The Devil in the White City

A Saga of Magic and Murder at the Fair that Changed America

Erik Larson

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile comes the true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death. “As absorbing a piece of popular history as one will ever hope to find.” —San Francisco Chronicle A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years Combining meticulous research with nail-biting storytelling, Erik Larson has crafted a narrative with all the wonder of newly discovered history and the thrills of the best fiction. 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—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake. The Devil in the White City draws the reader into the enchantment of the Guilded Age, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

Mindhunter

Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit

John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker

Includes material on "the Trailside Killer in San Francisco, the Atlanta child murderer, the Tylenol poisoner, the man who hunted prostitutes for sport in the woods of Alaska, and Seattle's Green River killer ..."

American Predator

The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century

Maureen Callahan (Journalist)

Israel Keyes was one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to kill. He would break into a stranger's house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet construction worker devoted to his daughter. When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her - uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist.

A Serial Killer's Daughter

My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming (An Insider's Look at the True Crime Story of the BTK Killer, Dennis Rader)

Kerri Rawson

What is it like to learn that your ordinary, loving father is a serial killer? Discover the true story behind the BTK killer, as told by those closest to him. In 2005, Kerri Rawson opened the door of her apartment to greet an FBI agent who shared the shocking news that her father had been arrested for murdering ten people, including two children. That's also when she first learned that her father was the notorious serial killer known as BTK, a name he'd given himself that described the horrific way he committed his crimes: bind, torture, kill. As news of his capture spread, the city of Wichita celebrated the end of a thirty-one-year nightmare. For Kerri Rawson, another was just beginning. In the weeks and years that followed, Kerri was plunged into a black hole of horror and disbelief. The same man who had been a loving father, a devoted husband, church president, Boy Scout leader, and a public servant had been using their family as a cover for his heinous crimes since before she was born. Everything she had believed about her life had been a lie. Written with candor and extraordinary courage, A Serial Killer's Daughter is an unflinching exploration of life with one of America's most infamous killers and an astonishing tale of personal and spiritual transformation. A Serial Killer's Daughter will give you the encouragement you need to learn how to: Pick up the pieces of your life when everything falls apart Begin to heal from the long-lasting effects of violence Trust that light will overcome the darkness Kerri Rawson's story offers the hope of reclaiming sanity in the midst of madness, rebuilding a life in the shadow of death, and learning to forgive the unforgivable.

Serial Killers

The Method and Madness of Monsters

Peter Vronsky

A comprehensive examination into the frightening true crime history of serial homicide—including information on America’s most prolific serial killers such as: Jeffrey Dahmer • Ted Bundy • “Co-ed Killer” Ed Kemper • The BTK Killer • “Highway Stalker” Henry Lee Lucas • Monte Ralph Rissell • “Shoe Fetish Slayer” Jerry Brudos • “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez • “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski • Ed Gein “The Butcher of Plainfield” • “Killer Clown” John Wayne Gacy • Andrew Cunanan • And more... In this unique book, Peter Vronsky documents the psychological, investigative, and cultural aspects of serial murder, beginning with its first recorded instance in Ancient Rome through fifteenth-century France on to such notorious contemporary cases as cannibal/necrophile Ed Kemper, the BTK killer, Henry Lee Lucas, Monte Ralph Rissell, Jerry Brudos, Richard Ramirez, “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, Ed Gein, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the emergence of what he classifies as the “serial rampage killer” such as Andrew Cunanan, who murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace. Vronsky not only offers sound theories on what makes a serial killer but also makes concrete suggestions on how to survive an encounter with one—from recognizing verbal warning signs to physical confrontational resistance. Exhaustively researched with transcripts of interviews with killers, and featuring up-to-date information on the apprehension and conviction of the Green River killer and the Beltway Snipers, Vronsky’s one-of-a-kind book covers every conceivable aspect of an endlessly riveting true crime phenomenon. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

Zodiac

The Shocking True Story of the Hunt for the Nation's Most Elusive Serial Killer

Robert Graysmith

Robert Graysmith’s New York Times bestselling account of the desperate hunt for a serial killer and his own investigation of California’s unsolved Zodiac murders. A sexual sadist, the Zodiac killer took pleasure in torture and murder. His first victims were a teenage couple, stalked and shot dead in a lovers’ lane. After another slaying, he sent his first mocking note to authorities, promising he would kill more. The official tally of his victims was six. He claimed thirty-seven dead. The real toll may have reached fifty. Robert Graysmith was on staff at the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 when Zodiac first struck, triggering in the resolute reporter an unrelenting obsession with seeing the hooded killer brought to justice. In this gripping account of Zodiac’s eleven-month reign of terror, Graysmith reveals hundreds of facts previously unreleased, including the complete text of the killer’s letters.

Lethal Intent

Sue Russell

“One of the best true crime books of all time” examines the abusive childhood, shocking crimes and execution of serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Examiner.com). As a child, Aileen Wuornos was abandoned, abused and raped. By her teens, she was deep into a lifestyle of hitchhiking, petty crime, and the sex trade. In her twisted mind, uncontrollable bouts of violence were pure survival skills. In 1986 Aileen began a lesbian relationship with Tyria Moore. Three years later, tired of turning tricks, she fired four bullets into one of her clients—then robbed him. She claimed she killed six more victims before authorities finally locked her behind bars. Lethal Intent is the definitive true crime biography of this infamous serial killer. In this edition, award-winning journalist Sue Russell updates her harrowing real-life thriller with new details of the most famous female serial killer's decade on death row, her execution in 2002—and the lasting impact of her dark deeds. The case that inspired the Academy Awarding–winning movie Monster “The book to read about Aileen Wuornos--a case that has fascinated true crime fans from around the world.” —True Crime Book Reviews With Sixteen Pages Of Photos

Got Murder?

The Shocking Story of Wisconsin's Notorious Killers

Martin Hintz

Ah, Wisconsin. . . land of beer, cows, and the Green Bay Packers. And also the home of Ed Gein, Jeffery Dahmer, and a host of other bloodthirsty maniacs. This book goes behind the bucolic Dairy State image to reveal shocking acts of mayhem in the dark corners of Wisconsin history, and asks the troubling question: Is it something in the cheese?

The Anatomy of Evil

Michael H. Stone

In this groundbreaking book, renowned psychiatrist Michael H. Stone explores the concept and reality of evil from a new perspective. In an in-depth discussion of the personality traits and behaviors that constitute evil across a wide spectrum, Dr. Stone takes a clarifying scientific approach to a topic that for centuries has been inadequately explained by religious doctrines. Basing his analysis on the detailed biographies of more than 600 violent criminals, Stone has created a 22-level hierarchy of evil behavior, which loosely reflects the structure of Dante's Inferno. He traces two salient personality traits that run the gamut from those who commit crimes of passion to perpetrators of sadistic torture and murder. One trait is narcissism, as exhibited in people who are so self-centered that they have little or no ability to care about their victims. The other is aggression, the use of power over another person to inflict humiliation, suffering, and death. What do psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience tell us about the minds of those whose actions could be described as evil? And what will that mean for the rest of us? Stone discusses how an increased understanding of the causes of evil will affect the justice system. He predicts a day when certain persons can safely be declared salvageable and restored to society and when early signs of violence in children may be corrected before potentially dangerous patterns become entrenched.

The Enigma of Ted Bundy

The Questions and Controversies Surrounding America's Most Infamous Serial Killer

Kevin M. Sullivan

"A must-have for Bundy fanatics, this collection fills in holes and addresses key mysteries about of one of the world's most infamous serial killers." —Katherine Ramsland, bestselling author of Confession of a Serial Killer Within these pages, you'll read of the many questions still surrounding this fascinating and intricate case, as well as the answers that are only now being provided here. There's so much more to learn, and new information is still surfacing about Bundy, his victims and his potential victims. As such, there is new testimony included from those who had a brush with the killer, and others who played their own roles in this multi-state case. In this book, Bundy case detectives Jerry Thompson of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Don Patchen of Tallahassee, Florida, talk about their personal experiences with Bundy. So does Ron Holmes, the Louisville criminologist who worked with the killer towards the end of his life. Also included are official reports that have rarely been viewed outside of the archives, along with the author's commentary to guide readers through them. And last but not least, is Bundy's final confession to Utah detective Dennis Couch just hours prior to Bundy's execution. In it, Bundy reveals startling facts and sparks additional questions. A must-read for those true crime readers fascinated by America's most enigmatic and infamous serial killer. Praise for Kevin M. Sullivan's books on Ted Bundy "Provides the most in-depth examination of the killer and his murders ever conducted." —Dan Zupansky, host of the True Murder podcast "This is crime writing at its very best!" —Gary C. King, author of The Murder of Meredith Kercher

The Stranger Beside Me

Ann Rule

Description unavailable for this volume in the current provider response.

Murder in the Heartland

20 Case Files

Harry Spiller

For 16 years, Harry Spiller worked as a deputy sheriff, investigator, and sheriff in a place where murder isn't suppose to happen- Southern Illinois. Investigating murder cases mainly in Williamson County and assisting in other counties, he learned the hard reality that murder is all around us. The act is swift for the victim and can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. It doesn't matter if you live in a big city or a small county, with brick-front towns, small farms, white church houses, lakes and ponds, the Shawnee National Forest, and the muddy rivers. All too often, victims fall prey in places that we think are safe to raise our families, places where we take walks on hot summer nights, where our children play in the park without concern, where we fish in the local pond hoping to land the big one, and where we leave our doors unlocked at night. In this book, Murder In The Heartland, there are 20 case files.

Helter Skelter

The True Story Of The Manson Murder

Vincent Bugliosi, Curt Gentry

The true story of the Manson murders.

Sons of Cain

A History of Serial Killers from the Stone Age to the Present

Peter Vronsky

From the author of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters comes an in-depth examination of sexual serial killers throughout human history, how they evolved, and why we are drawn to their horrifying crimes. Before the term was coined in 1981, there were no "serial killers." There were only "monsters"--killers society first understood as werewolves, vampires, ghouls and witches or, later, Hitchcockian psychos. In Sons of Cain--a book that fills the gap between dry academic studies and sensationalized true crime--investigative historian Peter Vronsky examines our understanding of serial killing from its prehistoric anthropological evolutionary dimensions in the pre-civilization era (c. 15,000 BC) to today. Delving further back into human history and deeper into the human psyche than Serial Killers--Vronsky's 2004 book, which has been called the definitive history of serial murder--he focuses strictly on sexual serial killers: thrill killers who engage in murder, rape, torture, cannibalism and necrophilia, as opposed to for-profit serial killers, including hit men, or "political" serial killers, like terrorists or genocidal murderers. These sexual serial killers differ from all other serial killers in their motives and their foundations. They are uniquely human and--as popular culture has demonstrated--uniquely fascinating.

Novels in Three Lines

Félix Fénéon

A NEW YORK REVIEW BOOKS ORIGINAL Novels in Three Lines collects more than a thousand items that appeared anonymously in the French newspaper Le Matin in 1906—true stories of murder, mayhem, and everyday life presented with a ruthless economy that provokes laughter even as it shocks. This extraordinary trove, undiscovered until the 1940s and here translated for the first time into English, is the work of the mysterious Félix Fénéon. Dandy, anarchist, and critic of genius, the discoverer of Georges Seurat and the first French publisher of James Joyce, Fénéon carefully maintained his own anonymity, toiling for years as an obscure clerk in the French War Department. Novels in Three Lines is his secret chef-d’oeuvre, a work of strange and singular art that brings back the long-ago year of 1906 with the haunting immediacy of a photograph while looking forward to such disparate works as Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project and the Death and Disaster series of Andy Warhol.

Ripperology

A Study of the World's First Serial Killer and a Literary Phenomenon

Robin Odell

Ripperology - a sometimes obsessive interest in studying the crimes ofJack the Ripper - is a subject of timeless interest that has suffered fromconfusion, exaggeration, and hyperbole for over a century. Jack theRipper was probably the first serial killer to appear in a large metropolisat a time when the general populace was literate and the press was aforce for social change. The press was also partly responsible forcreating many myths surrounding the Ripper.

Obsession

The FBI's Legendary Profiler Probes, the Psyches of Killers, Rapists, and Stalkers and Their Victims and Tells how to Fight Back

John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker

The FBI's legendary profiler probes the psyches of killers, rapists, and stalkers and their victims and tells how to fight back.

The Devil in the White City

Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Erik Larson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death. 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—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake. The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. Erik Larson’s gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

The Psychology of Serial Killer Investigations

The Grisly Business Unit

Robert D. Keppel, William J. Birnes

Publisher Description

Unabomber

A Desire to Kill

Robert Graysmith

The author provides a psychological portrait of Kaczynski and questions the FBI's efforts in uncovering the Unabomber.