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true crime

Large 9780143796275

Pure Narco by Jesse Fink; Luis Navia

$34.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

It's a life story that reads like something out of a John Grisham or Elmore Leonard novel that it's remarkable it has remained untold for so long. Careers in the cocaine-trafficking business are usually short. It's not only a dangerous profession, fraught with the possibility of capture and long jail se ntences, but it can be deadly if the cartels get to you first. Not for Luis Antonio Navia. For 25 years the Cuban-American smuggled hundreds of tons of white powder for the biggest cartels in Colombia and Mexico, including Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel. In a profession populated by thugs, Navia's dress sense and good manners earned him the nickname 'El Senador' (The Senator). He refused to carry a weapon. What made him good at his job was amassing trusted contacts, losing very few shipments of coke, and keeping a low profile. He also maintained a normal family life with a Colombian wife and two young children. But he was never far removed from the most brutal violence imaginable. One friend got his head cut off. Another was hit over the head, put in a 55-gallon drum full of cement and dumped in a canal. Navia himself was kidnapped three times and went close to being fed alive to crocodiles. Somehow through it all he managed to survive and spent two decades fooling the DEA and other law-enforcement agencies. That was until he came under the radar of Robert Harley, a tenacious US Customs special agent in Key West, Florida, who was determined to bring him to justice. What followed was an international game of cat-and-mouse that culminated in Navia's 2000 arrest in Venezuela in one of the biggest antinarcotics takedowns of all time, the 12-nation Operation Journey. Spanning decades, continents and featuring a who's who of the drug trade, Pure Narco is a fast-paced adventure ride into the dark underworld of cocaine trafficking, written with the cooperation of a dozen law-enforcement agents from the world's top antinarcotics forces in the United States and Great Britain. It also contains insider insights into how the global drug business operates and offers some cogent solutions to the never-ending 'war on drugs'. Navia served his time in jail and is now free to tell his tale. His is the rare perspective of someone who has worked on both sides of that war- as a cocaine trafficker and US Government consultant. This book is a redemption story. Luis Navia, the pure narco, has gone full circle. ...Show more

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Large 9781460758915

I Catch Killers by Jubelin, Gary

$34.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

Serial killings, child abductions, organised crime hits and domestic murders. This is the memoir of a homicide detective. Here I am: tall and broad, shaved head, had my nose broken three times fighting. Black suit, white shirt, the big city homicide detective. I've led investigations into serial killing s, child abductions, organised crime hits and domestic murders. But beneath the suit, I've got an Om symbol in the shape of a Buddha tattooed on my right bicep. It balances the tattoo on my left ribs: Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. That's how I choose to live my life.As a cop, I got paid to catch killers and I learned what doing it can cost you. It cost me marriages and friendships. It cost me my reputation. They tell you not to let a case get personal, but I think it has to. Each one has taken a piece out of me and added a piece, until there's only pieces. I catch killers - it's what I do. It's who I am.Gary Jubelin was one of Australia's most celebrated homicide detective, leading investigations into the disappearance of William Tyrrell, the serial killing of three Aboriginal children in Bowraville and the brutal gangland murder of Terry Falconer. During his 34-year career, former Detective Chief Inspector Jubelin also ran the crime scene following the Lindt Cafe siege, investigated the death of Caroline Byrne and recovered the body of Matthew Leveson. In 2020, Jubelin was found guilty of illicitly recording conversations during the Tyrrell investigation. This is his story. ...Show more

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Large 9780571345151

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

$22.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER   A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Washington Post - Maureen Corrigan, NPR - Paste - Seattle Times - Entertainment Weekly - Esquire - Slate - Buzzfeed - Jezebel - Philadelphia Inquirer - Publishers Weekly - Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal - Bustle - Mother Jones - Real Simple - Cri me Reads - Book Riot - Bookish - Amazon - Barnes and Noble -Hudson Booksellers New York Public Library - Chicago Public Library Winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for Nonfiction - SCIBA Book Award Winner - Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Excellence The haunting true story of the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California during the 70s and 80s, and of the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case--which was solved in April 2018.   Introduction by Gillian Flynn - Afterword by Patton Oswalt "A brilliant genre-buster.... Propulsive, can't-stop-now reading." --Stephen King   For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. I'll Be Gone in the Dark--the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death--offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman's obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic--one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer. ...Show more

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Large 9781526361233

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater

$19.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

One teenager in a skirt. One teenager with a lighter.One moment that changes both of their lives forever. If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited diff erent worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight. Winner of the Stonewall Book Award--Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children's & Young Adult Literature AwardYALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist ...Show more

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Large 9781760877705

Traitors and Spies by John Fahey

$34.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

The history of Australia's intelligence operations in the early 20th century reveals the dark underside of Australian politics, including early infiltration by Russian agents, persecution of innocent civilians, and corruption, right up to the prime minister's office. Dozens of Russian anarchists, social ists and communists arrived in Australia from 1905, fleeing repression in their homeland. Finding work in the Queensland cane fields, Russian activists recruited in working men's groups for their revolutionary cause, laying the foundations for infiltration by Soviet intelligence services of the unions and Communist Party of Australia decades later. This is just one of the many fascinating stories former intelligence officer John Fahey has uncovered in the archives of Australia, MI5 and the CIA. He shows that Australia was under sustained attack from external threats as early as 1908, threats the country consistently failed to address effectively. He identifies the first German spy in Australia, as well as a group of highly respected Jewish businessmen in Melbourne who were Soviet agents, and an Australian woman who worked for Soviet military intelligence in the United States. Internal security work is dirty work, and never more so than when ruthless politicians and police use intelligence services for their own ends. Fahey has discovered that old boys' networks at the highest levels enabled security agencies to mislead judicial inquiries, spy on members of parliament and other bureaucrats, and persecute innocent citizens in the interwar years. Traitors and Spies tells the story of Australia's intelligence operations before ASIO was established, and reveals the dark side of Australian politics in the first half of the twentieth century. ...Show more

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Large 9781760784843

Reasonable Doubt by Xanthe Mallett

$32.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

We all put our faith in the criminal justice system. We trust the professionals: the police, the lawyers, the judges, the expert witnesses. But what happens when the process lets us down and the wrong person ends up in jail? Henry Keogh spent almost twenty years locked away for a murder that never even happened. Khalid Baker was imprisoned for the death of a man his best friend has openly admitted to causing. And the exposure of 'Lawyer X' Nicola Gobbo's double-dealing could lead to some of Australia's most notorious convictions being overturned. Forensic scientist Xanthé Mallett is used to dealing with the darker side of humanity. Now she's turning her skills and insight to miscarriages of justice and cases of Australians who have been wrongfully convicted. Exposing false confessions, polices biases, misplaced evidence and dodgy science, Reasonable Doubt is an expert's account of the murky underbelly of our justice system - and the way it affects us all. ...Show more

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Large 9781784706746

McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime by Misha Glenny

$19.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

"In this powerful and groundbreaking book, Misha Glenny takes us on a journey through the new world of international organised crime. For three years, he has been recording the stories of gun runners in Ukraine, money launderers in Dubai, drug syndicates in Canada, cyber criminals in Brazil, racketeers in Japan and many more.During his investigation of the dark side, he has spoken to countless gangsters, policemen and victims of organised crime while also exploring the ferocious consumer demand for drugs, trafficked women, illegal labour and arms across five continents. The journey begins with an appalling and inexplicable murder in England s stockbroker belt and continues with stories that are often horrifying, sometimes inspiring, usually bizarre and occasionally funny. But together they build a breathtaking picture of the shadow economy that has grown so fast that it may now account for about 20% of the world's GDP. " ...Show more

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Large 9781538138984

Crimes That Changed Our World by Robinson ROBINSON

$50.00 AUD

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Category: true crime | Series: G - Reference,Information and Interdisciplinary Subjects Ser.

Can crime make our world safer? Crimes are the worst of humanity's wrongs but, oddly, they sometimes "trigger" improvement in our lives. Crimes That Changed Our World explores some of the most important trigger cases of the past century, revealing much about how change comes to our modern world. The exa ct nature of the crime-outrage-reform dynamic can take many forms, and Paul and Sarah Robinson explore those differences in the cases they present. Each case is in some ways unique but there are repeating patterns that can offer important insights about what produces change and how in the future we might best manage it. Sometimes reform comes as a society wrestles with a new and intolerable problem. Sometimes it comes because an old problem from which we have long suffered suddenly has an apparent solution provided by technology or some other social or economic advance. Or, sometimes the engine of reform kicks into gear simply because we decide as a society that we are no longer willing to tolerate a long-standing problem and are now willing to do something about it. As the amazing and often touching stories that the Robinsons present make clear, the path of progress is not just a long series of course corrections; sometimes it is a quick turn or an unexpected lurch. In a flash we can suddenly feel different about present circumstances, seeing a need for change and can often, just as suddenly, do something about it. Every trigger crime that appears in Crimes That Changed Our World highlights a societal problem that America has chosen to deal with, each in a unique way. But what these extraordinary, and sometime unexpected, cases have in common is that all of them describe crimes that changed our world. ...Show more

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Large 9781501191886

The Falcon Thief - A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer

$39.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

A rollicking true-crime adventure about a rogue who trades in rare birds and their eggs--and the wildlife detective determined to stop him. On May 3, 2010, an Irish national named Jeffrey Lendrum was apprehended at Britain's Birmingham International Airport with a suspicious parcel strapped to his stom ach. Inside were fourteen rare peregrine falcon eggs snatched from a remote cliffside in Wales. So begins a tale almost too bizarre to believe, following the parallel lives of a globe-trotting smuggler who spent two decades capturing endangered raptors worth millions of dollars as race champions--and Detective Andy McWilliam of the United Kingdom's National Wildlife Crime Unit, who's hell bent on protecting the world's birds of prey. The Falcon Thief whisks readers from the volcanoes of Patagonia to Zimbabwe's Matobo National Park, and from the frigid tundra near the Arctic Circle to luxurious aviaries in the deserts of Dubai, all in pursuit of a man who is reckless, arrogant, and gripped by a destructive compulsion to make the most beautiful creatures in nature his own. It's a story that's part true-crime narrative, part epic adventure--and wholly unputdownable until the very last page. ...Show more

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Large 9781529103403

Kilo - Life and Death Inside the Secret World of the Cocaine Cartels by Toby Muse

$35.00 AUD

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Category: true crime

Join the deadly journey of cocaine, from farmer to kingpin. Meet Jose.Jose doesn't see himself as a criminal. He's just a farmer growing a crop he won't lose money on- coca. This is Fabian. Fabian calls himself a freedom fighter. But wars cost money. And transporting drugs is the fastest way to raise ca sh. Tomas runs a factory. But this factory is hidden deep in the jungle, and the product is cocaine. And finally, here is Alex. Alex decides where the drug goes next- into Europe or the US. And he wields the power of life and death over everyone around him. In Kilo, Toby Muse takes us deep into the mechanism of the drug trade, following a kilo of cocaine as it travels by land and sea to its final destination. On the way we will meet druglords, contract killers, drug mules, and submarine pilots, all of whom are trying to get ahead in the best way they know how. If you want to understand how the drug trade became a multi-billion pound industry whose influence is felt all over the world, then read Muse's devastating account of theinnermost workings of an economic miracle, a killer of millions- cocaine. ...Show more

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Large 9780143796398

Far From Home: A True Story of Murder, Loss and a Mother's Courage by Rosie Ayliffe

$34.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

British mother Rosie Ayliffe thought her 21-year-old daughter, Mia, would be safe travelling around Australia on a gap year. But Mia wanted to extend her visa and in order to do that needed to find 88 days of work on a farm - a requirement that would lead to catastrophic events. Four short days after Mi a moved to a hostel in Queensland to take a job on a sugarcane farm, she was brutally murdered. Faced with every parent's worst nightmare, Rosie travelled to Australia to retrieve Mia's body. From the moment she landed, however, she started to hear stories about the terrible treatment of young workers like Mia - stories of exploitation, sexual harassment, rape. Mia was Rosie's only child and she brought her up as a single parent. Her death was traumatic and life-changing. In Rosie's memoir, she describes movingly how she has found the strength to come to terms with devastating loss, drawing on inspiration from her daughter's short life. She also explains how she has become the driving force behind an international campaign to press for change to the 88 days system. Part expose of the dangers facing backpackers in Australia, part call to arms, ultimately Far from Home is an inspiring and heartfelt story of a mother's love for her daughter and her fight to protect others from suffering a similar tragedy.   ...Show more

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Large 9780751579178

Bitter Harvest - A Woman's Fury. a Mother's Sacrifice by Ann Rule

$22.99 AUD

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Category: true crime

From the bestselling true crime author comes the mesmerising true story of Debora Green, a beautiful, wealthy, successful doctor and mother of three whose murderous rage and jealousy brings death and destruction to her family. With direct access to all the principles including Green, the prosecutor, det ectives and arson investigators Ann Rule gives us a horrifying portrait of a woman who had it all and lost it. BITTER HARVEST is the chronicle of a tragedy in the heartland of America, the true story of the disintegration of a marriage and its horrifying consequences. As in her earlier books, Ann Rule takes the reader deep into the psyche of a killer whose behaviour, so twisted and so evil, defies belief. Her book is also the story of the tireless and skilful investigators, forensic scientists and prosecutors who finally brought that killer to justice. Gripping, powerful, and ultimately terrifying, BITTER HARVEST is a vivid re-creation of an unthinkable crime - and a depiction of the unimaginable depths of darkness within the human spirit. ...Show more

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