In February 1959, a group of nine experienced hikers in the Russian Ural Mountains died mysteriously on an elevation known as Dead Mountain. Eerie aspects of the incident—unexplained violent injuries, signs that they cut open and fled the tent without proper clothing or shoes, a strange final photograph taken by one of the hikers, and elevated levels of radiation found on some of their clothes—have led to decades of speculation over what really happened. This gripping work of literary nonf...

New York Times Bestseller: The "fascinating" true story of John Dale Cavaness, a much-admired Illinois doctor—and the cold-blooded killer of his own son ( The Washington Post).Fusing the narrative power of an award-winning novelist and the detailed research of an experienced investigator, author Darcy O'Brien unfolds the story of Dr. John Dale Cavaness, the southern Illinois physician and surgeon charged with the murder of his son...

The mysterious disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in New Guinea in 1961 has kept the world and his powerful, influential family guessing for years. Now, Carl Hoffman uncovers startling new evidence that finally tells the full, astonishing story.Despite exhaustive searches, no trace of Rockefeller was ever found. Soon after his disappearance, rumors surfaced that he'd been killed and ceremonially eaten by the local Asmat—a native tribe of warriors whose complex cu...

Winner of the Whitbread Biography Award: The true story of the shipwrecked Scottish buccaneer who inspired Daniel Defoe's novel.This action-filled biography follows Alexander Selkirk, an eighteenth-century Scottish buccaneer who sailed the South Seas plundering for gold. But an ill-fated expedition in 1703 led to shipwreck on remote Juan Fernández Island off the coast of Chile. Selkirk, the ship's master, was accused of inciting mutiny and abandoned on the uninhabit...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! THIS NEW AND UPDATED EDITION FINALLY PROVES THE SHOCKING IDENTITY OF THE BLACK DAHLIA KILLER—AND THE POLICE CORRUPTION THAT CONCEALED IT FOR SO LONGIn 1947, the brutal, sadistic murder of a beautiful young woman named Elizabeth Short led to the largest manhunt in LA history. The killer teased and taunted the police and public for weeks, but his identity stayed a mystery, and the murder remained the most tantalizing unsolved case of the ...

This true crime saga reveals the case of a missing Nashville woman, a husband on the run, and a rare cold case murder conviction.Janet March had it all: a corporate lawyer husband, two beautiful children, a promising career as an artist, and a dream house she designed herself. But behind closed doors, her husband led a destructive double life. On August 16, 1996, Janet had an appointment to finally file for divorce. But she never arrived. On the night of August 15, ...

The epic horrors of psychopathic mastermind Eddie Lee Sexton from the New York Times bestselling author who “knows how to dramatize true crime” (Elmore Leonard).For years, Eddie Lee Sexton ruled his large family like Charles Manson. The depraved patriarch dominated his ragged brood of twelve children mentally, physically, and sexually, and enforced every cruelty imaginable, from vicious beatings to raping his daughters and fathering their children. Finally...

A suspenseful, emotionally charged real-life Sopranos: The son of New York's most notorious Mafia killer reveals the conflicted life he led being raised by a cold-blooded murderer, who was also a devoted family man, and the wrenching legacy of Mafia family life.Al DeMeo will never forget the day in 1992 when a coworker, a fellow trader at the New York Stock Exchange, taunted him with a copy of the hot new book Murder Machine, chronicling the horrific criminal life of DeMeo's father...

The riveting true crime account of the Hillside Stranglers and the horrific serial killings they unleashed on 1970s Los Angeles.For weeks that fall, the body count of sexually violated, brutally murdered young women escalated. With increasing alarm, Los Angeles newspapers headlined the deeds of a serial killer they named the Hillside Strangler. The city was held hostage by fear.But not until January 1979, more than a year later, would the mysterious disappe...

The "powerful and moving" true story of a Long Island family torn apart by drugs, violence, and the unbridgeable divide between generations ( Kirkus Reviews).George Diener, World War II veteran and traveling salesman, and his wife, Carol, had old-fashioned values and ordinary aspirations: a home, a family, the pleasure of watching their two sons grow up. But in February 1972, an unthinkable tragedy occurred in the basement of their Nassau County residence, ...

A Chilling True Story of a Picture-Perfect Family Shattered by Secrets and MurderWhen high school sweethearts Karen and Richard Sharpe married, they shared an interest in medicine, a desire for family, and a dream for the future. But behind the doors of their upscale Massachusetts home, Dr. Sharpe was hiding dark secrets that would ultimately lead to cold-blooded murder.After years of abuse at the hands of her physician husband, Karen put an end to their 26...

The #1 New York Times bestselling true crime author presents "a solid, compelling account of that most vicious of criminals, the random serial killer" ( Library Journal ).Through the 1970s and 80s, a dangerous serial killer stalked Northern California along Interstate 5. Dubbed the I-5 Strangler, Roger Kibbe was incredibly skilled at staying ahead of investigators as his victim count rose. Even after he was iden...