Polit- & Justizthriller

In the late 1970s, Detective Ian James had quickly risen through the ranks of the London Metropolitan Police. After ten years, he relocated North to Cleveland where he continued in the role of a detective running informants on the Regional Crime Squad and National Crime Squad to infiltrate the underworld. Drugs and gun were on his watch.Then, a chance meeting with an old friend changed his life forever. Would he like to be part of a team of just four setting up a brand-new unit working in a dark and challenging world? It meant that for the next two decades he would assume a new identity. For the purpose of the role, Ian became a paedophile. The result is that he saved dozens of children from abuse and sent to prison many who were a danger to society.This is his incredible true story.

The downfall of Miguel Trevino of Mexico's Los Vetas drug cartel was orchestrated by the FBI after an unlikely lead at an Oklahoma horse auction, with the story of this sequence of events offering a gritty immersion in horse crime and the war on drugs from Emmy-winning investigative journalist Melissa del Bosque.

Christopher Berry-Dee, criminologist and bestselling author of books about the serial killers Aileen Wuornos and Joanne Dennehy, turns his uncompromising gaze upon women who not only kill, but kill repeatedly.

ONE AUGUST NIGHT IN 1996, on a rural highway in Java, an investigative journalist was beaten to death by unknown assailants. Two months later, police arrested a high-school drop-out and put him on trial for the reporter's murder. One problem: the accused killer had never met his alleged victim. Entwined in local rivalries, media intrigues, and the long-held beliefs of many Javanese in fate, myth and magic, the killing of Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin spawned an unprecedented criminal investigation, a gripping courtroom drama and a nationwide controversy that signaled the iron rule of Indonesia's longtime president, Suharto, was ending.Researched and written over two years from confidential documents, court records and exclusive interviews with police, investigators, lawyers, witnesses and survivors, this unique account reconstructs the legal and political drama surrounding one of Indonesia's most famous unsolved murders. Combining journalism, travel writing and true crime, The Invisible Palace is an engrossing and deeply described study of media, politics and justice in the contemporary developing world.JOSÉ MANUEL TESORO was Jakarta correspondent for Asiaweek magazine from 1997 to 2000. Born in Manila, he has lived and traveled widely in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, reporting for Asiaweek, Wired, East and The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Was Arizona Donnie Clark, AKA Kate "Ma" Barker the mastermind behind the Barker gang terrorizing the Midwest during the early years of the great Depression? Or was she a terrible mother who urged her sons to criminal behavior for her own financial gain? Or does the truth lie somewhere in between?

Set in a world where crime and government coexist, American Made is the jaw-dropping true story of CIA pilot Barry Seal that the Hollywood movie starring Tom Cruise was afraid to tell.Barry Seal flew cocaine and weapons worth billions of dollars into and out of America in the 1980s. After he became a government informant, Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel offered a million for him alive and half a million dead. But his real trouble began after he threatened to expose the dirty dealings of George HW Bush.

Oregon State Police arrested John Sosnovske and Laverne Pavlinac for the rape and murder of Taunja Bennett. There was just one problem. They had the wrong people. Keith Hunter Jesperson was a long haul truck driver and the murderer of eight women, including Taunja Bennett. This is his story.

In the decades before the Civil War, the miserable living conditions of New York City's lower east side nurtured the gangs of New York.

It's spring 1983. It seemed that one of the most startling discoveries of the century had been made, and that one of the world's most sought after documents had finally come to light, the private diaries of Adolf Hitler. What followed was the exchange of extraordinary sums of money for world-wide publishing rights. But that was just the beginning.

In a society of strangers, there develops what can be called crimes of mobility -- forms of criminality rare in traditional societies: bigamy, the confidence game, and blackmail, for example. What they have in common is a kind of fraudulent role-playing, which the new society makes possible.

From the author of the star-reviewed Garden State Gangland comes the story of the notorious East Harlem Purple Gang, a group of freelance hitmen who flourished on the Mafiäs payroll and the mediäs front page.

Eingeschworenen Gemeinschaften, deren Mitglieder mithilfe von Gehirnwäsche gefügig gemacht werden und die gefährlichen Machenschaften ihrer Anführer*innen decken – Sekten faszinieren und gruseln gleichermaßen. Ihr Bild in der Öffentlichkeit ist oft von düsteren Klischees geprägt, aber in vielen Fällen bieten ihre Strukturen den optimalen Nährboden für Verbrechen.Mit seinem Hörbuch „Die Spur des Bösen“ taucht der Theologe und Sekten-Experte Fabian Maysenhölder tief in die verborgenen Welten religiöser Kulte ein. Er erzählt zehn wahre Kriminalfälle, die sich im Umfeld einer Sekte ereigneten, und beleuchtet zudem deren psychologische und soziologische Hintergründe.Dabei begegnen ihm Phänomene wie Massensuizide, Teufelsaustreibungen und Folter, aber auch drängende, uns alle betreffende Fragen: Wann wird Religion problematisch? Was können wichtige Warnzeichen dafür sein, dass sich eine Eskalation anbahnt? Und wie können wir als Gesellschaft vorbeugen, damit es gar nicht erst zu einer Katastrophe kommt?Fabian Maysenhölder (*1985) ist evangelischer Theologe und hat nach seinem Studium mehrere Jahre bei einem großen Online-Medium gearbeitet. Inzwischen ist er Pfarrer und nebenberuflich freier Journalist. Schon immer faszinierte ihn die Frage, warum Menschen bestimmte Dinge glauben - oder auch nicht glauben. Seit 2017 beschäftigt er sich in seinem Podcast "secta.fm" mit sogenannten Sekten und neureligiösen Bewegungen. Dabei interessieren ihn vor allem die Fragen nach den Extremen: Wann wird Glaube gefährlich - und was kann man dagegen tun?

When the body of young Ben Harris is found after a Colorado snowstorm, Detective Nick Severs is drawn into a missing child case that went cold twenty years ago. As he and his hacker girlfriend Claire begin the investigation, every dark turn takes them deeper into the underworld of child trafficking and cybercrime, where danger is real, stakes are high, and where they each must decide what lines they are willing to cross in order to find justice.

"Secrets Among The Stones", the reviting 4th book in "The Pineworth Chronicles" series, is a story set in the small town of Pineworth. Detective Alex Bennett gets caught up in a complicated situation involving secrets, lies, and a murder. After a well-known resident named Henry Winters is discovered dead, the once-peaceful town is thrown into chaos. The story takes unexpected turns as Alex follows leads and uncovers hidden connections while navigating the complexities of small-town dynamics. With each chapter, the tension rises, culminating in a thrilling chase, a surprising arrest, and a revelation that shakes the town to its core. It is a compelling mystery novel that combines suspense, intrigue, and a touch of small-town charm. It weaves elements of detective work, family drama, and historical mysteries, creating a captivating tale that keeps readers on the edge of their seats until the end.

A discovery of bones on a windswept beach, the disappearance of a young woman, and a detective whose secrets are about to come out... Summoned to a crime scene swarming with people, Detective Billie Ann Wilde is devastated to find a woman's broken bones abandoned in a suitcase on the sand of a popular Florida beach. And Billie's blood runs cold when she reads the name "Danni" handwritten on the luggage tag in black ink: the name of Billie's own best friend. Rushing over to Danni's home, Billie is relieved to find her alive, preparing dinner for her two young daughters. So whose bones are in the suitcase? And why was Danni's name at the scene? For years, Billie has worried that the dark secrets in her past might put her loved ones in danger, and soon her connection to the case is confirmed. Another set of bones is found at a busy local mall. With shaking hands Billie reaches out to read the luggage tag where another name is written in black ink: but this time, it's Billie's own name. And now, Danni has gone missing... Can Billie face up to the past and unravel her connection to this twisted killer? Or, with two young women already gone, is it too late for Billie to save Danni's life? A twisty, heart-stopping new crime thriller in the Billie Ann Wilde series, from international bestseller Willow Rose. Readers of Lisa Regan, Mary Stone and Kendra Elliot won't be able to stop turning the pages. What readers are saying about Willow Rose: "Wow! Wow! Wow!... keeps you in suspense from page one all the way to the end, GENIUS! My jaw literally hit the floor at the end! I cannot wait to start the next book, so I'm not going to. Bye! Cuz I have another amazing thrill ride to go on!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Omg I could not put this book down... my heart was in my mouth most of the time." Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Wow just wow!... I literally pictured it in my head like an episode of CSI... phenomenal. It sucked me in, I couldn't stop reading. And the plot twist WOW." Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Oh my gosh! This book is amazing! Willow Rose is now my favorite author! I have never read a book as good as this one or as shocking... I am now actually reading every book she has written! I'm not reading another author until I read everything I can that she has written. Willow Rose you are truly an amazing author!!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Completely blew me away. I never saw the ending turning out the way it did... thrilling and captivating... Once I started reading, I couldn't stop... A definite must-read." "Wow what a compelling and attention grabbing story that was full of action!!!!!... incredible heart-wrenching suspenseful thriller... had me completely drawn in from the start of the book to the final pages... one unexpected turn after another... The ending was totally mind-blowing and left me in total shock!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "This was an AWESOME READ!!... very hard to put down... never miss out on a Willow Rose book!!" Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

They weren't supposed to cross the border. But they did it anyway. Twice. L.A. Sheriff's Homicide Detective Josefina Sanchez cannot turn her back on a former colleague and friend, even when he is suspected of murder and has fled the country. Jerry Townsend's wife was gunned down a decade earlier when the couple arrived home from a night on the town and surprised an intruder. When the investigation failed to identify a suspect or even a motive, some of Townsend's colleagues speculated that he had been part of a scheme to kill her. As rumors of his guilt abounded, Townsend quietly retired from law enforcement and disappeared. Ten years later, Townsend reaches out to Josie and asks for her help. Josie ventures into Mexico on an unauthorized mission to find answers to the unsolved mystery. Her partner, Dickie Jones, warned her against going, convinced that the trip south could leave her career in peril and her life in imminent danger. Of course, he was right.As the truth begins to unravel, Josie is drawn into a tangled web of crooked cops and their cartel connections, and she scrambles to make it out alive.The First Felony is the eighth novel in the highly acclaimed, best-selling, and award-winning Dickie Floyd Detective series. If you enjoy authentic police procedurals written by someone who lived the life, you'll love this riveting crime series by Danny R. Smith.

RAVENSWOOD CRIME SERIES - BOOK 2'Grabs you right from the explosive start!' - Roger A. Price, thriller authorA police officer is snatched from the streets. The Ravenswood police are on high alert. Who is behind the abduction? Will they find their colleague alive?A teenage girl going for a run disappears... Another young woman is found dead, buried in concrete. Murdered.New DSI Tanya Wright has her hands full. The police are stretched to their limits, bent on taking down the abductors of their colleague, and on the hunt for a killer. Not to mention their undercover agent, in daily fear of being caught trying to bring down a criminal gang.Already under pressure, DCI Watson and his best friend, DS Monteith, face a shocking revelation, turning their world upside down.Once again, they find themselves in danger. Once again, they have to fight their way out of it. Will they catch the killer? Will they survive?Is blood thicker than water? Find out in 'BLOOD TIES'.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Another brilliant read from Tony Millington. The way Tony has written makes the story a great rollercoaster ride of trying to work out what is going to happen next. A recommended read for all crime detective fans. - Aled⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐This story has a great plot with lots of strands running concurrently and which stretch this very likable team of detectives to their limit. There's plenty of action and the pace is kept up throughout, leading to a dramatic ending and some nice twists along the way. I am definitely looking forward to seeing what comes next in this series! 5* - Alyson Reads and Reviews⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐A great read that keeps you guessing throughout. I love that the characters are becoming more involved. Already waiting for the next book! - Stephanie Wellbelove⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐A very well-written book with many surprises throughout. This was not a book that was easy to predict the outcome of. I loved that. Twists and turns and a conclusion I didn't expect made this a great read. I look forward to further tales from Ravenswood. - Lynda Checkley

After a dream honeymoon, Carly and Thorne return home to Lillington, North Carolina, a small town where everyday lives play out amidst a backdrop of hope, beliefs, prejudices, and love.When a neighbor's disturbing report leads to the discovery of a dead body, Police Chief Lolo turns to Thorne to help investigate. As Thorne follows the twisted trails of truth and mistaken identities, he uncovers shocking secrets.Meanwhile, young divorcée Jennifer Ward relocates to Lillington with her son Kenny, seeking comfort from her father Vernon after years of estrangement. But adjusting to this unfamiliar small town is an immense challenge for Kenny. When Jennifer's ex-husband turns up murdered, Thorne launches another investigation, enlisting the help of his former colleague Big Al.In this close-knit community, the veneers of prestige, power and wealth mask guilt-ridden affairs and lies. Colorful locals, from politically incorrect figures to high and mighty titans, will captivate readers looking for their next compelling story.

The Con and the FBI Agent is the story of an unlikely alliance between two diametrically opposed people that results in one of the most successful undercover cases in Boston FBI history.

Am Morgen des 16. Oktober 2016 wird am Ufer der Dreisam in Freiburg eine Medizinstudentin ermordet aufgefunden. Der Täter, der durch akribische Polizeiarbeit bald ermittelt wird: ein unbegleiteter, jugendlicher Flüchtling aus Afghanistan. In der Stadt kocht die Stimmung über. Sämtliche politischen Lager wollen den Mord für sich instrumentalisieren. Und vor Gericht entspinnt sich ein Prozess, bei dem es auch um Fragen zur Betreuung von Flüchtlingen, um Möglichkeiten und Grenzen wissenschaftlicher Gutachten, um die Glaubwürdigkeit von Zeugenaussagen und um die Rolle eines Pflichtverteidigers geht. Anne Grießer, Krimiautorin, Ethnologin, Dozentin und Reisejournalistin hat den Prozess von Anfang bis Ende verfolgt und ihre ganz persönlichen Schlüsse daraus gezogen.Anne Griesser ist im badischen Odenwald aufgewachsen und lebt heute in Freiburg. Sie studierte Ethnologie und Germanistik und arbeitete u.a. als Lektorin, Reiseleiterin, Redakteurin und Dozentin, bevor sie sich dem Schreiben widmete. Neben Krimis und historischen Romanen schreibt sie Reiseführer und Sachbücher zu kulturgeschichtlichen Themen. Durch die Recherche für ihre Kriminalgeschichten erwachte das Interesse an der realen Arbeit von Polizei und Justiz.Heidi Jürgens ist Schauspielerin und Sprecherin für Features, Werbung, E-Learning, Reportagen, Hörspiele und Hörbücher. Außerdem ist sie Nachrichtensprecherin auf Platt- und Hochdeutsch.

Perhaps no other television show captures our innate fascination with crime and criminals better than the original Forensic Files. Examining true crime cases from murders to insurance fraud, hit-and-runs to kidnappings, every case featured on the show is solved in large part with the help of forensic science like DNA evidence.In Forensic Files Now, author Rebecca Reisner shares her own gripping retellings of 40 favorite cases profiled on the show along with fascinating updates adapted from her popular blog, ForensicFilesNow.com. Featuring classic cases like the Tennessee brothers who terrorized locals for years until the feds rode into town, the Texas lovebirds who robbed a grave in an insurance fraud plot that made international headlines, the Ivy League-educated physician who attempted a fresh start by burying his wife in the basement, and some cases so captivating that they have sparked spinoff miniseries or documentaries of their own, the book will enthrall readers with its vivid recaps and detailed updates.Also featuring an in-depth interview with Forensic Files creator Paul Dowling and a profile on the show's beloved narrator, Peter Thomas, Forensic Files Now is a must-read for diehard Forensic Files fans and a welcome find for true crime readers who are always looking for more riveting and well-told stories.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

This book analyzes the everyday actions of ordinary people in the context of extreme political and cultural polarization, distort the criminal justice system and betray the lofty ideals expressed in American founding documents and centuries of Anglo-American articulations of basic human rights.

Thieves-in-law' (vory-v-zakone in Russian) are career criminals belonging to a criminal fraternity that began in the 1930s in the Soviet prison camps. For reasons that the book attempts to explain, thieves-in-law became exceptionally prevalent in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Here, by the 1990s, they formed a mafia network--criminal associations that attempt to monopolize protection in legal and illegal sectors of the economy. At this time, the mafia was in many ways more powerful than the state. In 2005, however, anti-organized crime policy was transferred from Italy and America to Georgia. Legislation targeting the thieves-in-law directly was successful in causing a steep decline in mafia influence and organized criminal activity. This book asks how and why this occurred. In particular, why did the thieves-in-law not resist the attack on them successfully? Based on extensive fieldwork and utilizing unique access to primary sources of data, such as police files, court cases, archives, and expert interviews, the book provides a case study of varying organized criminal resilience to state attack. It studies the dynamics of changing mafia activities, recruitment practices, and organization as these relate to changes in the socio-economic environment and, in particular, anti-organized crime policy in what is the first sustained, directed anti-mafia policy implemented in a post-Soviet country.

Every Contact Leaves a Trace is a professional and confessional account of cases and stories from a senior crime scene investigator.

A gripping true crime compendium of some of the world's most infamous and shocking mass murderers, such as John Wayne Gacy, the Boston Strangler, the Moors murderers and Harold Shipman, as well as some lesser-known figures. This book not only relates the disturbing events that transpired but also delves into the psychology of the perpetrators.

The world's most renowned art forger reveals the secrets behind his decades of painting like the masters--exposing an art world that is far more corrupt than we ever knew while providing an art history lesson wrapped in sex, drugs, and Caravaggio. The art world is a much dirtier, nastier business than you might expect. Tony Tetro, one of the most renowned art forgers in history, will make you question every masterpiece you've ever seen in a museum, gallery, or private collection. Tetro's "Rembrandts," "Caravaggios," "Miros," and hundreds of other works now hang on walls around the globe. In 2019, it was revealed that Prince Charles received into his collection a Picasso, Dali, Monet, and Chagall, insuring them for over 200 million pounds, only to later discover that they're actually "Tetros." And the kicker? In Tony's words: "Even if some tycoon finds out his Rembrandt is a fake, what's he going to do, turn it in? Now his Rembrandt just became motel art. Better to keep quiet and pass it on to the next guy. It's the way things work for guys like me." The Prince Charles scandal is the subject of a forthcoming feature documentary with Academy Award nominee Kief Davidson and coauthor Giampiero Ambrosi, in cooperation with Tetro. Throughout Tetro's career, his inimitable talent has been coupled with a reckless penchant for drugs, fast cars, and sleeping with other con artists. He was busted in 1989 and spent four years in court and one in prison. His voice--rough, wry, deeply authentic--is nothing like the high society he swanned around in, driving his Lamborghini or Ferrari, hobnobbing with aristocrats by day, and diving into debauchery when the lights went out. He's a former furniture store clerk who can walk around in Caravaggio's shoes, become Picasso or Monet, with an encyclopedic understanding of their paint, their canvases, their vision. For years, he hid it all in an unassuming California townhouse with a secret art room behind a full-length mirror. (Press #* on his phone and the mirror pops open.) Pairing up with coauthor Ambrosi, one of the investigative journalists who uncovered the 2019 scandal, Tetro unveils the art world in an epic, alluring, at times unbelievable, but all-true narrative.

The Art Dealer¿s Apprentice tells the story of how the author moved to New York in 1989 as a young Midwesterner, found a job at an Upper East Side gallery, and became the protégé of Carla Panicali, an Italian countess and major international art world figure.