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Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry · back to the book

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24 books with the same feel

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The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

John Grisham · 360 pages

John Grisham's first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet. In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A's, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory. Six years later he was

True CrimeForensic InvestigationCourtroom DramaIntense
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Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

Jon Krakauer · 399 pages

Jon Krakauer's literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In UNDER THE BANNER OF HEAVEN, he shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders. At the core of his book is an appalling double murder committed by two Mormon fundamentalist brothers, Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they receive

CultsTrue CrimeIntenseInvestigative Journalism
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In Cold Blood

Truman Capote · 343 pages

On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.

True CrimeForensic InvestigationCourtroom DramaInvestigative Journalism
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Perfect Victim: The True Story of "The Girl in the Box"

Carla Norton, Christine McGuire · 384 pages

True CrimeCultsPsychological ManipulationCourtroom Drama
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The Black Dahlia

James Ellroy · 364 pages

The Black Dahlia is a roman noir on an epic scale: a classic period piece that provides a startling conclusion to America's most infamous unsolved murder mystery--the murder of the beautiful young woman known as The Black Dahlia.

True CrimePsychological ManipulationHollywoodIntense
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Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed

Patricia Cornwell · 387 pages

"Between August and November 1888, at least seven women were murdered in London's Whitechapel area. The gruesome nature of their deaths caused panic and fear in the East End for months, and gave rise to the sobriquet that was to become shorthand for a serial killer - Jack the Ripper.". "For over a hundred years the murders have remained among the world's greatest unsolved crimes, and a wealth o

True CrimeForensic InvestigationInvestigative JournalismDense Prose
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Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

Lawrence Wright · 448 pages

"Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists--both famous and less well known--and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative skills to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology: its origins in the imagination of science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard; its struggles to find acceptance as a

CultsPsychological ManipulationHollywoodInvestigative Journalism
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The Family: The Story of Charles Manson's Dune Buggy Attack Battalion

Ed Sanders · 415 pages

"Ed Sanders gained access to every material witness to the Tate-LaBianca murders. He corresponded with Manson and visited the family many times in their quarters at the Spahn Ranch, and in Inyo County and Death Valley, their desert hideaways. He interviewed members of motorcycle gangs whose paths crossed that of Manson and his family. He covered the trial for the Los Angeles Free Press and develo

CultsTrue CrimeInvestigative JournalismViolent
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Columbine

Dave Cullen · 417 pages

On April 20, 1999, two boys left an indelible stamp on the American psyche. Their goal was simple: to blow up their school, Oklahoma-City style, and to leave "a lasting impression on the world." Their bombs failed, but the ensuing shooting defined a new era of school violence-irrevocably branding every subsequent shooting "another Columbine." When we think of Columbine, we think of the Trench Coat

True CrimeIntenseInvestigative JournalismLaw Enforcement
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True CrimePsychological ManipulationIntenseInvestigative Journalism
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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

Stieg Larsson · 602 pages

> Lisbeth Salander—the heart of Larsson’s two previous novels—lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She’s fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she’ll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have t

Psychological ManipulationCourtroom DramaLaw EnforcementInvestigative Journalism
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Night Film

Marisha Pessl · 624 pages

Ashley Cordova is dead. Scott McGrath, a veteran investigative journalist wants to know why. The reason why the death of this beautiful, young woman has piqued his interest so much is because of who her father is. He is Stanislas Cordova, the world famous director of strange cult/horror films that hasn't been seen publicly in over thirty years. The last time McGrath got involved with Cordova he lo

CultsInvestigative JournalismHollywoodIntense
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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Erik Larson · 464 pages

From back cover: Bringing Chicago circa 1893 to vivid life, Erik Larson's spell-binding bestseller intertwines the true tale of two men - the brilliant architect behind the legendary 1893 World's Fair, striving to secure America's place in the world; and the cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure his victims to their death. Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik

True CrimePsychological ManipulationInvestigative JournalismDense Prose
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Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer--America's Deadliest Serial Murderer

Ann Rule · 504 pages

"Ann Rule has spent more than two decades researching the story of the Green River Killer, who murdered more than forty-nine young women. The quest to discover the most prolific serial killer in American history has been an intimate part of Rule's life, with some of the corpses found only a mile or so from where she lived and raised her own daughters. She did not know the killer, but he apparently

True CrimeForensic InvestigationInvestigative JournalismLaw Enforcement
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The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective

Kate Summerscale · 384 pages

In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land, Jonathan Whicher of Scotland Yard. Whicher quickly believed the unbelievable--that someone within the family was

True CrimeForensic InvestigationInvestigative JournalismDense Prose
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The Monster of Florence

Douglas Preston, Mario Spezi · 345 pages

Marshal Guarnaccia feels out of his league when he is assigned to help track down a serial killer, especially when he assigned to work under Simonetti, a man so dedicated to achieving a conviction that he is blinded to the consequences.

True CrimeForensic InvestigationInvestigative JournalismDark
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Dark Places

Gillian Flynn · 349 pages

Libby Day tinha apenas sete anos quando testemunhou o brutal assassinato da mãe e das duas irmãs na fazenda da família. O acusado do crime foi seu irmão mais velho, que acabou condenado à prisão perpétua. Desde aquele dia, Libby passou a viver sem rumo. Uma vida paralisada no tempo, sem amigos, família ou trabalho. Mas, vinte e quatro anos depois, quando é procurada por um grupo de pessoas conv

CultsTrue CrimeForensic InvestigationViolent
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Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson

Jeff Guinn · 495 pages

Based on new interviews, this revealing account of one of the most notorious criminals in American history puts Manson in the context of his times, the turbulent end of the 60s, revealing a rock star wannabe whose killings were directly related to his musical ambitions.

CultsTrue CrimeHollywoodDark
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True CrimeForensic InvestigationInvestigative JournalismIntense
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True CrimeInvestigative JournalismForensic InvestigationDense Prose
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Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer

David Reichert · 320 pages

The riveting personal account of one sheriffs epic hunt for America's most heinous serial killer. For eight years, Sheriff David Reichert devoted days and nights to capturing the Green River Killer--the most notorious serial killer in American history. He was the first detective on the case in 1982 and doggedly pursued it as the body count climbed to 49 and it became the most infamous unsolved cas

True CrimeForensic InvestigationIntenseLaw Enforcement
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Hannibal

Thomas Harris · 546 pages

Sequel to: [The Silence of the Lambs][1] Invite Hannibal Lecter into the palace of your mind and be invited into his mind palace in turn. Note the similarities in yours and his, the high vaulted chambers of your dreams, the shadowed halls, the locked storerooms where you dare not go, the scrap of half-forgotten music, the muffled cries from behind a wall. In one of the most eagerly anticipa

Forensic InvestigationDense ProsePsychological ManipulationViolent
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Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People

Tim Reiterman · 623 pages

Tim Reiterman’s *Raven* provides the seminal history of the Rev. Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple, and the murderous ordeal at Jonestown in 1978. This PEN Award–winning work explores the ideals-gone-wrong, the intrigue, and the grim realities behind the Peoples Temple and its implosion in the jungle of South America. Reiterman’s reportage clarifies enduring misperceptions of the character and moti

CultsTrue CrimeInvestigative JournalismNonfiction
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I Am Pilgrim

Terry Hayes · 612 pages

"The astonishing story of one man's breakneck race against time . . . and an implacable enemy. An anonymous young woman murdered in a run-down hotel, all identifying characteristics dissolved by acid. A father publicly beheaded in the blistering heat of a Saudi Arabian public square. A notorious Syrian biotech expert found eyeless in a Damascus junkyard. Smoldering human remains on a remote mounta

Forensic InvestigationIntenseLaw EnforcementSprawling Epic

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