True Crime

by Nick Yapp

A rogues gallery of murderers and mobsters, cannibals and con artists, outlaws and assassins.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, History

303 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2006

About the author

Nicholas Yapp 1938-

Reviews

[Shainlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't merely illustrated. There are graphic pictures of dead children. It tells you about the criminal and shows you some pictures of the what and where. It could be better in the written facts and things, but the pictures, some of them, can shock a person into silence.

[Lady ♥ Belleza · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a big picture book. Not the type you would give a child, some of these pictures would give some adults nightmares, it has pictures of murdered people, including children and murderers. It has chapters on: Outlaws and Anarchists, Mobster and Monsters, Serial Killers, Assassination, and Kidnappings. Each crime or criminal get a page or two and there are a ton of pictures in it.

The first chapter contains the headings: The Wild West, with accounts of Jesse James, Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and the Earp brothers to name a few. This book includes criminals from all over the world. Mexico bandits, the attack on the Olympics in Munich, Germany, the Great Train Robber in England, mass shootings in Russia, Scotland and Australia. The book also covers white collar crime, Enron, Kerviel, and Madoff. Possible miscarriages of justice. One account that fascinated me was “Murder Inc.”, Assassins for hire, Dial an 800 number and get rid of someone. Mass murders are also included: Johnstown; Luby’s Cafeteria; Waco; the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building; the Unabomber; 9/11; Beslan Middle School Number One; Michael Ryan; Dunblane primary school; Martin Bryant; Columbine; Virginia Tech; Joketa School in Finland; and Albertville School.

The accounts are very concisely written, if you are looking for detailed descriptions of motive and life history and trials, this book does not have them. It does has tons of pictures rendered in exquisite detail.

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a difficult task for crime compendiums to briefly summarize the happenings of the court cases they include, and to its credit, this book does what most readers probably look for it to. A couple of photos, a basic description of the who/what/when/where/why of a large number of various types of crime, and True Illustrated Crime becomes general interesting trivia to flip through from a book picked up off a coffee table. To me, however, it seemed almost too basic. The writing style itself was distracting, almost juvenile. And as opposed to reading objective descriptions of each case, it read more like television crime drama narration. Overall, for a bargain bin book, the photos which were included were worth it. However, for those who find this book at full price, I recommend saving your money for another title.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quick read, and a lot of the criminals/crimes that were profiled, I've read about previously, but this had some that I hadn't encountered before, and I was impressed with that. Lots of new photos, that I hadn't previously seen as well.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't very detailed and a few pretty boring cases. I knew more about some of these crimes and was hoping to get more details. Many famous crimes and killers were left. No Albert Fish or H.H. Holmes? The pictures were cool though. Note that there are some disturbing images in this book.

[Casa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy the information, although I find that some of it changed from a t.v. Show I was watching thst gave an account oin the same crimes.

[Amy Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book with quite a bit of basic information. The pictures were sometimes quite graphic in nature, but the book was very thorough and quite helpful for my trivia research I do.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is essentially a list of true crimes, ranging from murders to scams / cons, kidnappings and assassinations.

That said, it's an enjoyable read. It contains many very well known cases but I also learned about some new ones!

Most of the cases are on a single page although some spread over onto 2 or 3 where required, there's some pretty graphic photos too.

If you like your true crime and want something that's an easy read then you can't go wrong with this one.

[Jjean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A large book with plenty of photos of crimes committed - some I knew about , many I had forgotten about & some I didn't know about - the explanations of each crime was explained with some detail given - interesting study of crime during several centuries

[Dwezt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stuff told in here was things I already knew it wasn't very interesting to someone who already knows a lot about these people.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and contains facts with photos while covering a broad scope of crime types. Personal preference would be that there were more facts per crime, but overall would recommend.

[Emma Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

After reading that john gotti died in prison in 2001 I decided to end reading it due to the fact that he died in June of 2002 so I believe this book does not have its facts right.

[Lottie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this isnt everyones cup of tea, but I do find true crime interesting. This book has different types of crime murder, kidnappings, assassinations etc. from different time periods. It's not the most detailed book, but I did find it interesting.

[Abel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy buen documento, tanto fotográfico como escrito. Preciso y directo. Recomendado a todos los que nos interesa el lado oscuro de la mente humana