True Crime Deception

It's easy to imagine Harold Shipman doting on his little grandkids, reading them stories from his lap and letting them play with his big, bushy beard. If you were told he was a doctor, I bet you'd imagine he was a good, kind and gentle one, with an easy, affable manner and deep care for his patients. Harold Frederick Shipman certainly projected all those qualities, but only so that he could hide the evil that lurked deep inside. Shipman abused his trust and used his position to kill.

When Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1957, it immediately became a target for opportunists determined to lay hold of whatever assets colonialism hadn’t already stripped. The military ousted the new nation’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of stealing the country’s gold and hiding it overseas. Into this story stepped one of history’s most charismatic scammers, John Ackah Blay-Miezah – a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty, Blay-Miezah declared himself the custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions.

This graphic account of convicted killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka shows that in some relationships, neither party is the “better half”. Both halves of this Canadian couple add up to one evil story.

For over half a century, Banco Popular was one of the most profitable banks in the world—until one day in 2017, when the Spanish bank suddenly collapsed overnight. When investigative journalist Gareth Gore was dispatched to report on the story, he expected to find yet another case of unbridled capitalist ambition gone wrong. Instead, he uncovered decades of deception that hid one of the most brazen cases of corporate pillaging in history, perpetrated by a group of men sworn to celibacy and self-flagellation who had secretly controlled Popular.

In 2016, on stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of adoring fans, Dr Ruja Ignatova promised her followers a financial revolution. The future, she said, belonged to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. And the Oxford-educated, self-styled cryptoqueen vowed that she had invented the Bitcoin killer. OneCoin would not only earn its investors untold fortunes, it would change the world.

A Treasury of Deception is a tongue-in-cheek commemoration of those who attempted to pull off the greatest scams. Conmen, tricksters, charlatans, impostors, and downright liars seeking wealth, 15 minutes of fame, or the alleviation of blame rely upon the maxim that “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Con artists are everywhere—your new boyfriend or girlfriend, your new neighbor or coworker, your new friend—and they don’t outsmart you; they out-feel you to get their hands on your money. In Anatomy of a Con Artist, Walton lays out “the tells” based on hundreds of real-life cases he’s investigated.

Murderous Minds: Stories of Real Life Murderers That Escaped the Headlines offers a look into the lives of individuals who committed heinous acts of evil but managed to avoid the media storm that usually accompanies them.

Avremi Zippel always knew his life would be different. With a commitment to follow in his father's footsteps and serve as the Rabbi in Salt Lake City, he knew his life would defy stereotypes. However, nothing could prepare him for the truly unexpected twists and turns reality had in store.

Chrissy was an attractive, recently divorced 40-year-old, living with her three children in their family home in Cheltenham, when in 2003, she met 44-year-old ‘Alex’ in a local coffee shop. He claimed to be an international financier, Alexander Marc d’Ariken de Rothschild-Hatton, the illegitimate son of multi-millionaire heir, Edmund de Rothschild. Charming and smooth-talking, it wasn’t long before he gained Chrissy’s love and trust, with marriage on the cards and a new baby on the way.

Russia was not the first foreign power to influence American popular opinion from the inside. In the lead-up to America’s entry into the First World War, Germany spent the modern equivalent of one billion dollars to infiltrate American media, industry, and government in order to undermine the supply chain of the Allied forces. If not for the ceaseless activity of John Revelstoke Rathom, editor of the scrappy Providence Journal, America may have remained committed to its position of neutrality.

What triggers activate an all-out rage that leads people to commit mass murder? What is the motive behind some of the most shocking killing sprees in US history? Enter the chilling and murderous mind of a spree killer to find out. In Volume 4 of True Crime Stories, prepare for crimes like never before, as we examine what makes people snap and commit gruesome, calculated, and disturbing crimes that will have you questioning about humanity.

When Who the Hell is Hamish? hit podcast platforms in 2019, Tracy Hall quickly became known as the last victim of one of the world's most prolific con men, Hamish McLaren. At last, Tracy is sharing the full story of how she overcame financial and emotional betrayal in this fast-paced, witty and empowering true crime memoir.

Chilling. One of the best words to describe the cases recounted in this book set. These gruesome crimes seemed to hit a dead end...that is until the cases were reopened for investigation later and then solved thanks to modern technologies and investigation techniques. From the more famous cases to the more obscure, the crimes and hardships that the victims had to suffer will send shivers down your spine. Notably detailing the disappearance of Chandra Levy as well as the multiple murders committed by Dennis Rader.

King is the story of how Kirkland Gaynes rose to become "Top Pimp" in Chicago's seedy underworld. It's an unapologetic account of what is known as the "Pimp Game". King shows that dreams can come true. But the flip side to a dream is nightmarish.

Max the Forger is an artist and gentleman whose colorful lifestyle has spanned over 70 years. He has lived under the strict regime of Barnardo’s children’s homes, been an elephant handler in the circus, lived rough, busked his way from Brighton to Bombay, sold his fakes up and down the country, dined with dukes, socialized with celebrities, associated with gangsters, served time in prison, and donated tens of thousands to charity. And through it all, he never stopped smiling, and loving life - and missing his mum.

It’s no secret that hundreds of companies have been slashing pensions and health coverage earned by millions of retirees. Employers blame an aging workforce, stock market losses, and spiraling costs - a perfect storm of external forces that has forced them to take drastic measures. But this so-called retirement crisis is no accident. Award-winning investigative reporter Ellen E. Schultz reveals how large companies and the retirement industry - benefits consultants, insurance companies, and banks - have all played a huge, hidden role in the death spiral of American pensions and benefits.

Nina, a new graduate from fashion design in college, gladly accepts the offer to have her palm read as a graduation gift. Smiling, the palm reader tells Nina that she has a long lifeline, as she traces it on her hand. As soon as the words are uttered, the palm reader’s facial expression turns to one of fear. In broken English, she whispers, “Break – very bad break in middle of life. Maybe you die.”

Polygamy. Incest. Vampires. Murder. There are words you might expect to read together in the plot of a gothic horror novel, but not so long ago, in the usually quiet town of Fresno, California, those words were the headlines. What do they have to do with each other? The answer to that question is one man: Marcus Wesson. Chances are you have heard of cults, such as the Manson Family, and Jonestown, but this might be your first time hearing the story of a vampire cult led by Marcus Wesson. The members of this cult were members of Wesson’s own family.

At the birth of the 20th century the advent of train travel throughout the United States brought assorted smooth-talking, quick-thinking con men. These men took people's money. Seasoned journalist Will Irwin chronicled the true confessions of a master swindler, card cheat, circus barker and master of persuasion. THE CONFESSIONS OF A CON MAN details one man’s apprenticeship into larceny and his journey as a criminal mastermind of daring swindles.