Showing titles in Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions

At 5:02 p.m. on June 5, 1986, an emergency call came into the local sheriff’s office in the small town of Auburn, Washington State. A distressed housewife, Stella Nickell, said her husband, Bruce, was having a seizure. Officers rushed to the Nickells' mobile home to find Stella standing frozen at the door…. Bruce was on the floor fighting for his life.

When Lt. Commander Bobby Thompson surfaced in Tampa in 1998, it was as if he had fallen from the sky, providing no hint of his past life. Eleven years later, St. Petersburg Times investigative reporter Jeff Testerman visited the rundown duplex Thompson used as his home and the epicenter of his sixty-thousand-member charity, the US Navy Veterans Association. But something was amiss. Thompson’s charity’s addresses were just maildrops, his members nonexistent, and his past a black hole. 

A Pulitzer Prize finalist's bizarre journalistic journey through the world of fringe medicine, filled with leeches, baking soda IVs, and, according to at least one person, zombies. It's no secret that American health care has become too costly and politicized to help everyone. So where do you...

A Hollywood starlet on a smash-hit sitcom enjoys rising fame, unaware that her greatest fan is hell-bent on meeting his crush. A gameshow winner turns to writing books. When one is given a scathing review, he tracks down the reviewer with bloody results. Men keep turning up at a newlywed's home convinced that she has placed a Craigslist ad for a rough fantasy roleplay. Stalkers takes you into the twisted world of cyberstalking, catfishing, rejected suitors, jealous exes, and celebrity stalkers, and the devastating impact their obsessions can have on their victims.

Bei einer Razzia in Stockholm wird zwischen Waffen und Drogen ein wertvolles Gemälde gefunden. Stammt es tatsächlich von dem russischen Künstler Ivan Botkin? Kunstdozentin Nea Hallgren wird von der Polizei gebeten, das Gemälde auf seine Echtheit zu überprüfen. Doch sie hat ganz andere Probleme: Ihr Mann Johan hat hohe Spielschulden, und seine Geldgeber schrecken nicht davor zurück, Gewalt anzuwenden, um einzutreiben, was ihnen zusteht. Nea will ihre Familie unter allen Umständen beschützen – und dafür braucht sie Geld.

Was ist Kunst? Fenster zur Welt und Spiegel der Seele oder doch nur ein Rätselbild, in dem man "Original" und "Fälschung" unterscheidet? In "Spitzweg" lernt der Erzähler durch den exzentrischen Carl, der kurz vor dem Abitur neu an seine Schule kommt, wie sich Kunst als Daseinsform begreifen lässt. Der Erzähler ist nicht nur von Carl fasziniert, sondern auch von seiner ebenso geheimnisvollen wie intelligenten Mitschülerin Kirsten.

Carolyn Woods lebte glücklich in einem ruhigen Dorf in den Cotswolds, als plötzlich ein attraktiver Fremder in ihr Leben trat. Er stellte sich als Mark Conway vor, und zu ihrer Überraschung war Carolyn schnell von diesem mysteriösen Mann fasziniert. Der reiche Schweizer Bankier (der später gestand, ein Spion zu sein) nahm Carolyn mit in eine aufregende, glamouröse Welt. Einige Dinge jedoch waren seltsam, und sie begann, ihren Liebhaber zu hinterfragen.

The last man I dated... ended up dead. Jen is a normal, single woman living in a big city. By day, she's a receptionist and by night, she goes on dates. Lots of dates. Because Jen knows if she is going to find true love, it's a numbers game. All of Jen's dates end with the same crushing sense of...

Im Jahr 2019 beginnt der erfahrene Journalist Mark Seal, den verdächtigen Tod des Musikmoguls Peter Ikin zu untersuchen. Dieser hatte nur zweiunddreißig Tage vor seinem Tod einen gut aussehenden, eleganten Franzosen namens Alexandre geheiratet, der nun Ansprüche auf das Vermögen seines verstorbenen Mannes geltend machen will. Als Seal sich in den Fall vertieft, führt ihn die Spurensuche nach dem unglaublichen Leben von Alexandre Despallières von Paris über London bis nach Beverly Hills.

By the age of nine, I will have lived in more than a dozen countries, on five continents, under six assumed identities. I’ll know how a document is forged, how to withstand an interrogation, and most important, how to disappear . . . To the young Cheryl Diamond, life felt like one big...

Våren 1987 inkommer ett brev till Sveriges ambassad i London som genast väcker personalens intresse och sympatier. I brevet beskriver ett äldre brittiskt par hur de lurats av en svensk baron, som lovat dem ett arbete som inte existerade i verkligheten. Brevet överlämnas till svensk polis, som åker för att intervjua paret i England. Paret hade kommit i kontakt med baronen, som givit dem arbete på sitt slott i Portugal. De hade blivit lovade en hög lön och ett hem på slottet, och i förberedelse för flytten sålde de sitt hus och sina ägodelar.

"'Om du inte är snäll, så kommer Rottenikken och tar dig!' Hur många olydiga barn från krigstiden är det inte som idag kan minnas detta hot från sina föräldrar? Rottenikken - Rolf Erling Knutsen - är en av de märkligaste personerna i norsk rättshistoria." Knutsen härjade som värst i norska Telemark när landet var under tysk ockupation. Den norska allmänheten lärde känna honom genom sensationellt dramatiska tidningsartiklar, och hans våldsamma rykte användes av nazisterna i skrämselpropagandan mot den norska motståndsrörelsen.

Nordisk Kriminalreportage indeholder en lang række spændende og autentiske politisager fra Sverige, Norge, Finland og Island. Sagerne er skrevet af de politifolk, der var med i opklaringsarbejdet. Sagerne er alle afsluttede, og domsfældelse har fundet sted. Det er hæsblæsende læsning, og ofte overgår virkeligheden fantasien. Læseren kommer med ind bag nogle af de mest dramatiske sager i skandinavisk politihistorie, og får stiftet bekendtskab med det puslespil, det er at finde frem til gerningsmændene.

Right under the noses of neighbors, clients, spouses, children, and friends, a secret society, simply called School—a cult of snared Manhattan professionals—has been led by the charismatic, sociopathic, and dangerous leader Sharon Gans for decades. Spencer Schneider was recruited in the eighties, and he stayed for more than twenty-three years as his life disintegrated, his self-esteem eroded, and he lined the pockets of Gans and her cult.  

WINNER OF THE NED KELLY AWARD FOR BEST TRUE CRIME 2023 WINNER OF THE UK TRUE CRIME AWARD FOR BEST INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING 2024 A relentlessly fascinating and often jaw-dropping true story of two American women who unwittingly became Australia's 'Drug Grannies' In 1977, Vera 'Toddie' Hays and...

In 1971, Go Ask Alice reinvented the young adult genre with a blistering portrayal of sex, psychosis, and teenage self-destruction. The supposed diary of a middle-class addict, Go Ask Alice terrified adults and cemented LSD's fearsome reputation, fueling support for the War on Drugs. Five million copies later, Go Ask Alice remains a divisive bestseller, outraging censors and earning new fans, all of them drawn by the book's mythic premise: A Real Diary, by Anonymous.

 I Did It is the story of Gina Champion-Cain, the mastermind behind the largest woman-led Ponzi scheme in US history—$400 million. This real-life story includes a multitude of participants, banks, hedge funds, egomaniacs, and small-time crooks, all fueled by greed, stupidity, and a keen desire to look the other way. And even when they were looking in the right direction, all of these people and entities saw nothing.  

She fell in love with him, they married and then she found out who he was: a conman who was determined to destroy her. The instant bestselling story of Lee Mackenzie, who was a capable and confident young woman, studying broadcast journalism and honing her skills of observation and objectivity...

Rob Sand, the youngest attorney in his office, was assigned a new case by his boss, who was days away from retirement. Inside the thin accordion binder that Sand received was meager evidence that had been gathered over the course of two years by Iowa authorities regarding a suspicious lottery ticket. No one expected the case to go anywhere. No dead body, no shots fired, and no money paid out. Why should they care?

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of A Very English Scandal by John Preston, read by Daniel Weyman. The bestselling book that inspired the Bafta-winning BBC drama Corruption. Blackmail. Conspiracy to murder. A Very English Scandal has all the hallmarks of a classic...