Kidnapping History

He pulled off what some deem the crime of the century: skyjacking a commercial jetliner, collecting a ransom of $200,000, parachuting off the aft stairs of the Boeing 727 into the night, and simply disappearing. Since November 1971, “D. B. Cooper”—no one knows his real name or identity—has become a figure of enduring fascination and obsession. The FBI pursued him for over forty years, before closing the case and leaving it unsolved. Unsolved, perhaps, but much admired. D. B. Cooper’s exploit over the skies of the American Northwest has inspired books, films, and endless speculation.

In 1986 Margaret Humphreys, a Nottingham social worker, investigated a woman's claim that, aged four, she had been put on a boat to Australia by the British government. At first incredulous, Margaret discovered that this was just the tip of an enormous iceberg. Up to 150,000 children, some as young as three years old, had been deported from children's homes in Britain and shipped off to a 'new life' in distant parts of the Empire, right up until as recently as 1970. Many were told that their parents were dead, and parents were told that their children had been adopted.

For most of the 20th century, the name Hearst was most closely associated with one of America's most famous (and infamous) newspaper magnates, William Garrison Hearst, whose life was the inspiration for Citizen Kane. But in the 1970s, his granddaughter Patricia made headlines thanks to a series of events that would wind up being one of the most bizarre chapters of the 20th century.

Amelia Earhart once noted, "In my life I had come to realize that when things were going very well indeed it was just the time to anticipate trouble." And so it would be with America's other famous aviator. Charles Lindbergh had spent the first 30 years of his life escaping multiple plane crashes, becoming a hero across the world, and starting a family, but his luck ran out in an awful way in March of 1932.

The rape and murder of eight-year-old Cary Ann Medlin on September 1, 1979 shook Tennessee to the core. The particular cruelty and viciousness associated with the murder shocked and disgusted the citizens of the Volunteer State. The citizens of the state demanded justice. To the vast majority of Tennesseans, justice meant executing the murderer – and the quicker the better. Ultimate Penalty: Executing Robert Glen Coe is the true story of the events from the murder of Cary Ann Medlin on September 1, 1979 until the execution of Robert Glen Coe more than twenty years after he confessed to ...

Vic Chicowski's heart lies more in surfing than solving mysteries. Yet, despite his skepticism of the supernatural, the young PI keeps finding himself tangled in cases that defy explanation. When a baby is kidnapped and taken to the Marble Mountain Wilderness, an area notorious for Bigfoot sightings, Vic is reluctantly pulled into the search. Much to his dismay, the FBI assigns Samantha Swartz, a spirited young agent who believes in the paranormal, to assist him. As they clash over beliefs and methods, sparks fly. Can their differing perspectives be overcome to save a child lost in the ...

If you’re a fan of true crime, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the big-name cases: Ted Bundy, BTK, David Berkowitz, Christopher Watts, Diane Downs, Casey Anthony. The list of well-known, notorious cases throughout history is seemingly endless. Books, websites, podcasts, streaming television series, and magazines are filled with their abhorrent tales of mayhem. They’re some of the most foul killers the world has ever known. In this volume, you’ll find 12 assorted true crime stories ranging in date from the 1950s to 2020.

For twenty years, the Taliban was the number one enemy of Western forces in Afghanistan. But it was an enemy that they knew little about, and about whose founder and leader, Mullah Omar, they knew even less.

Why Are You Weeping, Sister? Gwendolyn Graham's last happy day was just before her 15th birthday, the day before her beloved father died. Her mother forces her to abandon everything she has ever known, including the young man she loves and hopes to wed, and drags her from their farm to Baltimore, where she throws her daughter into the path of every man who shows an interest. Unfortunately, one of those men is a brothel owner. When Gwendolyn disappears, Detective Shay has to find her before it's too late. The House That Jack Built Baltimore City. 1910 Police hunt across the strata of society...

In 2008, American journalist Jere Van Dyk was kidnapped and held for 45 days. At the time, he had no idea who his kidnappers were. They demanded a ransom and the release of three of their comrades from Guantanamo, yet they hinted at their ties to Pakistan. In The Trade, Jere Van Dyk uses the sinuous path of his own kidnapping to explain the recent rise in the taking of Western hostages across the greater Middle East.

They Kidnapped His Sister. He’ll Get Her Back. FINN’S QUEST is a fast-paced military action fiction thriller featuring Captain Kirkland Finn of the British Army 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). Follow Finn on a high-octane adventure journey from Afghanistan to the USA and back as he battles to free his kidnapped sister from American ex-special forces mercenaries and a vengeful Afghan drug lord. A 390-page action-packed covert-ops fiction thriller with twists and turns that will keep you guessing to the end, including FBI investigation, undercover CIA black-ops, espionage, DEA ...

After a devastating injury, Petra is rescued by a woman and her family deep in the bayous of Southern Louisiana...not far from her home. If only she could remember that. But even as she struggles with memory loss, a more significant threat looms. A danger that no member of the pack could have ever dreamed of existing. When vigilantes from the ‘old country’ set their sights on destroying all the American alphas, men begin turning up dead in every state from New York to West Virginia, and the killings stretch ever south towards the walls of Heureuse. It doesn’t take long for the wolves ...

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of A Kim Jong-Il Production by Paul Fischer, read by Stephen Park. Before becoming the world's most notorious dictator, Kim Jong-Il ran North Korea's film industry. He directed every film made in the country but knew they were nothing compared to Hollywood.

Thomas Hargrove's Long March to Freedom is a record of his 11 months as a hostage of Colombian guerillas and was the basis for the movie Proof of Life that starred Meg Ryan, Russell Crowe, and David Morse.

COWARDICE WEARS MANY MASKS—OF LOYALTY, OF RATIONALITY, AND OFTEN OF CLEMENCY. The twenty-first century is around the corner. bin Laden’s fatwa, the dot-com bubble, an impeachment drama in the U.S. Capitol. Temple, former American president, cannot die before setting right the biggest mistake of his political life. His chosen heir, Lilah, knows the oil network should not continue to exist, but her allies come with many motives. Not all want her to win. Harry, her former lover, works desperately to hold their army together, but some recoil at the thought of what lies ahead. The price of ...

The Great Gatsby meets A Game of Thrones in the One Hundred Years of War series. ONE MISTAKE IS ALL IT TAKES TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY. It’s 1973. Oil wars, terrorist attacks, Watergate... Senator Temple has his hands full, maneuvering political turmoil at home and the powder keg that is the Middle East. His mistake allows a criminal businessman to seize control of the world’s energy sector. Powerful oil dynasties—the Kingsleys, the Sheppards, and the Barronses—could help Temple fix things, but greed and old grudges threaten the alliance. Three families, their fates ...

For over thirty years, modern Italy was plagued by ransom kidnappings perpetrated by bandits and organized crime syndicates. Nearly 700 men, women, and children were abducted from across the country between the late 1960s and the late 1990s, held hostage by members of the Sardinian banditry, Cosa Nostra, and the ’Ndrangheta. Subjected to harsh captivities and psychological abuse, the victims spent months and even years in isolation while law enforcement and the state struggled to find them.

In 1851, Elizabeth Parker, a free black child in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was bound and gagged, snatched from a local farm, and hurried off to a Baltimore slave pen. Two weeks later, her teenage sister, Rachel, was abducted from another Chester County farm. Because slave catchers could take fugitive slaves and free blacks across state lines to be sold, the border country of Pennsylvania/Maryland had become a dangerous place for most black people.

It was a cold and foggy February night in 1983 when a group of armed thieves crept onto Ballymany Stud, near The Curragh in County Kildare, Ireland, to steal Shergar, one of the thoroughbred industry's most renowned stallions. The thieves demanded a hefty ransom for the safe return of one of the most valuable Thoroughbreds in the world, but the ransom was never paid and Shergar's remains have never been found.

Dragons, vampires, and traitors lurk in the shadows. Brianna's next move will determine the fate of her friends and the dragons! When a traitor among the dragons threatens to destroy the fragile peace, Brianna must join forces with the Nightriders, the vampire bikers, to stop the impending doom. A new threat emerges in the form of a powerful dragon shifter, hell-bent on fulfilling an ancient prophecy. With the help of the Nightriders, she must unravel the whereabouts of the traitor dragon and the abducted women and prevent an all-out war. Prepare for a wild, sexy, and suspenseful ride as ...