Tag: true crime
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The Botched Hunt for the Gilgo Beach Killer
How corrupt and small-minded cops in New York let a serial killer run loose for over a decade: This summer, after 13 years, the police finally made an arrest in the Gilgo Beach murders. Rex Heuermann is a 59-year-old architect and married father of two who commuted to Manhattan from his home in Massapequa Park, a bustling…
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The Executioner’s Song by Norman Mailer
This was, as advertised, the fastest 1,000 pages I’ve ever read. It was a lot more than that too. I didn’t know anything about this story going in. I didn’t even seek this out. I was browsing a bookstore and it was thick, I knew Mailer’s name (and had read nothing by him), and it…
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A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan
This is a riveting story that I knew nothing about. Part shocking history of the KKK in the 1920’s midwest, part Criminal Minds-style crime story, part legal drama. It’s fantastic as all three, and kind of even works as commentary on today’s politics, without ever claiming to be. Egan is a great writer, the story…
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Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York by Elon Green
Excellent book. Green chose to focus on humanizing the victims and bringing context to an otherwise grim story. It shares some air with Missing from the Village, in that the homophobia built into the system worked to delay and weaken the investigation (Toronto Police even have an unexpected guest appearance in this story). The book feels…