Crime Culture

When Chicago hitman Ray Dylan started out he was one more young professional struggling to get ahead of the pack. But he knows his world is about to change quickly when he takes on a job for high-level KGB elitist Leonid (The Professor) Volkov, founder of a unique Cuban-Russian spy community operating out of southern Florida. After Volkov double-crosses him and tries to have him killed, Dylan must take on the entire criminal spy operation even as a wild hurricane named Dennis ravages its way up the heart of the Florida peninsula.

Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant started the podcast Stuff You Should Know back in 2008 because they were curious - curious about the world around them, curious about what they might have missed in their formal educations and curious to dig deeper on stuff they thought they understood. As it turns out, they aren't the only curious ones. They've since amassed a rabid fan base, making Stuff You Should Know one of the most popular podcasts in the world.

Explore the fascinating link between gender stereotypes in fairy tales and real-world life with Only Prince Charming Gets to Break the Rules: Gender and Rule Violation in Fairy Tales and Life. This thought-provoking book carefully analyzes 200 folktales and fairy tales from around the world, uncovering a universal disparity in how male and female characters are punished for breaking the rules. Through a blend of thorough research and literary investigation, the book sheds light on how these stereotypes affect our families, politics, and education. A powerful feminist critique of social ...

For 12-year-old Diego and his family, home is a prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents farmed coca, a traditional Bolivian medicinal plant, until they got caught in the middle of the government's war on drugs and were mistakenly convicted of drug possession. Diego's parents are locked up, but he can come and go: to school, to the market to sell his mother's handknitted goods and to work as a "taxi", running errands for other prisoners. But then his little sister temporarily runs off while under his watch, earning his mother a heavy fine.

As we come to the end of this chapter on P. Diddy's prison release date, it is important to reflect on the impact of jail time on not just the individual, but also on their career, reputation, and personal growth. P. Diddy's impending release date has sparked conversations about the legal troubles of hip hop artists and the consequences of their actions. It is crucial for men, women, music-industry professionals, teens, young adults, and those in the sex-industry to consider the implications of celebrity prison sentences and how they can learn from the mistakes of those in the spotlight.

Mr. Fred Grange claims to work as a clerk for a biscuit company, but he's out and about on the London streets at odd hours, and girl detective Maisie Hitchins soon discovers something very precious hidden in his rooms. Maisie is determined to unmask him as a thief, but the truth is far more complicated - and dangerous. Before long, Maisie and her friends are led into a web of mystery lurking in the London Underground.

The Unspoken: A Glimpse of the Dark Side of Gang and Street Culture paints a stark picture of gang life and street culture in an intriguing, unscripted account that takes you to the underbelly of Barbados' streets from those who have lived it. Revelations of community, gang and group wars which fomented these conflicts are skillfully woven into the fabric of the book. This work also highlights a case of the heinous crime of incest and its horrible effects: a crime with merely hushed tones and whispers attesting to its existence, but so prevalent in Barbados. The book juxtaposes the past ...

Black Market Billions blows the lid off the world's fastest-growing illicit industry: organized retail crime. Hitha Prabhakar reveals how criminals with ties to terrorist groups around the world are committing huge product thefts, and using the profits to fund terrorist acts. Prabhakar connects the dots and follows the money - from consumers dying for a deal to terrorist cells eager to do the killing.

In the bustling heart of Chicago, where deep-dish pizza meets cutthroat business, Ivy Rowe thought her biggest challenge would be landing the next big marketing contract. She was wrong. When Ivy's client and friend, Celeste Green of Chicago Dogs, is found murdered at a high-stakes Blackhawks game, the savvy marketing executive finds herself thrust into a world of danger she never expected. With the police eyeing the wrong suspect, Ivy knows she must uncover the truth – but at what cost? As she digs deeper, Ivy unravels a conspiracy that goes far beyond a simple business rivalry. From the ...

Old ways and new clash in head-on confrontation: When journeyman hit man Ray Dylan agrees to look in on Sami Bloom, former mistress of a deceased Canadian crime financier, he realizes he must keep his profession a secret. What he doesn’t realize is how difficult that is now that he has fallen for this warm-hearted beauty. While he struggles with the idea of confiding to her about his secret past, Dylan learns that Sami Bloom has some secrets of her own - and her secrets reach into the upper echelons of the very organization he works for.

Twelve-year-olds Lizzie Sancho and Dido Belle are from different worlds – Lizzie lives in Westminster in her dad’s tea shop, while Belle is an heiress being brought up by her aunt and uncle at grand Kenwood House – but they both share a love of solving mysteries. And after saving Lizzie’s father from attempted murder surely there is no threat too dangerous for the detective duo?

Dopeworld is a bold and eye-opening exploration into the world of drugs. Taking us on an unforgettable journey around the world, we trace the emergence of psychoactive substances and our relationship with them. Exploring the murky criminal underworld, the author has unparalleled access to drug lords, cartel leaders, hit men and government officials.

In this fourth mystery about 12-year-old Maisie, the young detective must solve a crime for her friend, Professor Tobin. The professor travelled all over the world collecting strange and wonderful objects, and the British Museum is opening a special room to house his collection. But before the professor's donation, a thief steals a valuable Amazonian tribal mask! With just a single feather left behind, Maisie doesn't have much to go on, but the stakes in her newest case are higher than ever.

In the summer of 1983, a young teen named Danny Brent and his two best friends share good times and special moments while enjoying that unique magic of childhood, an all too brief time when anything seemed possible. They also share a chilling adventure that bonds them together well into adulthood. Now, for the first time in almost thirty years, Danny is sharing his secret about what really happened, the story about his brief encounter with the Goatman - a legendary creature that exists on the outskirts of town in a haunted area called Goatman's, how he saved his life, and what happens ...

When Brian Bradford's teenage daughter starts undergoing a strange transformation, it begins a journey for the both of them as Brian not only meets God and the devil, but also learns who he is and why his daughter is changing. What happens will change their lives forever. He also realizes that if you truly love someone, maybe the best thing that you can do is to let them go.

The smoke was thick, the music was loud, and the beer was flowing. In the fast-and-loose 1980s, Jackson Station Rhythm and Blues Club in Hodges, South Carolina, was a festive late-night roadhouse filled with people from all walks of life who gathered to listen to the live music of high-energy performers. The good times ground to a terrifying halt in the early morning hours of April 7, 1990. A brutal attack - an apparent hate crime - on the owner Gerald Jackson forever altered the lives of all involved.

More than one-fifth of children want to become influencers, and it's easy to understand why. What if you could escape economic uncertainty by winning the internet's attention? What if you could turn the adoration of your social media followers into a lucrative livelihood? But as Symeon Brown explores in this searing exposé, the reality is much murkier. From IRL streamers in LA to Brazilian butt lifts, from sex workers on OnlyFans to fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, these are the incredible stories that lurk behind the filtered selfies and gleaming smiles.

'If you think it's hard being a white woman in Australia, try being a black woman.' These were the words that set a team of journalists at the Adelaide Advertiser on an investigation into the mysterious deaths of six young Aboriginal women. Each year dozens of Indigenous women or girls die by murder or suicide. Rose Hunter-Hebberman was one of them. Based on the podcast Dying Rose, this is a compelling look at what it means to be an Aboriginal woman in a world where family love, cultural connection and hope for a better future can be eroded by prejudice, mistrust and danger.

'If you think it's hard being a white woman in Australia, try being a black woman.' These were the words that set a team of journalists at the Adelaide Advertiser on an investigation into the mysterious deaths of six young Aboriginal women. Each year dozens of Indigenous women or girls die by murder or suicide. Rose Hunter-Hebberman was one of them. Based on the podcast Dying Rose, this is a compelling look at young Indigenous women's vulnerability to danger, and how, when their lives are cut short, their families are left to cope with a grief seemingly compounded by indifference.

The true story of the men - Joseph Bell and Henry Littlejohn - who inspired the creation of Sherlock Holmes. The Ardlamont murder trial, which took place in Edinburgh's High Court in December 1893, was the culmination of one of the most intriguing criminal cases in British legal history. But perhaps more remarkable than that was that it brought together the two principal real-life inspirations behind the creation of the world's favourite fictional consulting detective: Sherlock Holmes.