Ripped from the Headlines!
The Shocking True Stories Behind the Movies' Most Memorable Crimes
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Ripped from the Headlines!
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Narrated by:
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Malcolm Hillgartner
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By:
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Harold Schechter
About this listen
Bestselling true-crime master Harold Schechter explores the real-life headline-making psychos, serial murderers, thrill-hungry couples, and lady-killers who inspired a century of classic films.
The necktie murders in Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy; Chicago’s Jazz Age crime of passion; the fatal hookup in Looking for Mr. Goodbar; the high school horrors committed by the costumed slasher in Scream. These and other cinematic crimes have become part of pop-culture history. And each found inspiration in true events that provided the raw material for our greatest blockbusters, indie art films, black comedies, Hollywood classics, and grindhouse horrors.
So what’s the reality behind Psycho, Badlands, The Hills Have Eyes, A Place in the Sun, Arsenic and Old Lace, and Dirty Harry? How did such tabloid-ready killers as Bonnie and Clyde, body snatchers Burke and Hare, Texas sniper Charles Whitman Jr., nurse-slayer Richard Speck, and Leopold and Loeb exert their power on the public imagination and become the stuff of movie lore?
In this collection of revelatory essays, true-crime historian Harold Schechter takes a fascinating trip down the crossroads of fact and fiction to reveal the sensational real-life stories that are more shocking, taboo, and fantastic than even the most imaginative screenwriter can dream up.
©2020 Harold Schechter. (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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A vanity project.
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 348
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On July 27, 1996, a hapless former cop turned hypervigilant security guard named Richard Jewell spotted a suspicious bag in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, the town square of the 1996 Summer Games. Inside was a bomb, the largest of its kind in FBI and ATF history. Minutes later, the bomb remotely detonated by the attacker amid a crowd of 50,000 people. But thanks to Jewell, it only killed two and wounded 111, not the hundreds who authorities estimated could have otherwise died. With the eyes of the world on Atlanta, the games continued.
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Kudos !
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5 out of 5 stars
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Can a book about a serial killer be entertaining?
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 811
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5 out of 5 stars
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Made me feel sick, yet I didn't want it to end
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Butcher's Work
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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A Civil War veteran who perpetrated one of the most ghastly mass slaughters in the annals of U.S. crime. A nineteenth-century female serial killer whose victims included three husbands and six of her own children. A Gilded Age “Bluebeard” who did away with as many as fifty wives throughout the country. A decorated World War I hero who orchestrated a murder that stunned Jazz Age America.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 190
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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3 out of 5 stars
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A vanity project.
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American Murder Houses
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- By: Steve Lehto
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 385
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 348
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Story4 out of 5 stars 346
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5 out of 5 stars
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Engaging and engrossing stories.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 802
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 704
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 705
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5 out of 5 stars
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Kudos !
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Hell's Princess
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- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,519
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,326
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5 out of 5 stars
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 811
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 716
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5 out of 5 stars
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Made me feel sick, yet I didn't want it to end
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Maniac
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 337
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 299
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In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school - one of the most modern in the Midwest - Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it.
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3 out of 5 stars
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One of my favorite true crime authors flops.
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In the winter of 1873, a small band of prospectors lost their way in the frozen wilderness of the Colorado Rockies. Months later, when the snow finally melted, only one of them emerged. His name was Alfred G. Packer, though he would soon become infamous throughout the country under a different name: "the Man-Eater."
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4 out of 5 stars
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Made me hungry. Just kidding.
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Psycho USA
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In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath who's gotten ink for spilling blood, there's a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of US history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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True crime enthusiast's dream
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Today it is known as Roosevelt Island. In 1828, when New York City purchased this narrow, two-mile-long island in the East River, it was called Blackwell's Island. There, over the next hundred years, the city would build a lunatic asylum, prison, hospital, workhouse, and almshouse. Stacy Horn has crafted a compelling and chilling narrative told through the stories of the poor souls sent to Blackwell's, as well as the period's city officials, reformers, and journalists (including the famous Nellie Bly). Damnation Island re-creates what daily life was like on the island....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating!
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The Anatomy of Motive offers a dramatic, insightful look at the development and evolution of the criminal mind. The famed former chief of the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, John Douglas was the pioneer of modern behavioral profiling of serial criminals. Working again with acclaimed novelist, journalist, and filmmaker Mark Olshaker, and using cases from his own fabled career as examples, Douglas takes us further than ever before into the dark corners of the minds of arsonists, hijackers, bombers, poisoners, serial killers, and mass murderers.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Smuckers jelly narration. Still good.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,634
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,629
The year is A.D. 922. A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs - the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness...their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth.
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5 out of 5 stars
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FEAR HAS A WHITE MOUTH
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Behind the Horror
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- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 274
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 274
Unearth the terrifying and true tales behind some of the scariest horror movies to ever haunt our screens, including the Enfield poltergeist case that was retold in The Conjuring 2 and the serial killers who inspired Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs. Behind the Horror dissects these and other bizarre tales to reveal haunting real-life stories of abduction, disappearance, murder, and exorcism.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Okay
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Gangsters vs. Nazis
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 117
As Adolph Hitler rose to power in 1930s Germany, a growing wave of fascism began to take root on American soil. Nazi activists started to gather in major American cities, and by 1933, there were more than one hundred anti-Semitic groups operating openly in the United States. Few Americans dared to speak out or fight back—until an organized resistance of notorious mobsters waged their own personal war against the Nazis in their midst. Gangland-style.
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4 out of 5 stars
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What, you couldn’t find one culturally Jewish narrator?
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Who Says You're Dead?
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- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Drawing upon the author's two decades teaching medical ethics, as well as his work as a practicing psychiatrist, this profound and addictive little book offers up challenging ethical dilemmas and asks listeners, What would you do? In short, engaging scenarios, Dr. Appel takes on hot-button issues that many of us will confront: genetic screening, sexuality, privacy, doctor-patient confidentiality. He unpacks each hypothetical with a brief reflection drawing from science, philosophy, and history, explaining how others have approached these controversies in real-world cases.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Happens everyday
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True Crime Case Histories - Volume 1: 8 Disturbing True Crime Stories
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- By: Jason Neal
- Narrated by: Timothy G Little
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 26
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Story4 out of 5 stars 26
Eight true crime stories of murder and mayhem. In my first audiobook as a true crime author I've started with a few of the stories that have haunted me for some time. Some of these stories are unbelievable in their brutality while others are astounding in the stupidity of the killers. This collection of stories are from all around the globe and have no common thread between them other than that they are both thought provoking and disturbing. The stories included in this anthology are dark and creepy and will leave you with a new understanding of just how fragile the human mind can be.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not bad
- By SisterSeven on 07-07-23
By: Jason Neal
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Rogues
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- By: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 799
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 674
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 672
From the prize-winning, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of Pain and Say Nothing—and one of the most decorated journalists of our time—twelve enthralling stories of skulduggery and intrigue.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Too political
- By Xi Chen on 07-11-22
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The Devil in the White City
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- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30,586
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25,270
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25,259
Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America’s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair’s brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country’s most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his “World’s Fair Hotel” just west of the fairgrounds.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Rich Read!
- By D on 09-18-03
By: Erik Larson
Critic reviews
“The exploits of Depression-era homicidal sweethearts Bonnie and Clyde and the 1960s strangler who inspired the necktie murders in Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy are among the true stories behind many of cinema’s most famous crimes and criminals. Schechter, author of numerous books on serial killers, tracks the path from felony to film.” (Publishers Weekly)
Related to this topic
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The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns
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- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4 out of 5 stars 50
Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story - they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Crime in other countries is not my cup of tea.
- By Brenda on 01-03-21
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The Serial Killer Files
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- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 811
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 716
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Story4 out of 5 stars 714
Hollywood's make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can't hold a candle to real-life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Made me feel sick, yet I didn't want it to end
- By Neuron on 02-07-17
By: Harold Schechter
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A Brotherhood Betrayed
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- By: Michael Cannell
- Narrated by: Gary Galone
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
In the fall of 1941, a momentous trial was set to begin that threatened to end the careers and lives of New York’s most brutal mob kingpins. The lead witness, Abe Reles, had been a trusted executioner for Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of a coast-to-coast mob network known as the Syndicate. But the man responsible for coolly silencing hundreds of informants was about to become the most talkative snitch of all. In exchange for police protection, Reles was prepared to rat out his murderous friends, from Albert Anastasia to Bugsy Siegel....
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4 out of 5 stars
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History from the bottom up
- By Mark on 12-12-21
By: Michael Cannell
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One Day
- The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America
- By: Gene Weingarten
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day - chosen completely at random - was Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. That Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s turned out to be filled with comedy, tragedy, implausible irony, cosmic comeuppances, kindness, cruelty, heroism, cowardice, genius, idiocy, and much more....
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3 out of 5 stars
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I'm giving this book more credit for its concept
- By J. F. Boyd on 12-24-19
By: Gene Weingarten
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Manhunters
- Criminal Profilers and Their Search for the World’s Most Wanted Serial Killers
- By: Colin Wilson
- Narrated by: Brandon Massey
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 148
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 136
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Story4 out of 5 stars 134
In this fascinating, in-depth account of the hunt for serial killers, Colin Wilson, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, examines the ways they can be tracked down and caught, from the tried-and-true methods of the early 20th century to the high-tech processes in use today. Wilson examines such areas as psychological profiling, genetic fingerprinting, and the launch of the Behavioral Science Unit. He delves into the importance of fantasy to serial killers, the urge to keep on killing, the desire to become notorious, and murder as an addictive drug.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Reprinted Material, Questionable Commentary
- By B on 10-18-15
By: Colin Wilson
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Psycho USA
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- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 211
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 195
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Story4 out of 5 stars 193
In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath who's gotten ink for spilling blood, there's a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of US history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
True crime enthusiast's dream
- By Athelsten on 08-24-17
By: Harold Schechter
-
The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns
- By: Mitzi Szereto - editor
- Narrated by: Holly Palance, Phil Thron
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
Whether in Truman Capote’s detailed murder of the Clutter family or Ted Bundy’s small-town charm, criminals have always roamed rural America and towns worldwide. Featuring murder stories, criminal case studies, and more, The Best New True Crime Stories: Small Towns contains all-new accounts from writers of true crime, crime journalism, and crime fiction. And these entries are not based on a true story - they are true stories. Edited by acclaimed author and anthologist Mitzi Szereto, the stories in this volume span the globe.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Crime in other countries is not my cup of tea.
- By Brenda on 01-03-21
-
The Serial Killer Files
- The Who, What, Where, How, and Why of the World’s Most Terrifying Murderers
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 811
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 716
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 714
Hollywood's make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can't hold a candle to real-life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Made me feel sick, yet I didn't want it to end
- By Neuron on 02-07-17
By: Harold Schechter
-
A Brotherhood Betrayed
- The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc.
- By: Michael Cannell
- Narrated by: Gary Galone
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
In the fall of 1941, a momentous trial was set to begin that threatened to end the careers and lives of New York’s most brutal mob kingpins. The lead witness, Abe Reles, had been a trusted executioner for Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of a coast-to-coast mob network known as the Syndicate. But the man responsible for coolly silencing hundreds of informants was about to become the most talkative snitch of all. In exchange for police protection, Reles was prepared to rat out his murderous friends, from Albert Anastasia to Bugsy Siegel....
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4 out of 5 stars
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History from the bottom up
- By Mark on 12-12-21
By: Michael Cannell
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One Day
- The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America
- By: Gene Weingarten
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 140
On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day - chosen completely at random - was Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. That Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s turned out to be filled with comedy, tragedy, implausible irony, cosmic comeuppances, kindness, cruelty, heroism, cowardice, genius, idiocy, and much more....
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3 out of 5 stars
-
I'm giving this book more credit for its concept
- By J. F. Boyd on 12-24-19
By: Gene Weingarten
-
Manhunters
- Criminal Profilers and Their Search for the World’s Most Wanted Serial Killers
- By: Colin Wilson
- Narrated by: Brandon Massey
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 148
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 136
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 134
In this fascinating, in-depth account of the hunt for serial killers, Colin Wilson, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, examines the ways they can be tracked down and caught, from the tried-and-true methods of the early 20th century to the high-tech processes in use today. Wilson examines such areas as psychological profiling, genetic fingerprinting, and the launch of the Behavioral Science Unit. He delves into the importance of fantasy to serial killers, the urge to keep on killing, the desire to become notorious, and murder as an addictive drug.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Reprinted Material, Questionable Commentary
- By B on 10-18-15
By: Colin Wilson
-
Psycho USA
- Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 211
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 195
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 193
In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath who's gotten ink for spilling blood, there's a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of US history.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
True crime enthusiast's dream
- By Athelsten on 08-24-17
By: Harold Schechter
-
Undisclosed Files of the Police
- Cases from the Archives of the NYPD from 1831 to the Present
- By: Bernard Whalen, Philip Messing, Robert Mladinich
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 110
More than 175 years of true crimes culled from the city's police blotter, told through an insightful text by two NYPD officers and a NYC crime reporter. From atrocities that occurred before the establishment of New York's police force in 1845 through the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 to the present day, this audio is an insider's look at more than 80 real-life crimes that shocked the nation, from arson to gangland murders, robberies, serial killers, bombings, and kidnappings.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good History of Crime in NYC
- By Bob Shinders on 03-10-17
By: Bernard Whalen, and others
-
Our Little Secret
- The True Story of a Teenage Killer and the Silence of a Small New England Town
- By: Kevin Flynn, Rebecca Lavoie
- Narrated by: Aven Shore
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 247
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
For 20 years Daniel Paquette's murder in New Hampshire went unsolved. It remained a secret between two high school friends until Eric Windhurst's arrest in 2005. What was revealed was a crime born of adolescent passion between Eric and Daniel's stepdaughter, Melanie - redefining the meaning of loyalty, justice, and revenge.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A
- By Diana Hart 33 on 04-28-21
By: Kevin Flynn, and others
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Killer Triggers
- By: Joe Kenda
- Narrated by: Joe Kenda
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,544
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,363
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,359
The most common triggers for homicide are fear, rage, revenge, money, lust, and, more rarely, sheer madness. This isn’t an exact science, of course. Any given murder can have multiple triggers. Sex and revenge seem to be common partners in crime. This book offers my memories of homicide cases that I investigated or oversaw. In each case, I examine the trigger that led to death. I chose this theme for the book because even though the why of a murder case may not be critical in an investigation, it can sometimes lead us to the killer.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Joe Kenda is always fun.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 03-10-21
By: Joe Kenda
-
The Want Ad Killer
- By: Ann Rule
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 425
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 395
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 390
After his first grisly crime, Harvey Louis Carignan beat a death sentence and continued to manipulate, rape, and bludgeon women to death - using want ads to lure his young female victims. And time after time, justice was thwarted by a killer whose twisted legal genius was matched only by his sick savagery. Here, complete with the testimony of women who suffered his unspeakable sexual abuses and barely escaped with their lives and of the police who at last put him behind bars, is one of the most shattering and thought-provoking true-crime stories of our time.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Paul Booooomer
- By Murder Fancier on 04-08-17
By: Ann Rule
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Lust Killer
- By: Ann Rule, Andy Stack
- Narrated by: Callie Beaulieu
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 914
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 815
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 812
When young women begin mysteriously disappearing in Oregon, Police Lieutenant James Stovall leads a relentless search for a killer. With little evidence available, and the public screaming for answers, he must find a remorseless, brutal killer whose identity will shock them all....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book on Brudos!
- By Ms.Bliss on 01-06-18
By: Ann Rule, and others
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The Wrong Man
- The Final Verdict on the Dr. Sam Sheppard Murder Case
- By: James Neff
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
At 5:40 a.m. on July 4, 1954, the mayor of Bay Village, a small suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, received a frantic phone call from his neighbor Dr. Sam Sheppard. The news was too terrible to comprehend: Marilyn, Sam's lovely wife, was dead, her face and torso beaten beyond recognition by an unknown assailant who had knocked Sam unconscious and escaped just before dawn. In the adjacent bedroom, Chip, the Sheppards' seven-year-old son, had slept through the entire ordeal. Almost immediately, the police began to suspect Sam Sheppard.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding! But troubling
- By Tyree on 09-26-22
By: James Neff
-
The Forest City Killer
- A Serial Murderer, a Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice
- By: Vanessa Brown
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
Fifty years ago, a serial killer prowled the quiet city of London, Ontario, marking it as his hunting grounds. As young women and boys were abducted, raped, and murdered, residents of the area held their loved ones closer and closer, terrified of the monster - or monsters - stalking the streets. Homicide detective Dennis Alsop began hunting the killer in the 1960s, and he didn’t stop searching until his death 40 years later.
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1 out of 5 stars
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All Wrong
- By Merkavius on 11-02-19
By: Vanessa Brown
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American Murder Houses
- A Coast-to-Coast Tour of the Most Notorious Houses of Homicide
- By: Steve Lehto
- Narrated by: Barry Press
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 385
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 348
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 346
From a colonial manse in New England to a small-town home in Iowa to a Beverly Hills mansion, these residences have taken on a life of their own, gaining everything from local lore and gossip to national - and even global - infamy. Here, writer Steve Lehto recounts the stories behind the houses where Lizzie Borden supposedly gave her stepmother "40 whacks", where the real Amityville Horror was first unleashed by gunfire, and where the demented acts of the Manson Family horrified a nation.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging and engrossing stories.
- By Lila Fowler on 09-14-16
By: Steve Lehto
-
Furious Hours
- Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
- By: Casey Cep
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,412
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,210
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,214
Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend. Casey Cep brings this story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, needs a Southern narrator
- By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
By: Casey Cep
-
Love Me to Death
- The Chilling True Story of WIlliam “Wild Bill Cody” Neal—The Vicious Denver Lady-Killer
- By: Steve Jackson
- Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
William Neal, who called himself "Wild Bill Cody," was seductive and skillful at separating love-struck women from their money, and ultimately, their lives. Apprehended by police, Neal, who proclaimed himself “better than Ted Bundy,” pleaded guilty to three murders then insisted on representing himself at his death penalty trial. But the psychopathic killer found himself up against the incredible courage of his one surviving victim.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointed
- By donald on 02-09-23
By: Steve Jackson
-
The Big Book of Serial Killers
- An Encyclopedia of Serial Killers - 150 Serial Killer Files of the World's Worst Murderers
- By: Jack Rosewood, Rebecca Lo
- Narrated by: Kevin Kollins
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 541
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 471
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 468
There is little more terrifying than those who hunt, stalk, and snatch their prey under the cloak of darkness. These hunters search not for animals, but for the touch, taste, and empowerment of human flesh. They are cannibals, vampires, and monsters, and they walk among us. These serial killers are not mythical beasts with horns and shaggy hair. They are people living among society, going about their day-to-day activities until nightfall. They are the Dennis Rader's, the fathers, husbands, church-going members of the community.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT FOR TRUE CRIME DEVOTÉES, BUT....
- By The Louligan on 10-31-17
By: Jack Rosewood, and others
-
The Dillinger Days
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 549
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 504
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 504
For 13 violent months in the 1930s, John Dillinger and his gang swept through the Midwest. The criminals of the Depression robbed almost at will, as the Indiana State Police had only 41 members, including clerks and typists. Dillinger's daring escapes at Crown Point jail or through the withering machine gun fire of FBI agents at Little Bohemia Lodge, along with his countless bank robberies, excited the imagination of a despondent country.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Must have been written by Hoover
- By Jimmy Oneal on 09-03-20
By: John Toland
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 337
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In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school - one of the most modern in the Midwest - Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it.
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3 out of 5 stars
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One of my favorite true crime authors flops.
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In the winter of 1873, a small band of prospectors lost their way in the frozen wilderness of the Colorado Rockies. Months later, when the snow finally melted, only one of them emerged. His name was Alfred G. Packer, though he would soon become infamous throughout the country under a different name: "the Man-Eater."
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4 out of 5 stars
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Made me hungry. Just kidding.
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Hell's Princess
- The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
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In the pantheon of serial killers, Belle Gunness stands alone. She was the rarest of female psychopaths, a woman who engaged in wholesale slaughter, partly out of greed but mostly for the sheer joy of it. Between 1902 and 1908, she lured a succession of unsuspecting victims to her Indiana “murder farm". Some were hired hands. Others were well-to-do bachelors. All of them vanished without a trace.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Can a book about a serial killer be entertaining?
- By Lori Hanson on 05-08-18
By: Harold Schechter
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The Serial Killer Files
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- By: Harold Schechter
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 811
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Hollywood's make-believe maniacs like Jason, Freddy, and Hannibal Lecter can't hold a candle to real-life monsters like John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and scores of others who have terrorized, tortured, and terminated their way across civilization throughout the ages. Now, from the much-acclaimed author of Deviant, Deranged, and Depraved, comes the ultimate resource on the serial killer phenomenon.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Made me feel sick, yet I didn't want it to end
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Fiend
- The Shocking True Story of America's Youngest Serial Killer
- By: Harold Schechter
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When 14-year-old Jesse Pomeroy was arrested in 1874, a nightmarish reign of terror over an unsuspecting city came to an end. "The Boston Boy Fiend" was imprisoned at last. But the complex questions sparked by his ghastly crime spree - the hows and whys of vicious juvenile crime - were as relevant in the so-called Age of Innocence as they are today.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Graphic descriptions of child torture
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At a remote little inn not far from the Kansas homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder lived the Bender family. These pioneers welcomed unwary visitors with jackrabbit stew and a sledgehammer to the skull. In time, their apple orchard gave up its secrets - a burial ground for their mutilated victims, each stripped of their possessions. The devilish enterprise on “Hell’s Half-Acre” would earn the Bloody Benders an undying place in the annals of American infamy. But it was the mysterious fate of eldest daughter, Kate, that would make them the stuff of mythic campfire prairie tales.
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5 out of 5 stars
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True Life Crime
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In 1927, while the majority of the township of Bath, Michigan, was celebrating a new primary school - one of the most modern in the Midwest - Andrew P. Kehoe had other plans. The local farmer and school board treasurer was educated, respected, and an accommodating neighbor and friend. But behind his ordinary demeanor was a narcissistic sadist seething with rage, resentment, and paranoia. On May 18 he detonated a set of rigged explosives with the sole purpose of destroying the school and everyone in it.
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3 out of 5 stars
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One of my favorite true crime authors flops.
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4 out of 5 stars
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At a remote little inn not far from the Kansas homestead of Laura Ingalls Wilder lived the Bender family. These pioneers welcomed unwary visitors with jackrabbit stew and a sledgehammer to the skull. In time, their apple orchard gave up its secrets - a burial ground for their mutilated victims, each stripped of their possessions. The devilish enterprise on “Hell’s Half-Acre” would earn the Bloody Benders an undying place in the annals of American infamy. But it was the mysterious fate of eldest daughter, Kate, that would make them the stuff of mythic campfire prairie tales.
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True Life Crime
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Butcher's Work
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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A Civil War veteran who perpetrated one of the most ghastly mass slaughters in the annals of U.S. crime. A nineteenth-century female serial killer whose victims included three husbands and six of her own children. A Gilded Age “Bluebeard” who did away with as many as fifty wives throughout the country. A decorated World War I hero who orchestrated a murder that stunned Jazz Age America.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Another necessary work by Schector
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By: Harold Schechter
-
The Whole Death Catalog
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
-
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-
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In the tradition of Mary Roach's best-selling Stiff and Jessica Mitford's classic expose The American Way of Death comes this meticulously researched and refreshingly irreverent look at death from acclaimed author Harold Schechter. With his trademark fearlessness and bracing sense of humor, Schechter digs deep into a wealth of sources to unearth a treasure trove of surprising facts, amusing anecdotes, practical information, and timeless wisdom about that undiscovered country to which we will all one day travel.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
Bathroom literature, not audible book material.
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Murderabilia
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
The false teeth of a female serial killer from 1908, the cut-and-paste confession of the Black Dahlia killer, the newly cracked cipher of the Zodiac killer, the shotgun used in the Clutter family murders, which were made famous by Truman Capote's true crime classic In Cold Blood—these are more than simple artifacts that once belonged to notorious murderers. They are objects of fascination to the legion of true crime obsessives around the world. Veteran true crime writer Harold Schechter presents 100 murder-related artifacts spanning two centuries, with accompanying stories of various lengths.
By: Harold Schechter
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Killer Colt
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1
In this masterful account, renowned true-crime historian Harold Schechter takes you into the life and crimes of convicted murderer John Caldwell Colt, drawing parallels between John's rise to notoriety and his brother Samuel Colt's rise to fame as the inventor of the legendary revolver. With a killing that made headlines around the nation, John Colt became a cultural touchstone whose shocking villainy inspired and provoked such writers as Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, and Herman Melville.
By: Harold Schechter
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Psycho USA
- Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 211
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 195
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Story4 out of 5 stars 193
In the horrifying annals of American crime, the infamous names of brutal killers such as Bundy, Dahmer, Gacy, and Berkowitz are writ large in the imaginations of a public both horrified and hypnotized by their monstrous, murderous acts. But for every celebrity psychopath who's gotten ink for spilling blood, there's a bevy of all-but-forgotten homicidal fiends studding the bloody margins of US history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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True crime enthusiast's dream
- By Athelsten on 08-24-17
By: Harold Schechter
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The Most Bizarre True Crime Stories Ever Told
- 20 Unforgettable and Twisted True Crime Cases that Will Haunt You
- By: Jack Rosewood
- Narrated by: Moose Warywoda
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story4 out of 5 stars 20
The Most Bizarre True Crime Stories Ever Told delivers the horrifying, interesting, weird, and disturbing tales that really get true crime connoisseurs excited. Lock your doors, close your blinds, and get ready to hear about some of the strangest, and most bone-chilling true crime cases the world has ever seen.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Don’t waste your money.
- By foster on 10-23-24
By: Jack Rosewood
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Rampage
- Bloodlands collection
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,279
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,127
In 1949, things like this just didn’t happen: A quiet New Jersey resident took a morning walk with a 9 mm Luger pistol. In twelve minutes he murdered thirteen neighbors...and then went back to bed. Howard Unruh went from obscurity to infamy overnight. Even after his obsessive diaries were discovered - a catalogue of simmering rage, petty grievances, and sexual repression - the anomalous crime seemed incomprehensible. Succeeding decades would confirm that Unruh’s “Walk of Death” was just the beginning. The prototype for the modern mass murderer, he would usher in a new age of violence in America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very good
- By Theresa Horton on 08-29-18
By: Harold Schechter
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Panic
- Bloodlands collection
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 987
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 859
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Story4 out of 5 stars 858
During the Depression, economic anxieties found an outlet in a series of child murders that triggered an irrational nationwide hysteria: pedophiliac psychopaths were overrunning the country. As America was brought to rage and fury by the press and the FBI, lynch mobs took to the streets, reason gave way to doomsday scenarios, and one father was even driven to murder his three daughters to “save them” from a degenerate crime wave. A terrifying cautionary essay, Panic explores the combustible mix of unfounded fears, moral crusades, and the dangers of collective thinking.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Too sensational
- By Texaspaz on 10-14-20
By: Harold Schechter
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Deviant
- The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho"
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,313
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,808
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,796
From "America's principal chronicler of its greatest psychopathic killers" ( Boston Book Review) comes the definitive account of Ed Gein, a mild-mannered Wisconsin farmhand who stunned an unsuspecting nation - and redefined the meaning of the word psycho.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Has its Moments but Overly Salacious
- By Adam on 08-26-16
By: Harold Schechter
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The Pirate
- Bloodlands collection
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,294
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,119
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,114
In 1860, a sloop drifted into New York Harbor. Not a soul on board - just blood from cabin to deck. Looted coins led to Bowery thug Albert Hicks, the ax slayer who turned his shipmates into chum. His crimes were absolutely fiendish. His execution was pure ballyhoo. It drew nearly ten thousand bloodthirsty sightseers to the city - including the enterprising showman P. T. Barnum. Refreshments were served as the most notorious and unrepentant mass murderer of the era made history as one of America’s first celebrity killers.
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2 out of 5 stars
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20minute article stretched to 90minutes - No point
- By G. Eggleston on 08-12-19
By: Harold Schechter
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The Brick Slayer
- Bloodlands collection
- By: Harold Schechter
- Narrated by: Steven Weber
- Length: 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 957
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 840
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Story4 out of 5 stars 832
A series of brutal home invasions terrified Los Angeles in 1937. They ended in Chicago a year later with the arrest of African American teenager Robert Nixon, igniting racial tensions in an already appallingly divided city. Tortured in custody and portrayed by the press in the most lurid and flagrantly racist terms, Nixon faced an all-white jury. It would be the fastest conviction in the history of Cook County. The case against Nixon is a still-relevant examination of bigotry, suppressed rage, and the making of a murderer.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Effective Storytelling, Masterful Narration
- By Fairbanks142 on 02-26-21
By: Harold Schechter
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Behind the Horror
- True Stories That Inspired Horror Movies
- By: Dr. Lee Mellor
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 274
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 274
Unearth the terrifying and true tales behind some of the scariest horror movies to ever haunt our screens, including the Enfield poltergeist case that was retold in The Conjuring 2 and the serial killers who inspired Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs. Behind the Horror dissects these and other bizarre tales to reveal haunting real-life stories of abduction, disappearance, murder, and exorcism.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Okay
- By 6catz on 05-19-21
By: Dr. Lee Mellor
What listeners say about Ripped from the Headlines!
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Midge Ridgway
- 06-18-21
Hollywood meets True Crime
Narrator very dramatic, brings popular Hollywood movies to live by introducing the true life stories.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JESSICA BAUER
- 01-20-24
Well researched
This was a very well researched book of essays in new and old crimes throughout history. Some I knew and some I didn't.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- 6catz
- 11-23-20
Movies and true crimes
This is an excellent collection of well researched essays on films that were inspired by true crime stories. Schechter does a great job of laying out the facts behind classic and not-so-classic crime, thriller and horror movies, including Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” and “Rope,” not too mention “A Place in the Sun,” “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Chicago” and slasher flicks like “Scream” and “The Hills Have Eyes.” Ghoulish, full of historical context and very entertaining, expertly narrated by Malcom Hillgartner.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 10-26-23
Worth the listen
An insight into the crimes that inspired many movies, both new and old. Harold Schechter once again delivers a delightful read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dina
- 06-22-21
good listen!
it was an easy listen. very informative! I didn't know about some of these movies being based on true events! I'll be watching 'Arsenic and Old Lace' very soon!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Lauren A
- 04-07-23
Interesting but rushed
This book had some interesting connections but I tuned out for a lot of the middle chapters,
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 05-21-23
Three Stars
In a brilliant move, customers are now forced to write reviews if they want to rate books. This is a waste of time both for me and for whoever reads this.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Peter W. Kalnin
- 09-15-24
Exactly as Titled
A review of dozens of sensational murders in America over the past century.
Excellent narration by Malcom Hillgartner.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Clifford
- 08-18-21
A decent listen
Not a deep enough dive into either the movie or the crime it was based on. Fewer movies and more detail would’ve been better. For a couple of the movies, I had no idea how the crime actually related to the movie.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Angela A
- 01-25-24
Koller good storues
I Love the comparison of movie titles to real crimes. I appreciate the notice to details and differences between each movie that represents each crime in histories headlines
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