Two all-American boys slit their father’s throat, stab their mother numerous times, and smash the skull of their 12-year-old brother with a baseball bat. The author ascribes their deeds to their adherence to Nazi credo—which is a rather facile interpretation—as even the Nazis never taught German children to murder their parents or brothers and sisters. As it turns out, one brother had an IQ of 100, and the other, 78 . One had been hospitalized twice for mental illness… The parents were staunch Jehovah’s Witnesses, the father an alcoholic, and the domineering mother obsessed with martyrdom. Now, add a little alcohol, teenage angst, violent skinhead music, and you have a prescription for multiple murder. JB

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 329 pages
Illustrated

Twenty-five killers-for-hire from the files of True Detective magazine. “Life is cheap! Driven by greed and revenge, passion and profit, they act as judge, jury and executioner, risking all to stab, slash, torch and shoot down their victims in cold blood. Some do it for love. They all do it for money!… Read about: Oregon’s Jon Patrick Thompson, the trigger-happy stud who killed to satisfy his vengeful she-devil lover; Texas drug dealer Andrew Cantu, who savagely stabbed three senior citizens to death for quick cash; Geraldine Parrish, Baltimore’s greedy queen of crime (how did John Waters miss this one?) who schooled her bloodthirsty brood in the art and profit of murder! From career killers to professional assassins and disturbed sociopaths…” they’re all here. GR

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 432 pages

“A shocking collection of the most savage cases of youthful violence ever reported. Obsessed by twisted desires and perversions, these teenage sociopaths are consumed by only one thing: the thrill of the kill! Read horrifying accounts of Phillip Negrete, the Des Moines, Iowa, high school gangleader who crushed a stranger’s skull with a hammer for 50 cents and a six pack of beer; Georgia’s Billy Shane, who proved his love for his 13-year-old bride-to-be by setting fire to his own father; Yong Ho Han, who fatally stabbed his Long Island classmate with a kitchen knife which he later imbedded in the scalp of a 12-year-old girl because he wasn’t shown proper respect; and other heinous crimes committed by a grisly new brotherhood in blood.”

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 448 pages

Ectrodactyly, a genetic condition, which has run in the Stiles family since 1840 for five generations, results in the absence of the third digit and the fusing together of the remaining fingers and toes into “claws.” The condition, which is also known as lobster-claw syndrome, sometimes affects all four limbs, sometimes two. Lobster Boy documents the bizarre life of Grady Stiles Jr. (and family), his abuse of wives and various handicapped and “normal” children, and Grady’s brutal, premeditated murder. The murder itself is not as shocking as the zeal of the prosecutors in their quest for “justice.” Big type makes this a quick but queer read, with an insider’s view of on-the-road freak shows. CF

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 331 pages
Illustrated

The middle-class crime of the century, or, as the book cover puts it, “the crime that broke our hearts!” October 1993—a 12-year-old suburban California girl is kidnapped from her own bedroom. “Sean Anthony Bush watched videos with his friend Aaron Thomas in the rental unit Thomas leased in Eve Nichol’s back yard. Bush had a clear view of his neighbor’s back porch. He recalled seeing a ‘thick’ man walking up the home’s back steps at about 10 pm. Bush told police the man crouched down and glanced through the home’s back windows.” (Bush and Thomas ignored this!) Meanwhile, Polly “decided to move the slumber party from her room into the living room so the girls could spread out their sleeping bags. When she opened her bedroom door, the bogeyman stood waiting. He was big and held a kitchen knife. Polly let out a soft gasp. The nightmare on Fourth Street had begun.” GR

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 264 pages
Illustrated

“They only love the men who kill!” And there are 14 reasons why these desperate Doras think that the only good men are behind bars. “They are women from all across America—women who have given up their families, careers and even their freedom to be with the men they love. From housewives to nurses to lawyers and teachers, from best-selling authors (Danielle Steel) to Hollywood sex-kittens (Sue Lyon), they all share one shameful secret: their lust-driven obsession for America’s deadliest killers.” GR

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 300 pages
Illustrated

“From a storybook wedding to a marriage made in hell,” told by the wife of the “crossbow-killer” himself, Chris Hightower. “On September 20, 1991, in the peaceful community of Barrington, Rhode Island, Ernest Brendel had a heated argument in his garage with his neighbor Chris Hightower over an investment deal gone bad. The discussion—and Ernie’s life—ended when three steel-tipped arrows of a Bear Devastator crossbow ripped through his body.” Brendel’s wife and daughter came next. “Susan Hightower would truly [come to] understand that her husband Christopher was also a con man, a liar, a manipulator… and a murderer whose ‘hit list’ included herself, her parents and her two young sons.” GR

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 495 pages
Illustrated

Father Bruce Ritter founded a shelter for runaways in Manhattan in 1968. By 1989 the shelter had grown into a national entity and Ronald Reagan had declared Father Ritter an unsung Saint in a State of the Union Address. In 1990, Father Ritter resigned his post amid allegations of child molestation and financial misconduct. No legal charges were ever brought, although there was an “in-house” investigation of charges. This “trial by book” is well-written, exhaustively researched and utterly compelling. SA

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 512 pages

Egomaniac. Scene stealer. Visionary. Ham. Lover. Bully. Star. Love him or hate him—and it’s split just about equally—Shatner is the Captain of Captains in the Star Trek universe. This book details: “His shocking encounter with extraterrestrial beings [that gives new meaning to his rendition of “Tambourine Man”]… Why the Star Trek movies almost didn’t get made… His sizzling offscreen romances [with his leading-lady guest stars]… His stormy relationship with Leonard Nimoy and other cast members [Sulu hated his guts]… and why he became the most hated actor on the set [Shatner was on a classic star trip]. On the bright side, there’s Shatner’s pre-Trek Broadway success as the star of The World of Suzy Wong. A man who loves spaceships and horses can’t be all bad. GR

Publisher: Pinnacle
Paperback: 298 pages
Illustrated