True Crime Books

Mostly easy to understand info even for a beginner, but be aware that most of the information is academic as it is 10+ years old. These mods are not possible on digital microprosser driven equipment. The section on antennae is very good and accurate.

excellent product very satisfied with this book and also with amazon for a speedy delivery.

Mr. Pickard has obviously spent a lot of time and research to pick up the best Scanner and antenna mods available. Now, You might say "Why Buy the book, I can find these mods on line free". I have a junk pile of burned up radios and scanners I'll sell you if you believe that to be the case. I have literally burned up scores of radios following "On line" advice. The Most recent was almost an expensive 10 meter Radio, something kept saying to me "This isn't right" so I stopped and drew out the circuit myself.. Bingo.. I had almost torched this baby.

You won't have that problem with Jerry's book, his designs and mods are based on sound, proven mods and practices on the more popular scanners of our time. He has good color photos, and walks you through each mod step by step. He gives you a list of tools needed and how to use them.

I personally enjoyed the section on antennas. Antennas are an often overlooked part of radios, which are probably more crucial than the radio itself! Jerry covers many antenna types, as well as "Stealth Antennas". His Stealth antenna may be worth the price of the book alone if you are ever in a situation where you NEED an antenna but fear discovery. This book is Solid, well written, entertaining and provides the novice hobbyist a chance to learn new skills and techniques. Beginner or Pro, it doesn't matter, you'll enjoy this book!

This book is too much basic and elementary. The language is poor and little pleasant to read. The scanner mods are very explicit, but you can find similar on the net, with same results. The graphics are very poor, with bad resolution (sounds like a dratf). The topic about antennas is a little more interesting, but it provides little help with decimal system, because all formulas use inches and no convesion tips are provided. It's really a VEEEERY introdutory scanner book. You can find better information on the Internet. I didn't like it.

This book contains everything you would ever want to know about the St Louis underworld in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I found numerous typos and misprints that reflected an absence of good editing..a somewhat distracting feature to an otherwise interesting account.

Wow, what an fantastic book on the history of the gangs in St. Louis, starting in the late 1800's. I grew up in St. Louis and lived there for 46 years and I had no idea about the gangs and how they ran the city of St. Louis. Many generations of my family lived in St. Louis and I suspect one or two may have been a gang member. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in St. Louis history.

"Egan's Rats- the Untold Story of the Prohibition-era Gang that Ruled St. Louis" fills a void in the American gangster history record. The lion's share of the subject coverage has traditionally gone to Chicago and New York, because they gave us Al Capone and Murder Inc. The macabre celebrity that these gangland figures achieved eclipsed the lives and crimes of the men who made St. Louis a shooting gallery for decades.

Daniel Waugh opens the book with the 1943 murder of William "Dint" Colbeck, who took over Egan's Rats after Willie Egan was gunned down in 1921. Colbeck's death signals the end of an era in the St. Louis underworld, which produced vicious gangsters and crafty politicians who made a mockery of law and order. Waugh then regresses to the 1890s, when Egan's Rats was in its embryonic state as the Ashley Street Gang. Pages and bodies pile up as the author excavates and details long-forgotten robberies, murders, and scandals that the Rats either instigated or were somehow connected to. Some of the anecdotes that Waugh uncovered were positively chilling- after Rat gunman 'Chippy' Robinson murdered stock trader Joe Powderly, he and a confederate put the corpse in the passenger seat of their car and drove around town, putting it through mini-adventures a la "Weekend at Bernie's".

The Rats got little press coverage outside their home town, except for two noted instances: the first was when ex-Rat Ray Renard beat Joe Valachi to the punch and sold out his former comrades, and the second was when suspected St. Valentine's Day Massacre gunman Fred 'Killer' Burke was arrested. Burke was associated with Egan's Rats long enough to merit their inclusion in the news stories that accompanied his capture.

Waugh tells the story chronology style, and is broad in his approach to his subject, which might distract readers who are used to histories being told from the perspective of only a few major players. But seeing that St. Louis gangster history is such uncharted territory, a concise treatment would not have done it justice. Tom and Willie Egan, Thomas "Snake" Kinney and his brother Mike, Jelly Roll Hogan, Harry "Cherries" and John "Pudgy" Dunn, they're all here, and their individual stories form the foundation for a groundbreaking work of crime history.

Reviewed by Leslie Granier for Reader Views (8/07)

"Egan's Rats" is a novel that will delight history lovers and anyone who is interested in the roots of gangster activity in St. Louis. This book chronicles the actions of a group known as Egan's Rats (so named for Tom Egan who was their original leader) as well as a few lesser competitors who attempted to gain some of the power held by the Egan gang.
The accounts cover the time span of the late 1800s through the times of Al Capone, probably the most famous gangster ever.

Daniel Waugh provides a very detailed and specific record of the criminal activities that were prevalent in this time, such as bootlegging, bank heists and kidnapping. The widespread political corruption that existed during this period and its connection to the gangs was examined.

I found it interesting that although the police often knew who had committed particular crimes, the accused were often released due to lack of evidence or were acquitted after a trial. In fact, the gangs themselves internally did more to eliminate their own members than did law enforcement or rival gangs. It was surprising to learn that the Rats in the beginning were not particularly a violent pack towards the public as most gangsters are portrayed on television and in the movies. They actually often left their victims unharmed as long as they were cooperative.

I enjoyed learning about some of the colorful nicknames that were given to the gang members. I also appreciated the section at the end of the book that discussed what became of several of the central figures after the gangs were all but disbanded. At times during this narrative, I felt the author spent too much time listing the names of gang members who were really minor players in these escapades, making it difficult for the reader to remember with which side the person was affiliated.

I believe it would have been better to focus on a few major figures. "Egan's Rats" provides a thorough and well-written history of gang activity in the Midwest and its impact on the population during the time of prohibition. It also offers a comprehensive review of the major players in the underground crime world. The interesting facts and background stories provide an enjoyable reading experience.

The Egan's Rats were a legendary force to be reckoned with at the early part of the 20th Century in St. Louis. Had they been active in, say, New York City, you would have already had many organized-crime history books written about them. But since they hailed from the heartland of America, gangster historians (for the most part) ignored their escapades for bigger game. If not for the outstanding researching and writing skills of author and historian Daniel Waugh, their true, complete history would probably have remained buried in the past. This book blows open the truth in chilling detail about the most powerful criminal organization ever to strut its stuff on the streets of the Gateway City.

You'll read about the Egan brothers, Snake Kinney, and Dint Colbeck, the dominating leaders of this mega-gang from the early 1890s to the mid-1920s. You'll read about the politicians that first put them on their payroll and later protected their rackets in return for muscling out the votes at election time. You'll read about homicidal maniacs like Chippy Robinson, who probably killed more people than most Murder Incorporated hitmen.

The Egan's Rats rose to power on the backs of politicians and the blood of others, and their downfall lay at the feet of its leaders' quest for the quick, easy buck and the testimony of a turncoat who could have taught Joe Valachi a thing or two about how to be an effective cooperating witness.

This is by far the best book written about organized crime this year (and perhaps in the past several years), and this book will be the defining backbone to any future books written about the history of the underworld in St. Louis.

"Frank Nitti" (The True Story of Chicago's Notorious "Enforcer") by Ronald D. Humble is a superb and clinically crafted literary trail in persuit of historical footsteps from the notorious and infamous "Frank Nitti." Nitti was the successor of Al Capone's Chicago apparatus, a position he subsequently held from about 1931 until his death in 1942.

The author's research points to the fact that Nitti's illegal interests and cladestine ventures went far deeper into the dark abyss of the underworld than Capone ever dreamed of! No one was exempt from his vendeta...including the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak. Nitti's influence even cast it's dark shadow into the 60's some 20 (+) years after his death in the name of one, Jack Ruby (et al).

Despite the fact that the author is a Specialist on International Security and Intelligence, one begins to feel that he may even start to sympathize with this master criminal about whom he writes.

Frank Nitti's complex personality is somewhere between Machiavelli, Joseph Stalin, and Heinirich Himmler...all rolled into one.

Sometimes however, the reader feels that he/she may be reading exerts from some Government Agent's legal manual on Organized Crime yet...tactfully combined with extensive historical layering of the Cosa Nostra and "Gangsterism".

A well formatted and informative biographical piece with more than enough resource material for anyone interested in contemporary American Social History. Well worth the price!

It's too bad that I had to give this book one star because my choice would have been none. While author Ronald Humble appears to be a thorough researcher he clearly is not a writer. This book just rambles with no direction whatsoever. As an example the author spends an entire chapter on the JFK assassination even though Frank Nitti had nothing to do with it. Nitti had committed suicide or was murdered (Humble never makes the reason for Nitti's death clear although he does like to make guesses) a scant twenty years before the JFK Killing. Humble also likes to name names as he repeats names incessantly throughout the book. At one point Humble chooses to name every single person that he believes Nitti may have murdered (Or had murdered) rather than just telling the reader the number of possible victims. The reader is bludgeoned with an information overload that is not put into any sort of workable order. The book does have one good point: It is certainly a cure for insomnia.

Anyone with even just a passing interest in true crime in general or organized crime in particular will find this a worthy investment. It's the detailed and well-sourced account of Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, who was Al Capone's consigliere and underboss and who took control of the Chicago "Outfit" in 1931, when Capone was convicted and imprisoned for ten years for income-tax evasion.

Just a couple of years before that, Nitti masterminded the St. Valentine's Day Massacre when members of the "Outfit" disguised as Chicago police and detectives mowed down seven members of George Moran's North Side Gang. When the killers emerged from the scene, two of them had their hands in the air and the other two followed with machine guns at their backs; they escaped in what looked like a police squad car. You might say it was a pretty well planned operation.

Author Ronald Humble provides an alternative interpretation of the events underpinning the murder of Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in Miami, Florida, which is usually viewed as a failed attempt on the life of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. Humble lays out persuasive evidence that the mayor, not the future president, was the intended target, as payback for an unsuccessful attempt on Nitti's life--instigated by Cermak--just two months prior.

Particularly interesting to this reviewer are the parallels drawn between Giuseppe Zangara, who was executed for the Cermak assassination, and Lee Oswald the accused assassin of President John Kennedy.

Nitti eventually killed himself (or so it seems) in 1943, because he couldn't face returning to prison, along with other senior members of the Outfit, on racketeering and mail-fraud charges related to extortion in Hollywood. Whether suicide or homicide, Nitti met his maker as a direct or indirect result of over-reaching himself, despite his cunning and high intelligence, an interesting reflection of the human condition.

Although "Frank Nitti" is a name well known in popular culture, chiefly as a result of inclusion of the character in "The Untouchables" television series and Hollywood movies, Humble provides the real scoop: little of what we've seen on the small or big screen accurately reflects the man, his motives or his deeds. If you think you already know Frank Nitti, probably you still need to read this book.

Appendices provide a useful chronology of the main events in Nitti's life and a detailed organizational structure of the Outfit during the years it was controlled by the Enforcer. There's also a comprehensive index.

Highly recommended.

Far too little research has previously been available about Frank Nitti, Capone's "Enforcer" and the public face of the Chicago Outfit after Capone was sent to prison, but anyone with an interest needs look no further than this book. Ron Humble, in what can only be described as an amazing researched book, has brought Frank Nitti back to life within these pages and has revealed the complex and contradictory gangster in a way that no other writer has ever been able to do. This is a highly readable (although filled with great detail) book that no one with a serious interest in the Chicago gangland era should be without. Don't miss this one!

Author Ronald Humble mentions a number of things I wasn't aware of prior to reading this book on Frank Nitti. Humble mentions that Nitti was likely responsible for the hit on Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak in retaliation for Cermak's sending two men to eliminate Nitti. Giuseppe Zangara was chosen by the mob to assassinate Cermak because Zangara was in debt to the mob, and if he didn't carry out the hit he and his family would suffer torture and death. If Zangara did as the mob ordered, the mob would see that Zangara's family was taken care of in a positive way. Author Humble draws comparisons between the assassinations of Mayor Cermak and President John Kennedy. Zangara and Lee Oswald were both expendable. Zangara was quickly eliminated through execution, and didn't dare express what he knew due to concern for his family. Oswald was quickly eliminated by Jack Ruby. Author Humble also states Nitti was likely in on the rub out of despised enemy Machine Gun Jack McGurn, and north sider Hymie Weiss. The author wonders whether Nitti's death was a suicide or was he a victim of foul play. I would stick with a suicide due to his reluctance to return to prison. Finally the author spends quite a bit of time on Nitti as he was portrayed on television and in the movies showing how much coverage he was given in this area. When the author isn't sure about events in Nitti's life he makes sure to point that out. I found the book very worth while and one that should interest those who enjoy mob-related books.

I have reviewed this book with chilling reminders of the dysfunctional issues in my own family. I have also had the deeply moving experience of talking to the author directly. It was a chance meeting without any knowledge that she had just recently written this book. We were both just waiting for a seat at a local restaurant. We got into a cordial conversation, and the topic of her new book came into the discussion. I was interested as I have had a rather traumatic childhood of my own (my mother's father put his pregnent wife into a mental institution so that he could get rid of her and marry the household maid. He had a second family which caused further complications. However, the fact that my mother was left to be born in a mental institution left her with emotional scars that never completely healed).

I know that virtually every family has some sort of "skeleton in the closet". However, some "skeletons" are far worse than others. Also, some individuals are better able to set their adversities aside. However, the cumulative affects of this author's life experiences have had a most devastating impact on her, It is a classic example of post traumatic stress syndrome. I know from personal experience the hell that I went through before I finally came to some understanding about why my mother acted the way she did about life. The kinds of events that we are talking about here are very personal and emotionally overpowering.

The need to release all of these pent up emotional feelings is the root cause to write this book. I understand what a cathartic effect this can bring for the author. It may not be the most moving book for some, and it may be rather embarrassing to other members of the family. However, it is a very necessary event to put this down in writing in the emotional trip to come to terms with these horrible truths.

I don't speak as a so called "expert" on the subject, but as one who has personally experienced a horrible background in my own family.

Bruce Desoe , Mount Dora FL

This book revealed nothing about the father's killings. It was poorly written, childish, and as a whole totally incredible and disappointing. I would give it a zero. So many other true crime based - pychological impact stories... don't waste your time on this one.

There seems to be no fact in this book, just the disjointed rather foggy ramblings of an apparent narcissistic, spoiled, bitter woman who had issues with her father and thought this to be the best way of getting "back" at him. This woman appears to have unresolved resentments with her parents but offers no facts to the things she says about her family. Very suspect!

The story is horiffing and its amazing that she survived. I give her much credit for sitting down and having the courage to wirte her tale. But I tottaly agree with the first review. I got the 6th chapter and I couldn't even read it anymore. She is all over the place, and says the same things over and over again. Also the book is not in clear chronological order. One second she's 10 and running away from home, and the next paragraph she's 6 in a playground. Its very hard to follow.

I was so looking forward to reading this woman's story after seeing her on TV: this book was a HUGE letdown. I am wondering if she even had an editor, it was so disjointed and repetitive. I don't think I've ever read a book quite so poorly written. DO NOT waste your time or money.

Pat Downey has surpassed himself with this fascinating rogue's gallery of urban banditry in the 1920-40 period. It's a natural followup to his first book but with a far more varied, violent, and often kooky cast of gunmen, molls, thieves, and general nogoodniks than the early day mobsters who populated Gangster City. The deadly escapades of "Two-Gun" Crowley, Cecelia "The Bobbed-Haired Bandit" Cooney, Gerald Chapman, Reese Whittemore, "Cowboy" Tessler, sexy extortionist Vivian Gordon, the Arsenal Gang, "Mad Dog" Coll's deadly widow, losers like the other Diamond brothers and the Oberst Gang, and many more show that it wasn't only bootleg gangs who made the '20s roar, and makes for lively and entertaining reading besides. It's like the Wild West transplanted to the Big Apple. "Crime in the streets" today seems pale in comparison to the Golden Age of Gotham Gangdom, when drive-by shootings took a back seat to bank and armored car heists.

As he did with his previous volume, "Gangster City", Pat Downey has gone off the beaten path of the Big Apple's Prohibition and Depression era histories in favor of reviving and recounting the antics of the bandits, bootleggers, and killers whom most authors overlook in favor of Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and Murder Inc. "Bad Seeds" plunges into the shadows of time and casts a searching and compelling light over blackmail queen Vivian Gordon, jewel thief Richard Reese Whittemore, and the botched Tombs prison break of 1926, to name a few.

What's so ironic is that during the period that "Bad Seeds" encompasses, Downey's roguish subjects beat out the gangsters for the NYC newspaper headlines. I suspect that this is because the New York press didn't want to give the impression that gang rule was as deeply entrenched in their city as it was in Chicago. They concentrated instead on the gun-happy nuisances who ultimately faced justice, implying that crime conditions were under control on their turf.

"Bad Seeds in the Big Apple", like its predecessor "Gangster City", is a fast and fun ride through two of New York City's wildest decades. Reading it was a pleasure, and writing the forward for it was an honor.

I thought that Patrick Downey had just about covered it all in "Gangster City." I'm pleased to say I was wrong. In this, his latest, effort, Mr. Downey provides us with a detailed, colorful history of "bandits, killers, and chaos in New York City, 1920 - 1940." I've always considered myself reasonably knowledgeable regarding the New York City underworld, especially during Prohibition, but I am frank to admit that there was much in these pages even I didn't know. For instance, many years ago, while perusing the New York City newspaper archives in researching a certain project, I came upon a second-rate hoodlum named Enrico Battaglia, whom then Police Commissioner Mulrooney described as "a known member of the old Ryan gang of Harlem." Okay, fine. But who was this Ryan? Thanks to this book, I learned that the Commissioner was referring to Edward "Snakes" Ryan, who in the late Twenties enjoyed his brief fifteen minutes of fame (or should I say infamy?) when he and a pal, James Nannery, escaped from Sing Sing and later became suspects in the cold-blooded assassination of a New York City policeman, shotgunned while guarding a prisoner at Fordham Hospital. The same holds true for the Flanagan brothers, scarcely touched upon in a book written by former New York City Police Captain Cornelius Willemse, but recorded in great detail here. Excellent chapters also on Leonard Scarnici, Roy Sloane, "Two Gun" Crowley, and many others. In my estimation, when it comes to knowing all there is to know about the New York underworld during the first half of the twentieth century, Patrick Downey takes a back seat to no one. The bottom line is, if you liked "Gangster City," you're sure to enjoy "Bad Seeds in the Big Apple."

Amazing book of New York's little known stick up men and bandits. There all here, from the famous Gerald Chapman and Two gun Crowley, to the little known Cooneys, a husband and wife stick up team who robbed at gunpoint to give their child to be a better life. Some may have had legit gripes for becoming criminals, but some were just plain bad. Mr. Downey's accumulated research has weeded out these criminal facts of years gone by. These were some big headlines back in the twenties, but quickly overshdowed by the gangster headlines of the 30's. Some would even have remained lost to history, if not for his due dilligence in saving and turning it into this fine book of NewYork criminal factoids and side stories. Loved the back end of the book with it's "Dishonorable Mention" section of equally interesting side notes of other criminal escapades. Neat photo section. Highly recommended reading. Get the book, sit on your balcony, crack open a cool one and enjoy some of New Yawk's little known and forgotten criminal past!

This 7 yr old girl who always asks for a tongue twister when we talk was absolutely thrilled to receive this as part of her birthday present. Every letter of the alphabet has its own page of as many as 7 or 8 tongue twisters along with illustrations. I was very happy with this selection and can recommend it for the average-to-above-average 7 year old or older who really likes to giggle!

I see some complaints about whether everything Donald Gaskins said was true. That's not the point. The book really let's you get a feel for this person. Much more so in certain repects, than any other criminal I have read about. Colin Wilson suffered a psychotic breakdown as a result of listening to Gaskins and was temporarily hospitalized.

This book is a good read ( i finished it in a day ) but i just have some trouble beliving some of Pee Wee's stories - he even states himself that he has told several versions of the stories -so why should i believe without doubt that this book is "the truth"? ... from reading profiling books on serial killers - you find that these killers may change up the way they kill / despose of their bodies - to make an improvement - but gaskins has 2 ways of killing people and he bounces back and forth between them -- doesn't make much sense ...
at the end of his book he lets the readers know that he wanted to become famous - but, he and his crimes really aren't known outside of the southeast ... i'm not saying he didn't kill a lot of people, i'm not saying he didn't torture them ... i'm just having a little trouble beliving mr gaskins versions, i just get the feeling that he is admiting to more, for one last attempt to in his words "be famous" ... he even mentions that back when hurricane hugo hit the grand strand, that there were reports of bodies (remains) being found, but it was reported that those were from graveyards .... i believe that to be true because, gaskins said that he "sank" his victims, with big chains, etc., and sank their belongings, he also says that when he felt he was about to be caught he took all of the tools he used for his killings and all the chains he had left and sank that to the bottom of the marshlands in horry and georgetown counties ... when hugo came through -- this is a definate time that things would have been brought up from their watery grave ... but no reoprts of the 30 plus chains, and other tools have been documented

As someone who lives in Sumter, SC I've heard a good bit about Pee Wee Gaskins. He actually used to live in a house right down the street from where I sit now. In any case, I have talked with people who are friends and who actually knew Pee Wee back when he hung around places like The Neck, (which by the way was 100% described accurately in the book..... it was a ROUGH place where the cops would NOT venture into) and they described him as a 'nice guy' but one that you would definitely not want to cross. He was known for a hot temper and my friend said that there were bodies that people would never find left from Pee Wee (I trust my friend on this one.... he was involved in a lot of things back then before he got his act together.)

If you are reading this for a glimpse into a serial killer's mind then this is an excellent book. There were parts that made me cringe, especially since my best friends can remember some of the incidents (missing persons) when they took place (I was too young then). It adds a frightening touch to think that I drive by places everyday where it is rumored that he had buried bodies.

For those who have 'researched' and hold the belief that Pee Wee lied about all of this and was only seeking to be more 'famous', I'd like to remind everyone that the deal was made with the author that this book would NOT come out until after his execution and that he received NO funds whatsoever (nor did his family) for releasing this book. I feel that if he only did it for 'attention' that he would have wanted it released before he died. And after talking to people whom I trust who could tell me about his personality and demeanor, I firmly believe that 90% of the book at least is true (everyone embellishes after all... so I'll leave 10% for that).

All in all, a GREAT but sad look into the life and mind of this murderer.

I first heard the name "Pee Wee Gaskins" in 1994. My new boss and I were traveling through the upstate part of SC to pick up a company car. We were discussings things unrelated to work and getting to know each other. When he asked if I enjoyed reading, I told him I enjoyed reading books about true crime, serial killers in particular. At that time, he told me I should get the book "Final Truth". I did.

After reading the book (which I found somewhat disturbing because of the details yet refreshing for the truths told about the corruption in the "justice system") I began traveling extensively through rural SC for work. After visiting that particular part of the state, I found it quite believable that Gaskins could have commited all the murders stated in Final Truth. There are rural parts of the state where there isn't so much as a house or gas staion for literally miles.

Not having actually known anyone who knew Gaskins, I took this book at face value. While it may be true that Gaskins wanted "notoriety" like Bundy or Dahmer, I actually got from the book he was telling the truth.

There are a few questions I have always wanted to ask ANYONE who knew Gaskins. I have actually talked with people from Sumter, Florence and that area in general but only people who "knew of" Gaskins and his crimes.

Did the police ever search the areas where he claimed to have buried his "coastal killing" victims?

Has anyone ever seen any of the "artwork" that he supposedly taced, signed and sold from death row?

Gaskins spoke of a "writer" that wrote a book (I'm assuming) about him which was filled with lies about his wives and children. Does anyone know what he is talikng about? The only other book I can think of that Gaskins was referring to was titled "Slaughter in Carolina". I have not read this book but am looking for it. He calims in Final Truth this libelous book or story was written by a woman and a woman wrote "Slaughter In Carolina" (I finally found this book and have written a review of it as well as scanned an image)

I never got from the book that Gaskins was an abused by his mother. In fact, he claims the only abuse at home was from his step father and that was just an occasional slapping (no type of sexual rape is discussed in the book at the hands of his step father). I believe the gang rapes discussed by Gaskins at reform school and prison are probably accurate.

If anyone would like to discuss this, please email me at pumpkins2002@comcast.net

This autobiography by serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins is brought to you by the apparently easily-duped co-author, journalist Wilton Earle. Gaskins' justifications and distortions are passed along with little examination or challenge, and probably bear small resemblance to the facts.