The Altar Boys by Suzanne Smith

$34.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Boys with everything to live for ... A community betrayed ... The whistle-blower priest who paid the ultimate price Glen Walsh and Steven Alward were childhood friends in their tight-knit working-class community in Shortland, on the outskirts of Newcastle, New South Wales. Both proud altar boys at the local Catholic church, they went on to attend the city's Catholic boys' highs schools: Glen to Marist Brothers and Steven to St Pius X. Both did well: Steven became a journalist; Glen a priest. But when Glen discovered another priest was sexually abusing boys, he reported the offending to police, breaking Canon Law and his vows to the Catholic 'brotherhood' in the process. Just weeks before he was due to give evidence at a key trial against the highest cleric to ever be charged with covering up child abuse, Father Glen Walsh was dead. Two months later, his friend Steven also died, only weeks before he was to marry the love of his life. Ensuing investigations revealed that at least 60 men in the region had taken their own lives. Why? What had happened, and why were so many from the three Catholic high schools in the area? By six-time Walkley Award-winning investigative reporter Suzanne Smith, The Altar Boys is the powerful expose of widespread and organised clerical abuse of children in an Australian city, and how the cover-up in the Catholic Church in Australia extended from parish priests to every echelon of the organisation. Focusing on two childhood friends, their families and community, this gripping and explosive story is backed by secret documents, diary notes and witness accounts, and details a deliberate church strategy of using psychological warfare against witnesses in key trials involving paedophile priests. ...Show more

Lawyer X by Patrick Carlyon; Anthony Dowsley (As told to)

$34.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

nderbelly meets Molly's Game - the true crime investigation that rewrote the story of Melbourne's infamous gangland war and triggered a royal commission. Melbourne's gangland war was an era dominated by murders, stings, hits, drug busts, corruption and greed - inspiring bestselling books and even a pop ular TV series, Underbelly. It took the police a decade to curtail the violence and bring down criminal kingpins Carl Williams, Tony Mokbel and their accomplices. When the police finally closed the case file, just how they really won the war, with the help of an unlikely police informer, would become a closely guarded secret and its exposure, the biggest legal scandal of our time. Lawyer X is the scandalous, true story of how a promising defence barrister from a privileged background broke all the rules - becoming both police informer and her client's lover - sharing their secrets and shaping the gangland war that led to sensational arrests and convictions. The story of how Nicola Gobbo became Lawyer X, and why, is a compelling study in desperation and determination. Lawyer X is the definitive story of Melbourne's gangland wars and its most glamorous and compelling central character, based on the ground-breaking work of investigative journalists Anthony Dowsley and Patrick Carlyon, who broke the story for the Herald Sun in 2014, and their five-year struggle to reveal the truth about the identity of Lawyer X. ...Show more

CORINNA by SHEEHAN ROBERT

$29.95 AUD

Category: True Crime

Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow

$24.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

In this instant New York Times bestselling 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 Rona n 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 they could not explain -- 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 our culture. ...Show more

I Catch Killers by Jubelin, Gary

$34.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Serial killings, child abductions, organised crime hits and domestic murders. This is the memoir of a homicide detective. Here I am: tall and broad, shaved head, had my nose broken three times fighting. Black suit, white shirt, the big city homicide detective. I've led investigations into serial killing s, child abductions, organised crime hits and domestic murders. But beneath the suit, I've got an Om symbol in the shape of a Buddha tattooed on my right bicep. It balances the tattoo on my left ribs: Better to die on your feet than live on your knees. That's how I choose to live my life.As a cop, I got paid to catch killers and I learned what doing it can cost you. It cost me marriages and friendships. It cost me my reputation. They tell you not to let a case get personal, but I think it has to. Each one has taken a piece out of me and added a piece, until there's only pieces. I catch killers - it's what I do. It's who I am.Gary Jubelin was one of Australia's most celebrated homicide detective, leading investigations into the disappearance of William Tyrrell, the serial killing of three Aboriginal children in Bowraville and the brutal gangland murder of Terry Falconer. During his 34-year career, former Detective Chief Inspector Jubelin also ran the crime scene following the Lindt Cafe siege, investigated the death of Caroline Byrne and recovered the body of Matthew Leveson. In 2020, Jubelin was found guilty of illicitly recording conversations during the Tyrrell investigation. This is his story. ...Show more

Son of Escobar: First Born by Roberto Sendoya Escobar

$29.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Pablo Escobar was the most notorious drug lord the world has ever seen. He became one of the ten richest men on the planet and controlled 80 per cent of the global cocaine trade before he was shot dead in 1993. This is the long-awaited autobiography of his eldest son, Roberto Sendoya Escobar. His story opens with two helicopter gunships, filled with heavily armed Colombian Special forces personnel led by an MI6 agent, flying into a small village on the outskirts of Bogota in Colombia. The secret mission to recover a stolen cash hoard, culminates in a bloody shoot-out with a group of young Pablo Escobar’s violent gangsters. Several of the men escape, including the young Escobar.As the dust settles in the house, only a little baby is left alive. His distressing cries can be heard as his young mother lies dead beside him. That baby is the author, Roberto Sendoya Escobar. In a bizarre twist of fate, the top MI6 agent who led the mission, takes pity on the child and, eventually, ends up adopting him.Over the years, during his rise to prominence as the most powerful drug lord the world has ever known, Pablo Escobar tries, repeatedly, to kidnap his son. Flanked by his trusty bodyguards, the child, unaware of his true identity, is allowed regular meetings with Escobar and it becomes apparent that the British government is working covertly with the gangster in an attempt to control the money laundering and drug trades.Life becomes so dangerous, however, that the author is packed off from the family mansion in Bogota to an English public school. Many years later in England, as Roberto’s adopted father lies dying in hospital, he hands his son a coded piece of paper which, he says, reveals the secret hiding place of the 'Escobar Missing millions' the world has been searching for! ...Show more

The Case of the Vanishing Blonde by Mark Bowden

$29.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

From Mark Bowden, a 'master of narrative journalism' (New York Times), comes a true crime collection both deeply chilling and impossible to put down.

The Crooked Coast 26 Years from the Desert to Corruption City by Lawrence R. Rivett

$25.00 AUD

Category: True Crime

This story is about exposing the corruption that is rampant in Australia. As I prove in the book, everybody has their price. This story shows Australia to be a very violent country even today and tells how the gangs in the cities and the country can plot your downfall and how the establishments play the ir part to bring it about (read all about how they are more rotting to the core the further up the tree you go). I can prove a certain state in Australia has no law, only gangland law. The story rolls on from the deserts of Australia from an early career supplying the meat trade. This part will appeal to rural Australia to starting a small business in the city to the best state to live in and gold, prospecting also my experiences with Australia's allusive black panthers, which I have given my opinions and some evidence while I lived amongst them. When I was prospecting in Australia, I had a lot of evidence of corruption in Australia. I also offered my opinions on a lot of issues, photos of lots of gold nuggets, and suggestions on how to drive correctly and reduce the road toll, as well as suggestions on how to keep the coppers off the individual's back (lone men). A must read for even those on the inside and the majority who are on the outside. Also read about my harrowing experiences with Australia's black panthers and how I am looking forward to more of them through to final eventual discovery of the animal. ...Show more

Australia's Toughest Prisons Inmates by James Phelps

$22.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Porky Pig' stalks the yard, snorting and grunting as he stares down the prison guard.'Whatcha looking at,' yells Martin Bryant, Australia?s worst serial killer.The guard stays silent. Says nothing. He simply takes one step towards the monster, now fat, bald and broken.'Leave me alone,' he screams.He the n runs to the corner of the yard where he crouches, cowers, and calls for help like the coward he is.Bryant - who killed 35 people and injured another 23 at Port Arthur in 1996 - is a 160 kg slob who trades Mars Bars for protection in Risdon Prison. Nineteen years after Australia?s worst massacre, his blond hair is gone, and so is his self-righteous smirk . . . but he is as evil as ever. Bryant has attacked several jail workers and has showed no remorse for the crimes that shook the nation. He is just one of the killers you will meet inAustralia's Toughest Prisons- Inmates.You will hear from the inmate who almost escaped from Silverwater Jail in a stolen helicopter, from the rugby league player who almost became a drug mule, from the bikie boss who ran a million-dollar jail drug trade, from the founding Brothers 4 Life members on how the violent gang ran a crime empire from within jail and from the men that watched Carl Williams beaten to death inside Victoria's most secure jail.The secret lives of Australia?s most evil men will be revealed for the first time, with Inmatesgoing on the record to talk about killers like Bryant, Ivan Milat, Neddy Smith, Carl Williams, Mark 'Chopper' Read, Michael Kanaan and Lindsay Robert Rose.Award-winning author and journalist James Phelps reveals the horror of life inside Australia?s most notorious jails including Grafton, Pentridge, Minda, Risdon, Silverwater, Bathurst and Lithgow. ...Show more

The Dirty Dozen - The Real Story of the Rise and Fall of London's Most Feared Armed Robbery Gang by Noel Razor Smith

$22.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

The true story of London's most prolific armed robbery gang.

Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee

$29.99 AUD

Category: True Crime

Damien Cave: (New York Times bureau chief in Sydney & friend of Bookoccino) "This debut from a former Queensland judge's associate breaks the silence around sexual assault and all the ways Australia's court system tries to silence victims. If you're wondering why Australia's #metoo movement hasn't gained more momentum, this memoir will add some clarity."   A well-established legal doctrine that a defendant must 'take their victim as they find them'. If a single punch kills someone because of their thin skull, that victim's weakness cannot mitigate the seriousness of the crime. But what if it also works the other way? What if a defendant on trial for sexual crimes has to accept his 'victim' as she comes: a strong, determined accuser who knows the legal system, who will not back down until justice is done? Bri Lee began her first day of work at the Queensland District Court as a bright-eyed judge's associate. Two years later she was back as the complainant in her own case. This is the story of Bri's journey through the Australian legal system; first as the daughter of a policeman, then as a law student, and finally as a judge's associate in both metropolitan and regional Queensland-where justice can look very different, especially for women. The injustice Bri witnessed, mourned and raged over every day finally forced her to confront her own personal history, one she'd vowed never to tell. And this is how, after years of struggle, she found herself on the other side of the courtroom, telling her story. Bri Lee has written a fierce and eloquent memoir that addresses both her own reckoning with the past as well as with the stories around her, to speak the truth with wit, empathy and unflinching courage. Eggshell Skull is a haunting appraisal of modern Australia from a new and essential voice.  ...Show more

Police Stories by Vikki Petraitis

$16.99 AUD

Category: True Crime