Child Crimes

The boy studied the bruise turning yellow at the base of his neck. With quick fingers his mother tightened his tie and pulled his collar high above it. Her eyes alone said, We will not speak of this.... Years later a man is found shot dead in a local park. On his phone is a draft text: I can’t keep this secret any longer. The recipient is unnamed. Detective Robyn Carter knows this secret is the key to the case, but his friends and family don’t offer any clues, and all her team have to go on is a size-ten footprint.

Like the biblical Job, John Ramsey had it all - wealth, social position, a loving family. And like Job, Ramsey was destined for great affliction, as many of the most precious things in his life were cruelly taken from him.

In 1876, in a mining camp called Roaring Fork in the Colorado Rockies, 11 miners were killed by a rogue grizzly bear. Corrie Swanson has arranged to examine the miners' remains. When she makes a shocking discovery, town leaders try to stop her from exposing their community's dark and bloody past. Just as Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI arrives to rescue his protege, the town comes under siege by a murderous arsonist who - with brutal precision - begins burning down multimillion-dollar mansions with the families locked inside.

When he was 10 years old, Paul Fronczak was snooping around for Christmas presents in a crawl space in his family’s Chicago home. There, he found hundreds of old newspaper clippings about the kidnapping of a one-day-old infant in a hospital in 1964. He also learned that, two years later, the boy was found and returned to his family - and that the boy was him. Nearly 50 years later, Paul, acting on long-held suspicions, took a DNA test that proved he was not the kidnapped boy. In an instant, he found himself at the center of two half-century-old mysteries.

Early on August 12, 2000, four of America's best young rock climbers were sleeping in their portaledges high on the Yellow Wall, in the central Asian mountain range of Kyrgyzstan,. By daybreak, they would be taken at gunpoint by militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, which is linked to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network. In a life-and-death journey over six terrifying days, they would be forced to choose between saving their own lives and committing an act none of them thought they ever could.

A windowless shack in the woods. Lena's life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father: meals, bathroom visits, study time are strictly scheduled and meticulously observed. He protects his family from the dangers lurking in the outside world and makes sure that his children will always have a mother to look after them. One day Lena manages to flee - but the nightmare continues. It seems as if her tormentor wants to get back what belongs to him....

In the summer of 1994, when Molly Brodak was 13 years old, her father robbed 11 banks, until the police finally caught up with him while he was sitting at a bar drinking beer, a bag of stolen money plainly visible in the backseat of his parked car. Dubbed the "Mario Brothers Bandit" by the FBI, he served seven years in prison and was released, only to rob another bank several years later and end up back behind bars. In her powerful, provocative debut memoir, Brodak recounts her childhood and attempts to make sense of her complicated relationship with her father.

"Failure to comply with these requests means no one will ever see the girl again, except the angels in heaven." The year is 1927, and Christmas is right around the corner. In the city of Los Angeles, lights are shining, streets are bustling, and a well-to-do family of five is living out what seems to be just another ordinary day. However, unbeknownst to all but one man, this would be the last time the Parker family would ever experience such peace. By the time dusk falls, they would be forever torn apart. Marion Parker's Abduction and Murder is an excursion into a crime so chilling that it ...

Aldis hates her job working in a juvenile detention center in rural Iceland. The boys are difficult, the owners are unpleasant, and there are mysterious noises at night. And then two of the boys go astray.... Decades later single father Odinn is looking into alleged abuse at the center. The more he finds out, though, the more it seems the odd events of the 1970s are linked to the accident that killed his ex-wife. Was her death something more sinister?

A Riveting Quest for Justice In a small, tranquil town where secrets are buried deep, a newly elected senator is about to uncover truths that could shatter the peace forever. Decades ago, a child vanished without a trace, leaving a community reeling and parents drowning in grief. Now, on the brink of an execution that promises closure, Stoane Cold stands firm on his belief that the wrong man is about to pay the ultimate price for a crime he didn’t commit. With mere days to spare, his mission is clear: discover the truth and set the wheels of justice in motion. As Stoane delves into the ...

WAS IT A NIGHTMARE OR WAS IT REAL? A seven-year-old boy experienced a horrible nightmare while on a camping trip. But was it a nightmare? Sgt. Jeremy Porter, the squad supervisor for the New Orleans Police Department's Child Endangerment Division, does not think so, especially since he suffers from his own realistic nightmares. Therapists, doctors, and even the police chief are all convinced it was a nightmare and the boy won't cooperate. Amidst the maddening and violent Mardi Gras season, Jeremy develops a wild hunch and sets his sights on a most unlikely suspect for child abuse. While ...

Twelve true crime stories of murder and mayhem. Fifth audiobook of the True Crime Case Histories Series (2020). When researching these stories, I commonly use actual police reports, court documents, and first-hand descriptions. Some of the details can be disconcerting. I do my best to not leave out any of the details in my audiobooks, no matter how depraved they may be. My intent is not to shock, but to show precisely how twisted the mind of a killer can be. The stories in this volume are shocking and disturbing, but they’re also true. These things really do happen in the world.

Charlene Downes was 14 years old when she went missing in the seedy underbelly of Blackpool. Once a happy-go-lucky schoolgirl, she had turned into a truant. Though Charlene was hanging out with a new crowd by takeaway shops and the pier, her mum, Karen, always knew her typical teenage daughter would come home. But one day she didn't.

For 500 years, the Cahills have been the most powerful family in the world. For 500 years, they've protected the source of their power - the 39 Clues. And for 500 years, they've kept their secrets silent. Until now. This extraordinary stand-alone novel cracks open the Cahill vault to tell the story of the most coveted piece of artwork in the world, a masterpiece that has been the target of seven separate theft attempts: Jan van Eyck’s altarpiece at Ghent.

The pressures of fame and an obsessive stalker have driven pop star Olivia Smith to take shelter at Halcyon Hall, an exclusive spa on a remote island off the coast of Maine. Yet from the moment she arrives, there are rumors about women disappearing and stories about the resort’s grisly past. Then a note arrives from her stalker, proving that nowhere is truly safe....

Foster carer Maggie Hartley is finally enjoying a well-earned holiday from fostering, savouring time with her brand-new baby granddaughter. One night, though, the peace and quiet is interrupted by an urgent call from Social Services. A man has been stabbed, and Social Services need to find an emergency placement for his little girl. Maggie is used to children arriving on her doorstep at all times of the day and night, but nothing can prepare her for the sight of 11-year-old Nancy.

In a house under renovation, a plumber uncovers a cellar no one knew about, and makes a rather grisly discovery - a decapitated chicken, animal bones, and cauldrons containing beads, feathers, and other relics of religious ceremonies. In the center of the shrine is the skull of a teenage girl. Meanwhile, on a nearby lakeshore, the headless body of a teenage boy is found by a man walking his dog.

Journey through my troubled childhood as I went from victim to victimizer. Explore my punishment and experience my distress as I tried to make sense of the incomprehensible.

Angeline Reddy is the daughter of a famous lawyer, but she's no stranger to rule-breaking. Growing up in the wild gold-mining town of Bodie, California, in the 1880s, Angeline has seen it all -- saloons, brawls, dance halls, and a whole lot of desperation. But nothing's more exciting than seeing her daddy, Patrick Reddy, in action in the courtroom. Yet when Angeline's beau, a detective, ends up on trial, she finds herself tangled in a dangerous mystery as she attempts to help clear his name.

An outlaw private eye meets a woman who has a horribly-blackened eye and offers to do something about it. Unlicensed outlaw private eye Joe Beck stops off at bar in Trinidad, Colorado. Inside, he meets a woman named Brandi, a brunette bombshell who's working behind the bar. She's slim, tanned and attractive. She has it all. Except, her left eye is horribly blackened, something she admits to having been caused by the hand of an abusive ex-boyfriend. Beck offers to deal with the guy, no questions asked in a move that sees him sucked into the dealings of a couple of crooked cops and a local ...