escaped with their lives and of the police who at last put him behind bars, is one of the most shattering and thought-provoking true-crime stories of our time.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Paul Booooomer
- By Murder Fancier on 04-08-17
By: Ann Rule
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Lust Killer
- By: Ann Rule, Andy Stack
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 879
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 781
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 778
When young women begin mysteriously disappearing in Oregon, Police Lieutenant James Stovall leads a relentless search for a killer. With little evidence available, and the public screaming for answers, he must find a remorseless, brutal killer whose identity will shock them all....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book on Brudos!
- By Ms.Bliss on 01-06-18
By: Ann Rule, and others
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The Wrong Man
- The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case
- By: James Neff
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
At 5:40 a.m. on July 4, 1954, the mayor of Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, received a frantic phone call from his neighbor Dr. Sam Sheppard. The news was too terrible to comprehend: Marilyn, Sam's lovely wife, was dead, her face and torso beaten beyond recognition by an unknown assailant who had knocked Sam unconscious and escaped just before dawn. In the adjacent bedroom, Chip, the Sheppards' seven-year-old son, had slept through the entire ordeal. Almost immediately, the police began to suspect Sam Sheppard.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding! But troubling
- By Tyree on 09-26-22
By: James Neff
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The Forest City Killer
- A Serial Murderer, a Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice
- By: Vanessa Brown
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
Fifty years ago, a serial killer prowled the quiet city of London, Ontario, marking it as his hunting grounds. As young women and boys were abducted, raped, and murdered, residents of the area held their loved ones closer and closer, terrified of the monster - or monsters - stalking the streets. Homicide detective Dennis Alsop began hunting the killer in the 1960s, and he didn’t stop searching until his death 40 years later.
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1 out of 5 stars
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All Wrong
- By Merkavius on 11-02-19
By: Vanessa Brown
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American Murder Houses
- A Coast-to-Coast Tour of the Most Notorious Houses of Homicide
- By: Steve Lehto
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 380
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 344
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Story4 out of 5 stars 342
From a colonial manse in New England to a small-town home in Iowa to a Beverly Hills mansion, these residences have taken on a life of their own, gaining everything from local lore and gossip to national - and even global - infamy. Here, writer Steve Lehto recounts the stories behind the houses where Lizzie Borden supposedly gave her stepmother "40 whacks", where the real Amityville Horror was first unleashed by gunfire, and where the demented acts of the Manson Family horrified a nation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Engaging and engrossing stories.
- By Lila Fowler on 09-14-16
By: Steve Lehto
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Furious Hours
- Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- By: Casey Cep
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,406
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,204
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,208
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great book, needs a Southern narrator
- By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
By: Casey Cep
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Love Me to Death
- The Chilling True Story of WIlliam “Wild Bill Cody” Neal—The Vicious Denver Lady-Killer
- By: Steve Jackson
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
William Neal, who called himself "Wild Bill Cody," was seductive and skillful at separating love-struck women from their money, and ultimately, their lives. Apprehended by police, Neal, who proclaimed himself “better than Ted Bundy,” pleaded guilty to three murders then insisted on representing himself at his death penalty trial. But the psychopathic killer found himself up against the incredible courage of his one surviving victim.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointed
- By donald on 02-09-23
By: Steve Jackson
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The Big Book of Serial Killers
- An Encyclopedia of Serial Killers - 150 Serial Killer Files of the World's Worst Murderers
- By: Jack Rosewood, Rebecca Lo
- Narrated by: Kevin Kollins
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 540
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 470
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 467
There is little more terrifying than those who hunt, stalk, and snatch their prey under the cloak of darkness. These hunters search not for animals, but for the touch, taste, and empowerment of human flesh. They are cannibals, vampires, and monsters, and they walk among us. These serial killers are not mythical beasts with horns and shaggy hair. They are people living among society, going about their day-to-day activities until nightfall. They are the Dennis Rader's, the fathers, husbands, church-going members of the community.
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2 out of 5 stars
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GREAT FOR TRUE CRIME DEVOTÉES, BUT....
- By The Louligan on 10-31-17
By: Jack Rosewood, and others
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The Dillinger Days
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 544
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 499
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 499
For 13 violent months in the 1930s, John Dillinger and his gang swept through the Midwest. The criminals of the Depression robbed almost at will, as the Indiana State Police had only 41 members, including clerks and typists. Dillinger's daring escapes at Crown Point jail or through the withering machine gun fire of FBI agents at Little Bohemia Lodge, along with his countless bank robberies, excited the imagination of a despondent country.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Must have been written by Hoover
- By Jimmy Oneal on 09-03-20
By: John Toland
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3 out of 5 stars
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Hollywood's make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can't hold a candle to real-life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Made me feel sick, yet I didn't want it to end
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Psycho USA
- Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of
- By: Harold Schechter
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 204
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 188
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4 out of 5 stars
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- Privilege, Poison, and the Trial That Ushered in the Twentieth Century
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The wayward son of a revered Civil War general, Roland Molineux enjoyed good looks, status, and fortune - hardly the qualities of a prime suspect in a series of shocking, merciless cyanide killings. Molineux's subsequent indictment for murder led to two explosive trials and a sex-infused scandal that shocked the nation. Bringing to life Manhattan's Gilded Age, Schechter captures all the colors of the tumultuous legal proceedings.
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In the tradition of Mary Roach's best-selling Stiff and Jessica Mitford's classic expose The American Way of Death comes this meticulously researched and refreshingly irreverent look at death from acclaimed author Harold Schechter. With his trademark fearlessness and bracing sense of humor, Schechter digs deep into a wealth of sources to unearth a treasure trove of surprising facts, amusing anecdotes, practical information, and timeless wisdom about that undiscovered country to which we will all one day travel.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Bathroom literature, not audible book material.
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In the winter of 1873, a small band of prospectors lost their way in the frozen wilderness of the Colorado Rockies. Months later, when the snow finally melted, only one of them emerged. His name was Alfred G. Packer, though he would soon become infamous throughout the country under a different name: "the Man-Eater."
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Made me hungry. Just kidding.
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Hell's Princess
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In the pantheon of serial killers, Belle Gunness stands alone. She was the rarest of female psychopaths, a woman who engaged in wholesale slaughter, partly out of greed but mostly for the sheer joy of it. Between 1902 and 1908, she lured a succession of unsuspecting victims to her Indiana “murder farm". Some were hired hands. Others were well-to-do bachelors. All of them vanished without a trace.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Can a book about a serial killer be entertaining?
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When 14-year-old Jesse Pomeroy was arrested in 1874, a nightmarish reign of terror over an unsuspecting city came to an end. "The Boston Boy Fiend" was imprisoned at last. But the complex questions sparked by his ghastly crime spree - the hows and whys of vicious juvenile crime - were as relevant in the so-called Age of Innocence as they are today.
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Graphic descriptions of child torture
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Panic
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- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 985
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 857
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Story4 out of 5 stars 856
During the Depression, economic anxieties found an outlet in a series of child murders that triggered an irrational nationwide hysteria: pedophiliac psychopaths were overrunning the country. As America was brought to rage and fury by the press and the FBI, lynch mobs took to the streets, reason gave way to doomsday scenarios, and one father was even driven to murder his three daughters to “save them” from a degenerate crime wave. A terrifying cautionary essay, Panic explores the combustible mix of unfounded fears, moral crusades, and the dangers of collective thinking.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Too sensational
- By Texaspaz on 10-14-20
By: Harold Schechter
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The Mad Sculptor
- The Maniac, the Model, and the Murder that Shook the Nation
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 422
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 380
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 380
Beekman Place, once one of the most exclusive addresses in Manhattan, had a curious way of making it into the tabloids in the 1930s: SKYSCRAPER SLAYER, BEAUTY SLAIN IN BATHTUB read the headlines. On Easter Sunday in 1937, the discovery of a grisly triple homicide at Beekman Place would rock the neighborhood yet again - and enthrall the nation. The young man who committed these murders would come to be known in the annals of American crime as the Mad Sculptor.
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3 out of 5 stars
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The Mad Sculptor
- By William R. Todd-Mancillas (Name includes hyphen and capitalized M). on 08-03-14
By: Harold Schechter
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A Rose for Her Grave - and Other True Cases
- Ann Rule's Crime Files, Book 1
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,049
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 920
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 917
"A Rose for Her Grave" - the principal story of this collection - vividly recreates the cautionary tale of Randy Roth, a misogynistic sociopath from the Pacific Northwest whose rage was directed primarily at women and children. Addicted to his own greed, Roth exercised a powerful aura of control over his victims, using his ability to charm and boyish good looks to lower their defenses. By the time they saw the reality of the madness in his eyes, it was usually too late.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I Think I Need A Break for Awhile
- By Susie Q on 09-30-17
By: Ann Rule
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Rampage
- Bloodlands collection
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,276
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,128
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,124
In 1949, things like this just didn’t happen: A quiet New Jersey resident took a morning walk with a 9 mm Luger pistol. In twelve minutes he murdered thirteen neighbors...and then went back to bed. Howard Unruh went from obscurity to infamy overnight. Even after his obsessive diaries were discovered - a catalogue of simmering rage, petty grievances, and sexual repression - the anomalous crime seemed incomprehensible. Succeeding decades would confirm that Unruh’s “Walk of Death” was just the beginning. The prototype for the modern mass murderer, he would usher in a new age of violence in America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very good
- By Theresa Horton on 08-29-18
By: Harold Schechter
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Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie
- Bloodlands collection
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,499
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,165
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,162
At a remote little inn not far from the Kansas homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder lived the Bender family. These pioneers welcomed unwary visitors with jackrabbit stew and a sledgehammer to the skull. In time, their apple orchard gave up its secrets - a burial ground for their mutilated victims, each stripped of their possessions. The devilish enterprise on “Hell’s Half-Acre” would earn the Bloody Benders an undying place in the annals of American infamy. But it was the mysterious fate of eldest daughter, Kate, that would make them the stuff of mythic campfire prairie tales.
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5 out of 5 stars
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True Life Crime
- By David Theis on 09-03-20
By: Harold Schechter
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The Pied Piper
- Bloodlands collection
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 1 hr and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,128
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 975
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Story4 out of 5 stars 967
With makeup and an affected Elvis pout, Tucson’s Charlie Schmid was a crude parody of a bad-boy heartthrob. In 1964, he still had a hold on girls who’d follow him anywhere. He murdered three of them. It was the dawn of the free-love movement - perfect for a magnetic madman who’d also foreshadow its end a few years later in the malignant charisma of Charles Manson. The inspiration for a classic story by Joyce Carol Oates, Schmid, the most bizarre serial killer of any era, was the epitome of a narcissist flattered into believing he could get away with murder.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A bit sexist but informative
- By Tabasauras on 01-01-21
By: Harold Schechter
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Anne Boleyn
- 500 Years of Lies
- By: Hayley Nolan
- Narrated by: Hayley Nolan
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 417
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 370
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 363
History has lied. Anne Boleyn has been sold to us as a dark figure, a scheming seductress who bewitched Henry VIII into divorcing his queen and his church in an unprecedented display of passion. Quite the tragic love story, right? Wrong. In this electrifying exposé, Hayley Nolan explores for the first time the full, uncensored evidence of Anne Boleyn’s life and relationship with Henry VIII, revealing the shocking suppression of a powerful woman.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Very annoying narrator!
- By momo chan on 12-02-19
By: Hayley Nolan
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The Search for the Green River Killer
- The True Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer
- By: Carlton Smith, Tomas Guillen
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 17 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,071
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,071
The Search for the Green River Killer is the ultimate authoritative account of the Pacific Northwest killing spree that held a nation spellbound - and continues to horrify and fascinate, spawning dramatizations and documentaries of a demented killer who seemed unstoppable for decades.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Definitive Green River Killer Book
- By Christopher on 04-16-19
By: Carlton Smith, and others
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Scandals of Classic Hollywood
- Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of American Cinema
- By: Anne Helen Peterson
- Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 149
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 145
Believe it or not, America's fascination with celebrity culture was thriving well before the days of TMZ, Perez Hilton, Charlie Sheen's breakdown, and allegations against Woody Allen. And the stars of yesteryear? They weren't always the saints that we make them out to be. Part biography, part cultural history, the stories contained in this book cover the stuff that films are made of: love, sex, drugs, illegitimate children, illicit affairs, and botched cover-ups.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Riveting journey
- By Jennifer on 10-07-14
What listeners say about Ripped from the Headlines!
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Midge Ridgway
- 06-18-21
Hollywood meets True Crime
Narrator very dramatic, brings popular Hollywood movies to live by introducing the true life stories.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JESSICA BAUER
- 01-20-24
Well researched
This was a very well researched book of essays in new and old crimes throughout history. Some I knew and some I didn't.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- 6catz
- 11-23-20
Movies and true crimes
This is an excellent collection of well researched essays on films that were inspired by true crime stories. Schechter does a great job of laying out the facts behind classic and not-so-classic crime, thriller and horror movies, including Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” and “Rope,” not too mention “A Place in the Sun,” “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Chicago” and slasher flicks like “Scream” and “The Hills Have Eyes.” Ghoulish, full of historical context and very entertaining, expertly narrated by Malcom Hillgartner.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-26-23
Worth the listen
An insight into the crimes that inspired many movies, both new and old. Harold Schechter once again delivers a delightful read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dina
- 06-22-21
good listen!
it was an easy listen. very informative! I didn't know about some of these movies being based on true events! I'll be watching 'Arsenic and Old Lace' very soon!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Lauren A
- 04-07-23
Interesting but rushed
This book had some interesting connections but I tuned out for a lot of the middle chapters,
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 05-21-23
Three Stars
In a brilliant move, customers are now forced to write reviews if they want to rate books. This is a waste of time both for me and for whoever reads this.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Peter W. Kalnin
- 09-15-24
Exactly as Titled
A review of dozens of sensational murders in America over the past century.
Excellent narration by Malcom Hillgartner.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Texaspaz
- 08-13-21
shockingly human
Train wreck brain candy. You'll love it if you like true crime books or tv. I had no idea so many movies were based on true stories.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- robin
- 12-20-22
author can't miss
excellent author ,and narrator I've read more than one of his books ,I always think I can handle true crime but some of his books are frighteningly accurate,incredibly researched,and delivered by narrators who relay the info making you feel your right there observing but can do nothing to stop the crimes ! that's a powerful author .This book is less frightening but fascinating I've listened to it 3 times ( while I'm taking a break to build the nerve to finish one of his other books ) I do have a message for the author in this holiday season,I don't care who
you forgot to shop for drop what your doing and go write another book now ! PLEASE
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