Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

$34.99 AUD

Category: Chat10Looks3 Recommendations | Reading Level: very good

Ray: "Riveting. Compelling. The story of how Ronan Farrow held his ground against the powerful media establishment, unprincipled lawyers, public relations spinmasters, spies, to expose the sexual predations of Hollywood mogul Henry Weinstein. An Australian-born media executive tried to stop the book fro m being sold in Australia. Read Catch and Kill, and you’ll be glad he failed."   In a dramatic account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost. In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth, and a conspiracy of silence. As Farrow drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives, from high-priced lawyers to elite war-hardened spies, mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move and weaponizing an account of abuse in his own family. All the while, Farrow and his producer faced a degree of resistance that could not be explained - until now. And a trail of clues revealed corruption and cover-ups from Hollywood, to Washington, and beyond. This is the untold story of the exotic tactics of surveillance and intimidation deployed by wealthy and connected men to threaten journalists, evade accountability and silence victims of abuse - and it's the story of the women who risked everything to expose the truth and spark a global movement. Both a spy thriller and a meticulous work of investigative journalism, Catch and Kill breaks devastating new stories about the rampant abuse of power - and sheds far-reaching light on investigations that shook the culture. ...Show more

Mrs Escobar: My Life with Pablo by Victoria Eugenia Henao

$35.00 AUD

Category: True Crime

The closest you'll ever get to the most infamous drug kingpin in modern history, told by the person who stood by his side The story of Pablo Escobar, one of the wealthiest, powerful and violent criminals of all time has fascinated the world. Yet the one person closest to him has never spoken out - until now. Maria Victoria Henao met Pablo when she was 13, eloped with him at 15, and despite his numerous infidelities and violence, stayed by his side for the following 16 years until his death. At the same time, she urged him to make peace with his enemies and managed to negotiate her and her children's freedom after Pablo's demise. On the 25th anniversary of Pablo's death, the most intriguing character in the Escobar narrative is ready to share her story and reveal the real man behind the legend. ...Show more

Shark Arm by Phillip Roope; Kevin Meagher

$32.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Truth can be stranger than fiction. In a Coogee aquarium in 1935 a shark coughed up a man's tattooed arm. The authors of Shark Arm have unravelled an extraordinary tale of high-class smuggling around Sydney Harbour and police collusion that has eluded many investigations into this famous cold case. &nb sp; ...Show more

Joe Cinque's Consolation by Helen Garner

$24.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

In October 1997, a clever young law student at ANU made a bizarre plan to murder her devoted boyfriend after a dinner party at their house. Some of the dinner guests - most of them university students - had heard rumours of the plan. Nobody warned Joe Cinque. He died one Sunday, in his own bed, of a mas sive dose of Rohypnol and heroin. His girlfriend and her best friend were charged with murder. Helen Garner followed the trials in the ACT Supreme Court. Compassionate but unflinching, this is a book about how and why Joe Cinque died. It probes the gap between ethics and the law; examines the helplessness of the courts in the face of what we think of as 'evil'; and explores conscience, culpability, and the battered ideal of duty of care. It is a masterwork from one of Australia's greatest writers. ...Show more

The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire (PB) by Chloe Hooper

$22.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

On the scorching February day in 2009 that became known as Black Saturday, a man lit two fires in Victoria's Latrobe Valley, then sat on the roof of his house to watch the inferno. In the Valley, where the rates of crime were the highest in the state, more than thirty people were known to police as fire bugs. But the detectives soon found themselves on the trail of a man they didn't know. The Arsonist takes readers on the hunt for this man, and inside the strange puzzle of his mind. It is also the story of fire in this country, and of a community that owed its existence to that very element. The command of fire has defined and sustained us as a species - understanding its abuse will define our future. A powerful real-life thriller written with Hooper's trademark lyric detail and nuance, The Arsonist is a reminder that in an age of fire, all of us are gatekeepers. ...Show more

Busted by Keith Moor

$35.00 AUD

Category: True Crime

Bestselling writer and organised-crime expert Keith Moor takes us behind the headlines of the world's biggest seizure of ecstasy to expose a sophisticated mafia network in Australia. In 2007, Melbourne customs officials intercepted 15 million ecstasy tablets hidden in 3000 tomato tins arriving from Napl es, Italy - the largest haul of ecstasy in the world. The seized pills had a street value of $440 million. After getting a lucky break from the actions of a diligent customs officer, the Australian Federal Police swooped on the traffickers. As they brought in the suspects, the powerful Calabrian mafia was exposed as being at the heart of it all. Drawing on years of research and never-before-revealed detail, Busted details this extraordinary case - one of the largest AFP operations ever - and how it fits into the murky history of Australian organised crime. From the Walkley Award - winning author of Crims in Grass Castles, this is a fascinating and powerful account of one of the biggest crimes, and many of the worst criminals, our society has seen. ...Show more

Dead Man Walking: The Murky World of Michael Mcgurk and Ron Medich by Kate McClymont

$34.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

We all know Sydney is full of corruption and crime, but none of us expected to read about a Sydney businessman being shot in the back of his head, in his driveway, in front of his nine-year-old son, in Cremorne. Nor that the order would come from a Point Piper millionaire. Kate McClymont is Australia?s best-known investigative journalist. Kate and McGurk received intel that he was going to be 'hit?. Before the two could meet, McGurk was murdered. Kate and her family also received death threats and were moved to a hotel for a few days. This story involves bumbling criminals, turncoats, snitches, developers, wealthy people brought down, and devastated families. It unpacks the structures of our major cities and asks some big big questions. Multiple Walkley-winner Kate tells it with pace and character and her insider status. ...Show more

Marching Powder (PB) by Rusty Young

$19.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

San Pedro is Bolivia's most notorious prison. Small-time drug smuggler Thomas McFadden found himself on the inside. Marching Powder is the story of how he navigated this dark world of gangs, drugs and corruption to come out on top.Thomas found himself in a bizarre world, the prison reflecting all that i s wrong with South American society. Prisoners have to pay an entrance fee and buy their own cells (the alternative is to sleep outside and die of exposure), prisoners' wives and children often live inside too, high quality cocaine is manufactured and sold from the prison.Thomas ended up making a living by giving backpackers tours of the prison - he became a fixture on the backpacking circuit and was named in the Lonely Planet guide to Bolivia. When he was told that for a bribe of $5000 his sentence could be overturned, it was the many backpackers who'd passed through who sent him the money. Written by lawyer Rusty Young, Marching Powder - sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, is a riveting story of survival. ...Show more

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

$35.00 AUD

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

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

$22.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.   It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.   Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city has become a modern classic. ...Show more

Deliver Us from Evil: A New York City Cop Investigates the Supernatural

$24.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Once a Jolly Hangman by Alan Shadrake

$29.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Singapore has one of the highest execution rates per capita in the world. Its government claims that only the death penalty can deter drug dealers from using their country as a transport hub - but this hard-hitting investigation reveals disturbing truths about how and when the death penalty is applied. Including in-depth interviews with Darshan Singh-Singapore's chief executioner for nearly fifty years - and chilling accounts of high-profile cases, including the execution of Australian Nguyen Van Tuong, this is an horrific expose of the gross abuse of human rights. When this book was first published in Asia in July 2010, UK journalist Alan Shadrake was arrested and tried, then sentenced to jail - for daring to put the Singapore justice system in the dock. This revised and updated edition covers Shadrake's arrest, and his ongoing campaign against the death penalty as he prepares for his appeal. ...Show more