101 People You Won't Meet in Heaven

by Michael Powell

101 People You Won't Meet in Heaven examines the twisted achievements of the most brutal and sadistic individuals the world has ever seen. Evildoers jostle for position, including the likes of Basil the Bulgar-slayer, Vlad the Impaler, Lizzie Borden, Heinrich Himmler, Pol Pot, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Nicolae Ceausescu, and Slobodan Milosevic. Many common threads appear, including brutalized childhoods, an unswerving will to power, and often the support, tacit or otherwise, of a legion of willing accomplices. There are many contrasts, too. Some are charismatic leaders with forceful personalities, while others acted alone and in secret, solitary narcissists, full of self-loathing and repressed desire.

For those who are fascinated by what makes men evil, violent, and monstrous, 101 People You Won't Meet in Heaven is an engrossing and honest examination of humankind's baser instincts.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, History, Psychology, Horror

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Gary Barocsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is full of Biographies of serial killers from many years ago to the time it was written. It was crazy but very interesting. I read it long ago and was very shocked with it. It's not your everyday novel. It's just a couple pages about some of the most infamous killers of all time. Some very old history in here. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but I found it very interesting.

[Crissi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't judge me for reading AND owning this book ... it was REALLY interesting. I found myself re-reading almost every page because it was all just so disturbing, yet fascinating.

[Jesus]

Does each character sound different?
Yes, each character sounds different because each person did different crimes and there was different outcomes. some got killed or hanged, others are still alive or locked up.

[Fuzzydice108 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is filled with twisted, sick people. Most of these killers I have noticed grew up in broken homes, and were abused and later turned to drugs or alcohol for escape.
Had these individuals grew up in stable households would they have lived a normal life?

[Loveliest Evaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I've read it half a dozen times.

It is about the size of a grown man's palm and has, obviously, 101 people you won't meet in heaven, if heaven existed and judged people on how uncrazy and completely non-psycho they were.

Most of the people in this book are men; there is a little note before you dive into this lil pocket guide that men are usually the craziest mofos on Earth, but there ARE a handful of women that are sadistic, twisted, insane, and downright bloodthirsty in their own right (Elizabeth Bathory is in here.. bloodthirsty .. tee hee) that are featured in this book.

It goes, if I recall, in alphabetical order. It is almost like a two to three page baseball card of stats like:

-Birth
-Death
-Place (where they pretty much staked their crimes)
-Aliases and real names
-Early childhood and background
-What qualifies them as worthy of being mentioned in this book
-A quote or two by them


Some of the quotes are creepy and haunting, some of them reveal their true personality, that being cold, cruel, or infinitely perverse or mentally messed up and skewed ("A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic" - Josef Stalin)...

Some are really darkly comedic, a few tidbits that would make a nihilist or knower-of-the-cruel-sad-fact-that-is-life ruefully smile.

"I'm the Niceman, not the Iceman." (Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski, notorious assassin and hitman)

This goes from way back.. Genghis Khan to Ed Gein to Joseph Stalin to Mobuto Sese Seko (man he is ONE Crazy Motherfucker.. check out his hat though!)



Cracked.com told me he had a law that no one can wear a fancy hat like his while in his country (Democratic Republic of Congo.. Democratic my ASS)

But yeah, if you want a quick rundown of the baddest of the bad--in a BAD and HORRIBLE WAY-- then check this book out.. it's quick and easy to thumb through, and I've found some "favorites" of mine.. Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, Joseph Stalin (mustache of power!), etc. And some new ones I've only heard mentioned but never really knew the backgrounds or details of..

[Constance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure how I felt about this yet - too much or not enough? Too many horrible things and horrible people to process, and yet very spare facts, so that in spite of numbers, I didn't get a real scope of the crimes and the victims. To give an idea, this is indeed an alphabetical list of 101 horrible people - some serial killers, some political criminals, some despotic rulers. Each entry is about 2 pages with a brief paragraph or so on the person, name, date of birth and death, often manner of death, upbringing, family background... and THEN a paragraph called "What did they do that was so wrong?" Well, that's some odd phrasing. When you've started your bio by saying the person is a Serial Killer, known as "Serial Killer" - it sounds kind of strange to then ask a question that sounds a little bit like "what's so bad about that?" Most interesting to me was that many entries ended with quotes or comments indicating the person's state of mind about their crimes: some felt they'd done nothing wrong and were heaven-bound, a few knew they had done horrible things and regretted them but felt powerless to stop themselves, some were stone-cold sociopaths with no remorse other than getting caught, and one of these notably went to the gas chamber with the last words "kiss my ass."

[Peacegal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sick of smiley-face fiction? Here's a group of homo sapiens you'll never find in a Mitch Albom novel. This title did rise above many in the dime-a-dozen true crime genre: instead of just profiling the predictable lineup of baddies, the author reached back in history to collect tyrants like Caligula and Nero as well.

Athough this small and surprisingly densely-packed volume will show you the worst examples of humanity through the ages, the large number of typos is very distracting.

[J. Kent Messum · Rating 3 out of 5]

I consider this book a bathroom reader with more bite, a who's who catalog of the very worst among humanity. Each section is like a dossier on one particular murderous piece of excrement. The information doesn't go much in to depth, but it certainly provides you enough for a conversation piece. There's the usual suspects within these pages, but it's the ones that you haven't heard of that are most shocking.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently read this book about 101 murderers who won't make it to heaven, and I found it to be a great insight into the lives of these individuals. It's fascinating to learn about people who have committed such heinous crimes, and the book provides a unique perspective on them.

[Addison Neyhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the book was very interesting and informative. I hadn’t heard of some of these people before reading it. There is a good mix of politicians and murderers who all did terrible things. The title draws you in and Michael Powell delivers.

[Diego Zamudio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro lo compré por morbo en un aeropuerto; no está tan mal.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but I wish they had it in more of a narrative style with more detail, it reminded me of an internet top 10 list more than anything

[Dennis Wannemacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

8,6/10

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love true stories and crimes. I fall into that group of people that wants to know all the details. I know I'm weird. I really did love this book. I learned of people... Well monsters I had never heard of before. Reading it I started guessing ahead of who might be listed in the book. There were many I didn't find that should be featured in a sequel book.

1. Lizzy Borden (even though acquitted, I feel she's guilty)
2. Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
3. Adam Lanza
4. James Holmes
5. Zodiac Killer
6. Dennis Rader (BTK)
7. Henry the 8th
8. Herb Baumiester
9. Ariel Castro
10. Scott Peterson
11. Andrea Yates
12. Andrew Cunanan
13.Dean Croll
14. Lyle and Erik Menendez
15. Casey Anthony (I feel she is guilty)

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

These were mostly serial killers and nutty dictators, though there were a few I hadn't heard of before. I thought it was awfully superficial and wished for suggestions for further reading, and there were a lot of typos. But it would appeal to the trivia-loving, bathroom-reading set.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually found this book at my school and I started reading and I thought it was totally fascinating. I reread many of the entries and one of the serial killers was born where I live and that was interesting/creepy. I would recommend it to anyone who likes these types of books.

[Ashley Boyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

too many people were in it just because they killed children, not because of the horrific ways they killed them. Many prolific serial killers were left out in exchange for them.

[Tabi Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!! I would have liked some other sadistic people in there. Maybe there should be a second one made!!! LoL!!!!!

[Katie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creepy but great!

[Lela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and eery book on infamous killers and tyrants throughout world history.

[Gaby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I read this book on this app? How? Lmaooooo

[Stefani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, quick book to get through. Has some good, but common facts about each person. I definitely enjoyed it