Crime Con

London, 1932. Thomas James Wise is the toast of the literary establishment. A prominent collector and businessman, he is renowned on both sides of the Atlantic for unearthing the most stunning first editions and bringing them to market. Pompous and fearsome, with friends in high places, he is one of the most powerful men in the field of rare books. One night, two young booksellers - one a dishevelled former communist, the other a martini-swilling fan of detective stories - stumble upon a strange discrepancy. It will lead them to suspect Wise and his books are not all they seem.

Of the millions who go missing every year around the world, there are those who simply vanish and are never seen again. The sheer volume of people who disappear each and every year are, when examined in detail, terrifying. In this audiobook, we will touch upon some of the most terrifying, touching, strange, and worrying stories. In this audiobook, we hope to examine the sheer range of cases which have enthralled the interested, and distressed those involved for many years. Some of these cases became national stories, while others remain private tragedies.

A true story of a loving father facing formidable legal odds to secure custody of his two small children. Using wiretap technology in ways never seen before or since, he turns the tide in his favor in the case of a cheating wife and a predatory gynecologist. It’s a story of humility and perseverance triumphing over arrogance, status, and the powerful influence of sex addiction while delivering lessons in conscience and consequences. With recorded intimate details, this riveting account gained national acclaim for the legal precedent of the case.

Aaron Iturra was just 18 years old when he was found dead in his bedroom in Eugene, Oregon. Soon, the quiet community would be rocked and shocked by who was behind the killing: Mary Louise Thompson, also known as Gang Mom. An anti-gang activist, she was a modern day deadly Fagin, running her own gang of juveniles who preyed on the unsuspecting city.

A lack of love in an authoritarian household sparked Andrew’s lifelong search for love and belonging. His AA sponsor introduced him to A Course in Miracles, which Andrew studied deeply for twenty years. Then a celebrated spiritual teacher invited him to edit his first book and join his community. Andrew had been led to believe that he was chosen to find the Love of God. After a heart-rending parting from his family, he moved to Utah and joined the community.

As the 21st century marches into its third decade, our understanding of the world, and our place within it, seems to be clearer than ever. Each day brings us more and more miraculous scientific discoveries, while technology has interconnected us to an extent that our ancestors and forefathers could not have conceived. And yet, despite the collective of human knowledge lying at our fingertips, there are still a multitude of unsolved mysteries that stubbornly resist any attempts at solving them.

New York Times Bestseller #1. Die unglaubliche wahre Geschichte des begehrtesten Betrügers der Welt, die von Leonardo DiCaprio im Spielfilm von Steven Spielberg verewigt wurde. "Von Behörden und Nachrichtenreportern wurde ich als einer der gerissensten Scheckbetrüger, Trickdiebe und Gauner dieses Jahrhunderts bezeichnet, als Hochstapler vom Format eines Academy Award Preisträgers. Ich war ein Schwindler und Schauspieler mit erstaunlichen Fähigkeiten."

When reclusive millionaire artist Robert Indiana died in 2018, he left behind dark rumors and scandal, as well as an estate embroiled in lawsuits and facing accusations of fraud. Here is the true story of the artist’s final days, the aftermath, the deceptive world that surrounded him, and the inner workings of art as very big business.

Echando la vista atrás, todo comenzó el día del atropello. Fue en el verano de 1999 cuando las vidas de Diego y su pandilla comenzaron a desmoronarse. Veintidós años después, Diego lleva una vida tranquila en la villa costera de Getxo, su ciudad natal. Una mañana, recibe dos paquetes anónimos: contienen un reproductor de CD y un compact disc. Entonces se da cuenta de que el pasado está de vuelta. Y quiere cobrar sus deudas.

Cameron Smith attends an elite boarding school and has just been accepted to Princeton University alongside his beautiful girlfriend, Claire. Life for Cameron would be perfect, except that Cameron Smith is actually Skip O'Rourke, and Skip O'Rourke ran away from his grifter family four years ago...along with $100,000 of their "earnings" (because starting a new life is not cheap). But when his uncle Wonderful tracks him down, Skip's given an ultimatum: Come back to the family for one last con, or say good-bye to life as Cameron.

Hard-boiled crime writer Will Ford might be critically acclaimed, but he's every bit as drunken and disreputable as the ne'er-do-well private eye in his novels. So when Ford offers Raymond Ambler—crime-fiction curator at New York City's prestigious 42nd Street Library—a collection of his papers, Ambler wonders if the project will be more trouble than it's worth. Still, the disgraced author is an important talent, and Ambler's never been afraid of a fight. Ambler's ready for the controversy that greets news of the acquisition.

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.

Herb is a fixer, a social media manipulator, an anonymous barracuda in a sea of wealthy marks. Blackmail, character assassination, fraud—it’s all in a day’s work. When a quick scam introduces Herb to a cold-blooded director on a quest to film the Marquis de Sade’s Justine, Herb enters a world of porn stars and celebrity sociopaths, massage parlors and murder. Herb is building a family. He’s trying to build a conscience. But most importantly, Herb will get his money, no matter how many lives he has to ruin along the way.

Critically acclaimed science fiction and fantasy author Matthew Hughes started out as crime writer Matt Hughes. He churned out fast-paced stories about burglars, psychopaths, con men, cops, and killers, well leavened with the deep sense of irony that permeates his speculative fiction. This collection’s dozen stories includes “One More Kill,” judged by the Crime Writers of Canada as the best short crime yarn of 1999.

Scammers are intelligent, professional, and well-trained. They have no heart or compassion. They will take your last penny if they get the chance. They knowingly put your finances, trust, and even your family in jeopardy. Most scammers work in packs, like wolves, and are after you. What is a scam? A scam is when someone takes money from someone else while not providing the promised service or product.

Don't hint that Richard Hauptmann was executed as an innocent man. Don't dare to think that Charles Lindbergh had clean hands when it came to the kidnapping and murder of his son. It's unpopular and may be dangerous to say aloud, but there was no kidnapping at the Lindbergh estate in 1932...No kidnapping...Instead of the story of the American hero and the trial, those parts are summarized, and the emphasis is on the actual evidence and the investigation. Hauptmann was innocent, there was no kidnapping, and the true killer is named.

The stakes are high for one of the world's most powerful corporations. With hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts at risk, an international conglomerate and its team of lawyers pursue an eighteen-year-old college student who creates the code that could bring it all down. Crimson Code is the true story of University of Alabama student Desmond Jackson, an ambitious cybersecurity expert and entrepreneur. This is Desmond's first-person account of his stunning tale that reveals legal and political corruption and one young man's determination to prove his innocence.

Queen of the Con tells the true story of Cassie Chadwick, a successful swindler and “one of the top 10 imposters of all time”, according to TIME magazine. Born Betsy Bigley in 1857 in Canada, she first operated as Madame Devere, a European clairvoyant, and in 1890, was arrested for defrauding a Toledo bank of $20,000. In the mid-1890s, while working as a madam in Cleveland, Cassie met and married a widowed physician with a coveted Euclid Avenue address.

Victor Lustig: The Life and Legacy of the 20th Century’s Most Notorious Con Artist profiles one of the most eccentric personalities of his age. You will learn about Victor Lustig like never before.

Do you ever feel like the world is spinning out of control? Do you ever wonder why there is so much violence, terror, and chaos in the news? Do you ever question the official narratives of history and politics? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this audio-book is for you.