Non-Fiction & True Crime

September 5, 2010

Hill, Steven Warren. SILVER SCREAM: 40 Classic Horror Movies Volume Two 1941-1951. Telos Publishing Ltd. April '10. $26.95. "From folk tales of the Devil buying souls in New Hampshire to an ambulatory alien vegetable terrorizing the crew of a remote scientific outpost, fantasy and horror film has explored every facet of human (and not so human) nature. From the earliest days of cinema, visions of blood thirsty vampires, musty mummies, fanged wolf men, cat people, weird women and bolt-necked patchwork monstrosities have stalked, stomped, crept and lurched their way across popular consciousness. Journey with us as we continue our exploration of the most memorable scares of the silver screen. We explore the development of forty key films, with detailed analysis and biographies of all those involved in their creation from the writers and directors through composers, cast and technical crew. Revisit the days when the names of Karloff, Chaney Jr, Lugosi and Atwill ruled the shadows on the screen, and when the myths and legends of iconic monsters were created, developed, and became established in popular culture. Come with us back to the time of the Silver Scream..."

TRUE CRIME

Benson, Michael. KILLER TWINS. Pinnacle Books pbo. February '10. $6.99. "THEY LOOKED ALIKE... Robert Bruce Spahalski and Stephen Spahalski were identical twins. Same hair, same eyes, same thirst for blood. Stephen was the first brother to kill - by viciously bashing in storeowner Ronald Ripley's head with a hammer. ACTED ALIKE... Unlike Stephen, Robert didn't stop with just one victim. With the cord of an iron, Robert strangled prostitute Morraine Armstrong while having sex. With his bare hands, he choked his girlfriend Adrian Berger. He brutally bludgeoned to death businessman Charles Grande. Even his friend Vivian Irizarry didn't escape his lurid killing spree. Robert ultimately confessed to the four murders in vivid detail. But police suspected there were many more. AND SLAUGHTERED ALIKE... The twins' twisted story became even more bizarre as the true nature of their sick psyches came to light. In these pages, Robert Spahalski reveals for the first time the horrific details of his life and crimes in a disturbing look at the inner workings of a homicidal mind... Includes 16 pages of shocking photos."

Guinn, Jeff. GO DOWN TOGETHER: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde. Simon & Schuster. March '10. $16.99. "Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the ambush deaths of the most romantic gangsters in American history, this is the definitive account of their two-year reign of terror, told with cinematic flair by the preeminent authority on Bonnie and Clyde. Forget everything you think you know about Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. Previous books and films, including the brilliant 1967 movie starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, have emphasized the supposed glamour of America's most notorious criminal couple, thus contributing to ongoing mythology. The real story is completely different - and far more fascinating. In GO DOWN TOGETHER: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, bestselling author Jeff Guinn combines exhaustive research with surprising, newly discovered material to tell the real tale of two kids from a filthy Dallas slum who fell in love and then willingly traded their lives for a brief interlude of excitement and, more important, fame. Their timing could not have been better - the Barrow Gang pulled its first heist in 1932 when most Americans, reeling from the Great Depression, were desperate for escapist entertainment. Thanks to newsreels, true crime magazines, and new-fangled wire services that transmitted scandalous photos of Bonnie smoking a cigar to every newspaper in the nation, the Barrow Gang members almost instantly became household names on a par with Charles Lindbergh, Jack Dempsey, and Babe Ruth. In the minds of the public, they were cool, calculating bandits who robbed banks and killed cops with equal impunity. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Clyde and Bonnie were perhaps the most inept crooks ever, and their two-year crime spree was as much a reign of error as it was of terror. Lacking the sophistication to plot robberies of big-city banks, the Barrow Gang preyed mostly on small mom-and-pop groceries and service stations. Even at that, they often came up empty-handed and were reduced to breaking into gum machines for meal money. Both were crippled, Clyde from cutting off two of his toes while in prison and Bonnie from a terrible car crash caused by Clyde's reckless driving. Constantly on the run from the law, they lived like animals, camping out in their latest stolen car, bathing in creeks, and dining on cans of cold beans and Vienna sausages. Yet theirs was a genuine love story. Their devotion to each other was as real as their overblown reputation as criminal masterminds was not. GO DOWN TOGETHER has it all - true romance, rebellion against authority, bullets flying, cars crashing, and, in the end, a dramatic death at the hands of a celebrity lawman hired to hunt them down. Thanks in great part to surviving Barrow and Parker family members and collectors of criminal memorabilia who provided Jeff Guinn with access to never-before-published material, we finally have the real story of Bonnie and Clyde and their troubled times, delivered with cinematic sweep and unprecedented insight by a masterful storyteller."

King, Gary C. RAGE. Pinnacle Books pbo. July '10. $6.99. "DIVORCE IS VIOLENT. Darren Mack had it all. A Beautiful home in Reno. A lovely wife. Three children. And a million-dollar business. Then his wife Charla filled for divorce, winning a large settlement in a heated courtroom battle. According to friends, Mack was 'angry'. They had no idea how far his fury would take him. REVENGE IS BLOODY. Over the next year, the rage only intensified. Finally, Darren Mack snapped, stabbing and killing his ex-wife in his condo. Hours later, he stalked and shot their divorce judge in broad daylight. Before the blood had even cooled and law enforcement could react, he fled to Mexico, eluding police hot on his trail. JUSTICE IS FINAL. The case made headlines nationwide, propelled by lurid details of Mack's wild 'swinger' lifestyle, the shocking discovery of explosives in his apartment, and the chillingly prophetic remark made by his wife: 'Someday he's going to kill me'. Catching him was the hardest part..."

Lasseter, Don, with Bowers, Ronald E. HONEYMOON WITH A KILLER. Pinnacle Books pbo. November '09. $6.99. "EVERYTHING SHE WANTED... Rebecca Salcedo had an easy smile, a sexy body, and strong appetites - she wanted the world. Bruce Cleland, she decided, would buy it for her. The shy engineer quickly fell victim to her charms, getting her whatever she wanted. A new car. A boat. A house. But he wasn't Rebecca's only admirer... SHE GOT... Even after Rebecca manipulated Bruce into marrying her, hoping to divorce him and take him for everything he had, she occupied herself with a series of lovers. Male strippers, women...they all spent time in Rebecca's bed. But when she learned that a divorce would only get her a few pennies, she knew she had to find another way to secure Bruce's fortune. EVENT MURDER... Enlisting two family members as killers-for-hire, Rebecca set in motion her solution to the problem. While she watched, the first bullet hit Bruce in the face. Three more would follow. But while Rebecca kept the blood off her hands, she could not conceal evidence that led straight to her, culminating in a trial that would shock a community."

Mitchell, Corey, with Bowers, Ronald E. SAVAGE SON. Pinnacle Books pbo. June '10. $6.99. "A HORRIFIC EXECUTION... It was a night of celebration for the Whitaker family. Their son Bart was graduating from college. But when Bart's brother Kevin opened the door to their house, a masked intruder shot him point blank. His mother took the next bullet, followed by Mr. Whitaker and Bart. Blood was everywhere, but somehow Bart and his father survived... A SORDID DOUBLE LIFE... To the cops the story didn't add up, and their investigation discovered a stunning web of lies. Bart was living a double life. He hadn't been enrolled in college since his freshman year. Instead of attending classes, he'd spent his days playing video games with his friends - while planning to murder his family to inherit their million-dollar estate... A HEARTLESS MURDERER... Now bestselling author Corey Mitchell takes us inside this chilling murder case to reveal the twisted motives of a seemingly All-American-Boy-Next Door who turned into a cold-blooded killer.... Includes 16 pages of shocking photographs."

O'Brien, Kevin. VICIOUS. Pinnacle Books pbo. June '10. $7.99. "NO MOTIVE. For more than two years, he held Seattle in a terror grip. A cold-blooded killer who abducted young mothers right in front of their sons and murdered them execution style. Then, as suddenly as the killings began, they seemed to stop.NO MERCY. Susan Blanchette is looking forward to a relaxing weekend getaway with her fiancee, Allen, and young son, Matthew. But something about the remote lake house doesn't feel right. A woman vanished from the area a year ago, and now Susan thinks she's spotted someone lurking around the property. And when Allen disappears, her fear grows... NO ESCAPE. A psychopath has returned, ready to strike again. Someone who can't resist the urge to kill, who derives pleasure from others' pain, and who is drawing nearer to Susan as each minute of the weekend ticks by. But she's just one pawn at the heart of a killer's deadly game. A killer who is unrelenting, unstoppable, and absolutely vicious..."

Scott, Robert. MOST WANTED KILLER. Pinnacle Books pbo. April '10. $6.99. "TOO YOUNG. Jesse James Hollywood grew up in L.A.'s upscale West Hills with every imaginable privilege. By the age of 19, he owned a spacious house, a tricked-out car, a closet full of designer clothes. His lifestyle of drinking, partying and getting high was bankrolled by his chosen career: drug dealing. TOO RICH. In 2000, Ben Markowitz, another teen from a 'good family', found himself with a dope tab he couldn't pay. A standoff between dealer and druggie exploded when Hollywood, along with William Skidmore and Jesse Rugge, both 20, spotted Ben's brother, Nick, 15, walking near his parents' home. Witnesses saw the three men attack Nick, then shove him into a van and drive off. But assault and kidnapping were only the beginning... TOO BAD. On the last night of Nick's life, he was taken to an isolated area outside Santa Barbara known as the Lizard's Mouth. There, he was shot to death and buried in a shallow grave. But the story was far from over. Because mastermind Jesse James, like his namesake, knew how to run and hide. With his handsome face at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list, he lived in luxury until the long arm of the law reached out to pull him back home for justice... Includes 16 pages of shocking photos."

Scott, Robert. RIVERS OF BLOOD. Pinnacle Books pbo. December '09. $6.99. "IT TOOK ONE WEEK TO KILL HER... Restaurant manager Lisa Kimmel had been driving for hours to visit her family in Montana. She never arrived. Eight days later, her body was found floating in the North Platte River. ...AND FIFTEEN YEARS TO CATCH HIM. The police knew Lisa had been tortured and raped for a week before she was finally murdered. But they had no suspects, no witnesses, no clues. Just a strange handwritten letter left on her gravestone... BUT THE PAIN WOULD LAST FOREVER... Lisa's murder was never solved - and her car never found - until new DNA technology led police to Dale Wayne Eaton. Fifteen years had passed since Eaton kidnapped his unlucky victim at a Wyoming rest stop. But now police had forensic evidence, handwriting samples, and most incredibly: Lisa's car buried in the killer's yard. Eaton's capture shed horrifying new light on a series of unsolved disappearances. Were they the work of a serial killer? Dale Wayne Eaton's trial revealed a twisted loner driven by dark appetites - a monster without remorse. With 16 pages of shocking photos."

Springer, Patricia. LETHAL CHARMER. Pinnacle Books pbo. May '10. $6.99. "HE WANTED TO BURY HIS PAST... Fort Worth businessman Stephen Barbee was handsome, popular, and married to a wonderful woman. There was just one problem: His ex-girlfriend, Lisa Underwood, was pregnant - and asking for money... SO HE SILENCED A MOTHER, A CHILD, AND UN UNBORN BABY... As guests gathered for Lisa's baby shower with presents and good wishes, only two things were missing: Lisa, and her seven-year-old son, Jayden. As time passed, friends and family became concerned. But even their worst fears couldn't compare to the gruesome truth... WITH HIS BARE HANDS. Lisa was still at home when Barbee showed up. Voices were raised. Then fists. By the end, Lisa, her unborn child, and young Jayden were dead... But all police found was a bloody room. What followed was an investigation filled with lurid twists, a wild trial, grisly details of multiple murder, a shocking burial, and the warped motives of a man who would do anything to gain his own happiness. With 16 pages of shocking photos."

Walker, Steven. PREDATOR. Pinnacle Books pbo. January '10. $6.99. "HE STALKED HIS VICTIMS... A mother and daughter - brutalized, murdered, and left to rot in the summer heat. A young college student - killed with a.38 handgun three months later. These were just a few of the victims of Timothy Krajcir, a sexual predator with criminal record that stretched across the Midwest... FROM STATE TO STATE... He would travel to towns where nobody knew him, break into a woman's home, and wait for her. It started when he was still in his teens, when a rape conviction landed Krajcir in jail. After that, he spent much of his adult life behind bars for various sex crimes. By the time he was in his early 30s, he was a free man. Free to stalk, rape, and kill. GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER... But in 2007, new DNA testing finally linked Krajcir to another college girl's murder. Ultimately, Krajcir confessed to killing nine women - five in Missouri and four in Illinois and Pennsylvania. But his three-decade reign of terror has never been forgotten - and the full range of his predatory crimes never revealed - until now. With 16 Pages of Shocking Photos."

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