Tag: true crime
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Behold the Monster by Jillian Lauren
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Behold the Monster: A lot of Little. Quick synopsis: The story of Jillian Lauren’s meetings with serial killer Samuel Little. Fact for Non-History People: Samuel Little is most likely the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. Fact for History Nerds: Both Little Richard and Malcolm X are in Little’s family…
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Girls and Their Monsters by Audrey Clare Farley
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Girls and Their Monsters: They got four kids when they deserved none. Quick synopsis: The story of the Genain quadruplets and their horrible lives growing up. Fact for Non-History People: Numbers are fuzzy, but the Genain quadruplets birth (and survival) is about a one in 20 million chance. Fact for History…
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Burn It Down by Maureen Ryan
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Burn It Down: Mo already lit the match. Quick synopsis: A look at the dysfunction of Hollywood and how to fix it. Fact for Non-History People: Female movie stars earnings increase until age 34 and then drop like a rock. Male movie stars peak around 51 and then stay steady after…
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The Angel Makers by Patti McCracken
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Angel Makers: Don’t trust Auntie. Quick synopsis: A true crime story about a poisoning ring in 1920s Hungary. Fun Fact for Non-History People: An old test for finding out if someone was poisoned was combining copper, acid, and a sliver of organ tissue from the victim. If it turned black…
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Ambush at Central Park by Mark Bulik
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Ambush at Central Park: Snitches get….shot in a totally different country. Quick synopsis: The story of the only IRA sanctioned assassination on U.S. soil. Fun Fact for Non-History People: In Cork, Ireland, a favorite activity was called “road bowling” and it involved cannonballs and public streets. Fun Fact for History Nerds:…
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Life Sentence by Mark Bowden
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Life Sentence: “The Wire” is more realistic than we want to admit. Quick synopsis: The life and crimes of Montana “Tana” Barronette in Baltimore. Fact for Non-History People: In 2015 Sandtown, Baltimore, there were 64 murders and only 18 people ended up being charged. Yes, that’s a very bad rate. Fact…
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The Wager by David Grann
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Wager: Maybe the mutineers had a point. Quick synopsis: The story of the shipwreck and mutiny on the HMS Wager. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: If you were the captain of an English ship and it sank, you were automatically given a court martial. Well, assuming you survived. Fun…
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Follow Me to Hell by Tom Clavin
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Follow Me to Hell: They never end up going to hell. Just Texas and Mexico. Quick synopsis: The story of legendary Texas Ranger Leander McNelly. Fun Fact Non-History People Will Like: The Texas Rangers were created in 1823 but wouldn’t actually be called the “Texas Rangers” for two years. Fun Fact…
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Life Sentence by Amy Bell
Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Life Sentence: No good deed goes unpunished. Quick synopsis: The story of how defending two killers ruined a man’s life. Fun Fact for Non-History People: Before the murder of the police officers in this story in 1974, no policeman had been killed on Moncton, Canada since 1892. Fun Fact for History…