Polit- & Justizthriller

A frank and intimate portrait of a charismatic, larger-than-life underworld figure, as told by the daughter who nearly followed in his footsteps."Do unto others before they do unto you," John Vogel used to advise his daughter, Jennifer. By his account, the world was a crooked place and one had to be crooked in order to survive. A lifelong criminal, John robbed banks, burned down buildings, scammed investors, plotted murder, and single-handedly counterfeited more than $20 million. He also wrote a novel, invented a "jean stretcher," baked lemon meringue pies, and arranged for ten-year-old Jennifer to see Rocky in an empty theater on Christmas Eve. In his reckless pursuit of the American Dream, he could be genuinely good. When it came time to pass his phony bills, he targeted Wal-Mart for political reasons.In 1995, following John's arrest in what turned out to be the fourth-largest seizure of counterfeit bills in U.S. history, he managed to slip away, leaving his now grown daughter to wonder what had become of him. Framed around the six months Jennifer's father ran from the law, Flim-Flam Man vividly chronicles the police chase -- stakeouts, lie detector tests, even a segment on Unsolved Mysteries. In describing her tumultuous life with John Vogel, Jennifer deftly examines the messy, painful, and almost inescapable inheritance one generation bequeaths to the next.

The night David Hilligiest didn't come home was both like and unlike other nights when other Houston boys disappeared between the years 1971 and 1973. At three in the morning the police were called, but they just said that boys were running away from the best of homes nowadays and that they'd list David as a runaway. No, there would be no official search for the youngster. Aghast, the Hilligiests, in the months that followed, hired their own detective, put up posters, even sought the aid of clairvoyants. But David never did come home again because, along with at least twenty-six other Houston boys, he had been murdered and buried by the homosexual owner of a candy factory, the mass murderer of the century, Dean Corll, according to his two teenage confessed accomplices, Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr., and David Brooks. Many of the young boys had not even been reported as missing, and the fact that they were dead would probably never have come to light had not one of the murderers confessed. For in Houston, where in a typical year the total number of murders is twice that of London despite the fact that London is six times as large and far more densely populated, missing persons and violence are likely to be considered commonplace. In the months before the trial of Henley and Brooks, Jack Olsen interviewed and probed for answers about the criminals, the victims and the city itself, which remained for the most part silent, angry and defensive. The result is a classic of true crime reportage.

From Simon & Schuster, Knowing Right From Wrong is Richard Moran's look at the insanity defense of Daniel McNaughtan.In this examination of the precedent-setting case, Moran looks through an enlightened humanitarian lens of judgments passed on mentally ill defendants by judges and juries as a result of political climate and considerations.

Stephen Coonts has been hailed as the best contemporary author writing about flying. In The Cannibal Queen, he turns his storytelling genius to nonfiction with an exultant account of three glorious months in the summer of '91 spent in the cockpit of a 1942 Stearman vintage biplane. Joining the ranks of John Steinbeck and Charles Kuralt, Coonts takes us on an extraordinary adventure, touching down in all forty-eight of the continental United States. On a clear, sunny Saturday in June, Coonts and his fourteen-year-old son David take off from Boulder, Colorado, in a 1942 Stearman open cockpit biplane, "a noisy forty-nine-year-old wood and canvas crate with a naked floozy painted on the side." The Queen started life as a World War II primary trainer then spent over thirty years as an agricultural spray plane before being lovingly restored. For Coonts, who's logged thousands of hours in the Navy's most sophisticated aircraft, the Queen is flying as he's never known it before?flying close the earth, the wind teasing his helmet, equipped with little more than a map and a compass. First stop is a Stearman fly-in in St. Francis, Kansas. there amid the barbecues and barber-shop quartets, the tree lined streets with their modest homes, Coonts feels nostalgia for small-town America, for a way of life he felt was dying. Yet, by the end of the journey, having met the friendly, richly individual people in towns large and small across the land, he knows our nation has weathered her first two hundred years remarkably well, and he is filled with hope for the future of this vast and varied land. First published in 1992, The Cannibal Queen was Coonts' first venture into nonfiction and is hailed today as a classic flying story. Coonts captures the joy and wonder of flight on every page. Over half the fan mail he has received through the years has been about this book. You owe it to yourself to go flying with Stephen Coonts.

THE ULTIMATE COLD CASE From 1888 to 1891, London¿s East End was rocked by a series of brutal murders. The victims were prostitutes whose corpses were left gruesomely mutilated. These crimes came to be known as the Whitechapel murders and were attributed to an unidentified fiend who named himself ¿Jack the Ripper¿. The search for his true identity consumed an enormous amount of police resources and generated more than 1,600 pages of reports¿but the case was never solved. Now, after 120 years of speculation and debate, this infamous serial homicide case is reexamined by a leading cold case investigator. Using modern investigation techniques and technology, author Robert A. Snow takes a fresh look at the mystery of the Whitechapel murders¿and the serial killer who got away with his vicious crimes. The Ripper left nothing usable at the scene of his crimes and he came and went like a ghost. It is possible, even likely, that he was interviewed by the police at some time during the course of their investigations, but was able to allay their suspicions. Jack may have been insane, but he wasn¿t stupid.

In 1809, Meriwether Lewis, fresh off his famous expedition to explore the Louisiana Territory, is found dead along the Natchez Trace, a dangerous Indian trail in Tennessee. His partner, William Clark, and four members of their 'Corps of Discovery' crisscross the country during the War of 1812 in search of answers. When the war and the investigation collide in New Orleans, the fate of the young nation hangs in the balance!

In an era that produced some of the most vicious female sociopaths in American history, Jane Toppan would become the most notorious of them all. AN ANGEL OF MERCY In 1891, Jane Toppan, a proper New England matron, embarked on a profession as a private-duty nurse. Selfless and good-natured, she beguiled Boston's most prominent families. They had no idea what they were welcoming into their homes.... A DEVIL IN DISGUISE No one knew of Jane's past: of her mother's tragic death, of her brutal upbringing in an adoptive home, of her father's insanity, or of her own suicide attempts. No one could have guessed that during her tenure at a Massachusetts hospital the amiable "Jolly Jane" was morbidly obsessed with autopsies, or that she conducted her own after-hours experiments on patients, deriving sexual satisfaction in their slow, agonizing deaths from poison. Self-schooled in the art of murder, Jane Toppan was just beginning her career -- and she would indulge in her true calling victim by victim to become the most prolific domestic fiend of the nineteenth century.

The host of America's Most Wanted, John Walsh has formed a vital partnership with the public, the media, and law enforcement that has led to the capture of hundreds of the worst serial killers, kidnappers, pedophiles, and rapists of our time. In Public Enemies he reveals the cost -- the blood, sweat, and tears -- behind the relentless pursuit of hard justice, in such infamous cases as:Kyle Bell: A lifelong sexual predator whose madness culminated in the slaying of an eleven-year-old North Dakota girl. Bell was one of the only fugitives AMW had to capture twice -- and his case stirred more outrage than any other broadcast in AMW's history.Kathleen Soliah: This accused Symbionese Liberation Army terrorist disappeared in 1969 only to resurface twenty-five years later as suburban housewife and soccer mom Sara Jane Olson. Her arrest, following AMW's profile of Soliah and her former SLA partner James Kilgore, incited a stunning controversy.Rafael Resendez-Ramirez: aka The Railroad Killer. A sociopathic drifter, he rode the Texas rails, stopping only to rape and kill. His case was first brought to the public eye by AMW, and it was a secret call to the program's hot line that ultimately led to his surrender.In those and other gripping true-crime profiles, John Walsh exposes the behind-the-scenes drama of the groundbreaking show, and what actually unfolds between the crimes and the captures -- the vital leads from strangers, the dangerous manhunts, the developments cut from the AMW broadcasts, and the dogged investigations by authorities. He divulges stunning lapses in the judicial process that release monsters to the streets time and again. He takes readers inside the hearts and souls of the grieving families, and gives eyewitness accounts of the dramatic final moments when fugitives are finally taken down.An outspoken and unstoppable crusader, John Walsh ignites Public Enemies with righteous anger and gut-level emotion. But his heartfelt motto echoes throughout: I truly believe, with all my heart and soul, that together we can make a difference. It's a conviction Walsh offers as inspiration to the innocents affected by crime, and to all who feel powerless in the face of unfathomable evil.

From the days of Athenian democracy to the back rooms of Chicago politics today, corruption has plagued all political systems for all time. It is ubiquitous, vexing, and at times, threatens the very fabric of society. No culture, no system of government, no code of ethics has been able to eliminate political corruption. While the United States generally ranks comparatively low in measures of political corruption (Transparency International rates the U.S. as the 18th "least" corrupt nation in the world, with Denmark at number one, New Zealand, second, and Sweden third, the U.K. 16, France 23, Spain 28, Israel 33, South Korea 40, Italy 55, Cuba 65, with Somalia last at 180), yet it too continues to confront the sting of political corruption. For something to count as political corruption in the United States, it must have a public impact, be a part of some violation of public trust. As such, another useful distinction can be drawn between individual corruption and systemic corruption. The former is individual wrongdoing. An officeholder on the take, a legislator who sells his vote, would be examples of "bad apples." Systemic corruption encompasses a broader sphere. Instead of bad apples, here you have a "bad system." The undermining of democratic legitimacy or equality might be considered examples of systemic corruption, as might campaign financing practices. Such corruption runs deeper than mere individual transgression. Corruption is embedded into the day-to-day operation of the system. In focusing on the individual, we often overlook the systemic. It is easier, and in the short run, more gratifying to catch, punish, and condemn an individual like Governor Blagojevich. Yet what of the systemic forces that led the governor to behave in such a manner? Is there undue systemic pressure to accumulate money, so much so that the system pushes politicians "over the edge"? A politician need not "sell" offices to enter into a Faustian bargain. It may be perfectly legal to collect campaign contributions, yet it may also have a corrosive or corrupting effect on the integrity of the democratic process. With so many issues of corruption swirling around in the current American political climate, it is timely that there is new scholarship that casts much-needed light on these systemic forces. The brilliant discussions by a stellar list of distinguished scholars, led by Michael A. Genovese and Victoria A. Farrar-Meyers, in the insightful edited volume, Corruption and American Politics, delivers the best and most up-to-date thinking by some of the finest political minds in the nation. This will be an essential resource for all collections in political science and American studies.

THE MAGICIAN: John Mulholland's Secret Life is drawn from never-before-seen documents and many unpublished photographs. It will appeal to readers of theatre, magic and war history.It comes with a foreword by the legendary Dr. John N. Booth, who writes:"Ben Robinson has thoughtfully and beautifully synthesized the pile of personal notes and documents which is the legacy passed from John Mulholland to Milbourne Christopher, to Maurine Christopher and finally to author Robinson. No better foundation exists for learning what made John Mulholland into magic's most influential voice in the 20th century. This book tells that story."John Mulholland (1898-1970) edited the magician's magazine "The Sphinx" for 23 years, ending the publication to be consultant to the newly born CIA in 1953. His assignments included working with billionaires and inventors, cracking codes and delving into the clandestine world of ESP research, LSD use and the secret MK-ULTRA world headed by the notorious Dr. Sidney Gottlieb.During this period, CIA Dr. Frank Olson died the day after Thanksgiving, 1953. This book examines Mulholland's role during this dramatic period in the CIA's history and goes against the current trend of accusing Mulholland as having a role in Olson's fatal fall from a hotel window. John Mulholland was "The World's Master Magician." He performed in forty-two countries, authored ten books and performed at the Roosevelt White house eight times. His 90-minute stage show was carried in two suitcases and included impersonations of authentic Hindu and Chinese mysteries. Theatre critics spoke about him as they did a great actor.John Mulholland was an intellectual patriot who provided an essential component of counter espionage during the Cold War's Red Scare.THE MAGICIAN: John Mulholland's Secret Life is the first biography of the man Dr. John N. Booth defines in his Foreword as "the most influential voice of the art of magic in the 20th century."