Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers True Crime From famous cases like TWA Flight 800 and the Unabomber to lesser-known tales of murder and conspiracy to a photo collection of real-life noir, we've got the true crime books you're looking for. "In the Blink of an Eye" by Pat Milton http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375500863/entertainmentsit In the wake of the terrifying explosion of TWA Flight 800 on July 17, 1996, which killed 230 passengers and crew, speculation ran rampant as to the cause of the tragedy. Was it a bomb? A terrorist's missile? Did "friendly fire" from the U.S. government play a role? Rumors spread like brush fire while investigators laboriously fished the pieces of the huge 747 out of the waters off Long Island and began putting the plane back together, piece by piece, to find out the truth. Pat Milton takes us into the world of the FBI agents responsible for investigating Flight 800's horrific last flight. As the days and weeks dragged on for the investigators, public clamor turned up the heat for a suspect, or at least a final determination, one that wouldn't come for months. Milton's protagonist, FBI Assistant Director James Kallstrom, took the heat and shouldered the blame for a string of false leads, working the public as much as he worked the case--either way, it was a full-time job--and Milton captures the noble spirit of a dedicated man way past his breaking point then extended further. "In the Blink of an Eye" works both as an exhaustive, exhausting memoir of a terrifying disaster and as an elegant tribute to the dedication of the FBI and all the men and women who helped sort through the pieces to try to put some of Flight 800 back together again. "The United States of America Versus Theodore John Kaczynski" by Michael Mello http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1893956016/entertainmentsit The Unabomber case both captivated and worried Americans, prodded by extensive media attention, for seemingly endless months. Few of us were prepared to deal with the likes of a Ted Kaczynski--who he was, what he did, what he believed in and stood for. When Kaczynski emerged from hiding in his absurd shack in the mountains with his piles of antitechnology literature, the image of the unruly bearded man in a bright orange jumpsuit burned into our collective unconscious. We haven't yet been able to shake the sight. Such is Michael Mello's thesis, which he elaborates in this masterful account of the legal side of the Unabomber story. Mello, both an accomplished journalist and a notorious defense attorney (he represented serial killer Ted Bundy), actually spent time as an advisor to the Kaczynski defense team during pretrial proceedings; his perceptions are, he freely admits, skewed toward the defense in this case, particularly in matters of procedure. Yet the book never reads like propaganda. Instead, Mello opens up new lines of inquiry into the manner in which the United States government handled its prosecution of the case. With a biting, trenchant approach, he unfolds layer upon layer of the fascinating case and opens it to public view. He also constructs an eerie parallel between Kaczynski's case and abolitionist John Brown, who was executed by the government in the 19th century after his raid on Harpers Ferry. Is it fair, Mello asks, that we should remember Brown as a civil rights martyr and Kaczynski as a comical, albeit defanged, monster? This is fascinating reading, regardless of whether or not you agree with Mello's take on the case. If you're interested in learning more about John Brown, read "Cloudsplitter," a fictional account by Russell Banks. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060930861/entertainmentsit "Disco Bloodbath" by James St. James http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684857642/entertainmentsit In 1996, New York City drug dealer and "club kid" Angel Melendez was bludgeoned, injected with Drano, dismembered, and tossed into the river. James St. James was there when the killer confessed, but before that there were the clubs, the parties, the drugs, and the many fabulous (and some not so fabulous) outfits. "Disco Bloodbath" is "celebutante" St. James's story, equal parts confession and attempt at closure. This is no square-jawed detective's account of the investigation of the crime; St. James is a drug-addled clubster who wears a wedding dress out on the town and invokes Judy Garland as he talks about the scene in which he and Melendez immersed themselves before the murder. His story, despite its gruesome subject matter and frequent, shocking lucidity, has a chatty and anecdotal quality that's compelling, endearing, and unrelentingly human. "Sins of the City: The Real Los Angeles Noir" by Jim Heimann http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811823199/entertainmentsit In the first half of the 20th century, Los Angeles was as well known for its lurid nightlife and criminal underground as it was for the Hollywood film empire. Often, of course, the two sides of L.A. met, as when Robert Mitchum was busted for marijuana possession in 1949; among the photos collected in "Sins of the City" you'll find a snapshot of Mitchum in prison gear during his 50-day incarceration. You'll also find several pictures of local crime boss Mickey Cohen and his gang, usually after somebody's made an attempt to rub them out. Several of the crime scene photos are not for the squeamish, including the shooting death of mobster Bugsy Siegel and the discovery of both halves of the body of Elizabeth Short, better remembered as the "Black Dahlia." (Actually, the two pictures of Short's bisected corpse are taken from a distance, compared to more gruesome photos of that scene found in other sources.) Jim Heimann's introduction provides some historical context, but it's the photos themselves that are the real attraction here. From them you'll get a sense of what the gambling parlors, speakeasies, and drag balls of the period looked like--as well as Beverly Hills movie premieres, the back alleys of Chinatown, and the exteriors of such swank nightclubs as La Conga and the Mocambo. "Sins of the City" is fascinating reference material for readers of classic L.A. noir (it includes quotes from several authors, among them Raymond Chandler and John Fante), as well as anyone interested in studying or writing about this period. ****** You'll find more great books, articles, excerpts, and interviews in Amazon.com's Nonfiction section at Nonfiction
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