|
|||||||
|
The Bridge: Murder, Intrigue and a Struggle for Justice
in Nicaragua
by Michael Glasgow (in the vein of Midnight Express) |
||||
|
In The Bridge: The Eric Volz
Story---Murder, Intrigue, and A Struggle for Justice in Nicaragua, Michael
Glasgow (named Nashville’s Best True Crime Author for 2008) reveals
the international tale first seen on Dateline, the Today Show, and Anderson
Cooper 360. A president, a secretary of state,
a senator, and a mayor would all become part of this story of youthful
promise, stolen lives, conflicting cultures, and national sovereignty. In this provocative work, Glasgow delivers a literary
tapestry that is part true crime, part historical assessment, part cultural
interpretive, and partly a story of faith and courage. Haunting
and powerful, this is The Eric Volz Story.
The complexity
and multiple layers of The Bridge present a story with excellent
cinematic potential. As young
American Eric Volz is sentenced to 30 years in a Nicaraguan prison for
a murder to which he has seven alibi witnesses, Glasgow reminds us that
as Americans when we engage in the new global world, we should never
ignore the impact of history, which can make people prisoners of their
own memories with just the right catalyst---like the murder of a beautiful
young woman. Reviews: --The Nashville Scene (October 2008) |
||||
|
River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman
He Loved
by Jeffrey Buckner Ford (son of Ernie and Betty Ford) | ||||
|
In
the tradition
of 'Me and My Shadows - The Judy Garland Story', and 'Haywire', the
story of Leland Hayward and Margaret Sullivan, River of No Return:
Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved - the first book
written chronicling the lives and marriage of the legendary entertainer
Tennessee Ernie Ford and his wife, Betty- promises to rank among the
great stories of Hollywood lives told in our time. In a sweeping, cinematic narrative, told with heartbreaking
honesty, wry humor and riveting intimacy, River of No Return:
Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved carries the reader
from their first meeting on a desert airbase at the dawn of World War
Two, through a brilliant, meteoric rise to the heights of Hollywood's
second Golden Age, to Ford's controversial departure from Hollywood
at the zenith of his career, and to their last moments together nearly
half a century later. The story of Ernie and His Lovely Wife, Betty
is an American love story, an American tragedy; an unforgettable portrait
of an ordinary couple changed forever by an extraordinary life. See
www.jeffreybucknerford.com
Reviews: "…this
masterfully rendered biography… gives readers an in-depth look behind
the curtain, painting a multilayered portrait of the man who hid his
pain behind a salt-of-the-earth Everyman pose…
Ford's ability to stay both honest and impartial makes this a
compulsively readable story, and a fine model for celebrity bios to
come. Even readers unfamiliar with Ford's massive
body of work will find the drama, pain and success that marked his life
fascinating.” -- Publishers Weekly (06/16/08) “Jeffrey "Buck" Ford, the oldest son of Ernie and Betty
Ford, writes about a life of wealth and privilege. He sensitively remembers
the good and bad times of a disintegrating family…
Other biographies cannot emit the raw emotion and intimate details
that Jeffrey has presented in this well-written and compelling memoir.” -- Library Journal (04/15/08) |
||||
|
Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights
as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess
by Lea Jacobson |
||||
|
Smashed meets the Far East in this harrowing memoir of
an American woman’s sojourn in Japan’s erotic “floating world”
-- Japan Times (10/26/08) -- Publishers Weekly (April 2008) “Her
debut memoir intrigues because it opens a window into a little-seen
portion of Japanese culture: ‘the floating world’ of transience and
personal gratification.... A juicy read for anyone interested in the
intriguingly lascivious underworld of a purportedly straight-laced culture.” -- Kirkus Reviews --
Booklist --Tokyo Metropolis (10-3-08) --Japan Today |
||||
|
"Smotherhood ™: Wickedly Funny Confessions from the Early
Years
by Amanda Lamb |
||||
|
From the graphic play-by-play
of her husband's vasectomy experience, to the things that take a ride
on the roof of her Volvo (think pizzas and cell phones) because she's
too distracted to notice, to the non-working mothers who expect her
to take time out of her busy day to make Play-Doh from scratch and volunteer
at story time, working mothers everywhere will commiserate with Amanda's
crazy life. The backdrop of the television
news world only adds to the chaos and hilarity as Amanda shares coffee
and secrets with old-school cops, interviews her share of crusty rednecks
and hardcore criminals, and covers breaking news that keeps her from
getting to her children's dance class or swim team banquet. "Smotherhood ™" is timely and culturally
relevant to today's working women who approach everything- their jobs
and their parenting- passionately, without excuses, and with a lot of
laughter in between. -- Jane Skinner, anchor, Fox News Channel -- Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC anchor/NBC News contributor -- Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of Still Summer
and The Deep End of the Ocean -- Hollis Gillespie, author of Bleachy-Haired
Honky Bitch -- Mary P. Easley, JD, First Lady of North Carolina |
||||
|
You’ll Never Nanny in This Town Again
by Suzanne Hansen |
||||
|
Hilarious
and addictive, this chronicle of a small-town girl’s adventures as a
celebrity nanny reveals what really happens in the diaper trenches of
Hollywood. When Oregon
native Suzanne Hansen lands a job as live-in nanny to the children of
Hollywood super-agent Michael Ovitz, she has no idea what she’s gotten
into: working 24/7 to fill the roles of pseudo-mommy, nurse, playmate,
referee, and chauffer, all while handling the demands of the entertainment
elite and making fast friends with the household staff and the underlings
at her boss’s office. When the
thankless drudgery takes its toll and Hansen finally quits, her boss
blackballs her from ever nannying in Hollywood again. Befuddled but
determined, Hansen manages to land gigs with Debra Winger and then Danny
DeVito. Kind employers, cute kids, and the sort of insider glimpse at
the entertainment world that celebrity junkies crave – looks like Hansen’s
fallen into a real-life happy ending. But 24-hour workday rubs some
of the glitz off LA living, and even bosses who treat her like family
can’t help Hansen as she struggles with Hollywood’s lack of respect
for nannies and everyone else who comes in the employee entrance – but
without whom many showbiz households would grind to a halt. Peppering her own story with tales and tantrums
experienced by other nannies to the stars, Hansen offers an intriguing
peek into the playrooms of the privileged. You’ll Never Nanny in This
Town Again is a treat for everyone who’s fascinated by the skewed priorities
of Tinseltown – and for fans of “assistant-lit” like The Nanny Diaries
and The Devil Wears Prada who will devour this unparalleled – and unabashedly
true –account of one girl’s tour of duty as Hollywood’s hired help. Reviews: “Hansen isn't
a flippant writer; she doesn't try to score easy shots; and she cites
her own inexperience and shyness, but it becomes increasingly clear
through her account (backed up by the diary she kept) that the portraits
drawn by other writers-of a cold, shrewd, controlling man-are accurate… Hardly backstabbing, this entertaining book
possesses a sincerity other nannying tomes lack.” -- Publishers Weekly "…surprises with sympathetic and nuanced analyses of the wealthy,
and insights into parenthood and childrearing." -- Kirkus Reviews "Think
The Nanny Diaries, but juicier—and it's all true! Suzanne Hansen's tell-all
book about her real-life adventures in Tinseltown babysitting (she was
the nanny to the kids of super-scary super-agent Michael Ovitz) will
have you howling with laughter—and rage."
-- Marie Claire magazine "After
the publication of Hollywood nanny Suzanne Hansen's memoir, former employer
and hardballing Uber-agent, Michael Ovitz might swear bitterly: You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again." -- Vanity Fair "Filled
with juicy tidbits that will be enjoyed by anyone who loves to read
about the bad behavior... of the rich and famous." - - LA Times "[A]
story that Hansen tells with real comic energy, sparing no unlibelous
detail." -- Boston Globe |
||||
|
Deadly Dose: The Untold Story of a Homicide Investigator’s
Crusade for Truth and Justice
by Amanda Lamb |
||||
|
Chris
Morgan lives for justice. He wears a white felt fedora, sports a larger-than-life
personality, and espouses an old-school cop mentality. Photographs of
murder victims, some yellowed and furled, are pinned haphazardly to
the cork board near his desk. But there is nothing haphazard about how
Morgan fights to find their killers. Eric Miller
is on the cork board. He was a pediatric AIDS researcher at a prestigious
southern university when his life was cut short by arsenic poisoning.
Miller suffered for months as the poison slowly ate away at him until
his body finally gave out. The death of the promising young scientist
stunned the local community and the scientific community at large. Right
away Morgan suspected that Ann Miller, Eric Miller's wife, was to blame.
Ann Miller was also a scientist for a prominent pharmaceutical company.
On the outside Ann Miller was pretty, demure, a loving mother, and a
seemingly devoted wife. But Morgan saw something else in Ann Miller.
He saw a woman obsessed with creating her own version of happiness at
any cost- even if that meant killing someone. Deadly Dose is a true crime book told
through the eyes of Chris Morgan. In an exclusive agreement with the
author, the retired homicide detective shares for the first time publicly
his dogged four-year pursuit of Ann Miller. It was a crusade that consumed
his every waking hour and ultimately became the swan song of his lengthy
career. Readers will hang on every word, every twist, every turn, as
the genteel, but shockingly candid investigator takes them inside the
inner-workings of catching a killer. Reviews: “It's
a story that seems almost too good to be true - almost like one of those
two-hour made-for-TV mysteries on Oxygen or WE.” -- Wilmington Star News (06/02/08) “As the facts come
to light, from the new hairdo while hubby lies dying to the dead lover
with a suicide note, it seems like the Lifetime Movie Network could
not have penned a better script.” --
The Independent (06/03/08) -- Raleigh Metro Magazine (June
2008) --
The Times News (10/18/08) |
||||
|
An Unfinished Canvas: The Mysterious Disappearance of
Artist Janet March
by JMichael Glasgow and Phyllis Gobbell. (In the vein of Fatal Vision) |
||||
|
In the
tradition of haunting true-crime thrillers that have captivated the
literary heartbeat of America, An Unfinished Canvas is
a suspense-filled tale of love, sex, greed, betrayal, and murder. As
in the cases of Jeffrey MacDonald (Fatal Vision), Thomas Capano
(Summer Wind), Scott Petersen (A Deadly Game), and the
East Hampton murder of Ted Ammon (Almost Paradise), An
Unfinished Canvas evokes the complex character and personalities
of the accused and those affected by his actions. An Unfinished Canvas chronicles the
facts, the theories, and the gossip in this high-profile case, beginning
with the bizarre events on the night of Janet March's disappearance
and the disturbing two weeks before she was reported missing. The nine-year
investigation is punctuated by Perry March's flight with his children
to Mexico and the international custody battle between Perry and Janet's
parents, Carolyn and Larry Levine; the wrongful death civil case by
the Levines and its staggering $113 million judgment; the formation
of Nashville's first Cold Case Unit; the empanelment of a secret grand
jury and indictment of Perry March; the involvement of the FBI and the
office of the Mexican President in the arrest and deportation of Perry
March; his extradition back to Tennessee from the same California jail
that once housed O.J. Simpson; and the excellent detective work that
uncovered a scheme by Perry March from behind bars, while awaiting trial,
to hire a hit-man to murder his former in-laws which ultimately ended
in a conviction of murder for Perry March. Reviews:
-- River Jordon, Backstory on
the Radio on WRFN, 98.9fm (in Nashville) -- THE TENNESSEAN
(September 30, 2007) |
||||
|
Taking Aim at the President: The Remarkable Story of
the Woman Who Shot Gerald Ford
by Geri Spieler |
||||
|
"I'm
not sorry I tried...if successful, the assassination...just might have
triggered the kind of chaos that could have started the upheaval of
change." --Sara Jane Moore in 1976 President Gerald Ford suffered two attempts on
his life during his term in office. One by a young woman in Charles
Manson’s gang, Squeaky, and the other by a far more unlikely candidate—an
average looking middle-aged mother of five – Sara Jane Moore. Journalist Geri Spieler traces Sara Jane Moore’s
path to that fateful moment. Born in a small West Virginia town to strict
parents, Moore showed an early love of theater that would translate
into her adult tendency to obscure her identity and mislead those around
her. Skilled at deception, she was married to five times including twice
to an U.S. Air Force Captain, to a respected doctor, and to an Academy
Award-winning sound designer. Along the way she abandoned her children,
faked amnesia, worked as an FBI informant, won the trust of Randolph
Hearst, and became a double agent. Sara Jane Moore met all the major
players and was present at all of newsworthy events of California in
the 1960s and 70s. As such, her story presents a vivid snapshot of those
turbulent years. Spieler gleaned fascinating insights on Sara Jane from
visiting and corresponding with her in prison for almost three decades,
from January 1976 to June 2003. A combination of Sara Jane’s stories
and Spieler’s rigorous independent research, Taking Aim at the President
is the bizarrely compelling, never-before-told story of this elusive
character—the only woman to ever fire a bullet at a U.S. president.
-- Publishers Weekly "Geri
Spieler has done a marvelous job of unraveling the events surrounding
one of the most bizarre events in American history, Sara Jane Moore's
attack on Gerald Ford." --James Dalessandro, Screenwriter
and Author of 1906…a novel “The byzantine tale of Sara Jane Moore's double,
triple and quadruple lives, with so many bizarre groups -- including
the federal government -- exploiting her vulnerabilities, is the stuff
of Hollywood fiction. The fact that it's all true, and told with precision
by Spieler, raises Sara Jane's story to something significantly more
than a footnote to history." --Alan Weisman, Author “Sara Jane Moore is a compelling
figure. Willful, stubborn, frustrating. For the first time, we realize
what this woman was capable of. She managed to charm an Academy-Award
winning Hollywood player into marriage; and gain the confidence of Randolph
Hearst. She's truly an enigma, and the story of her transformation into
a violent revolutionary is riveting. “ -- Frank Baldwin, Author of Jack & Mimi: A Novel and Balling the Jack |
||||
|
WICKED INTENTIONS
by Kevin Flynn (in the vein of Monster) |
||||
|
Pub Date:
December 2008 Something
sinister was happening in a small New Hampshire town. Evil lurked and
was not afraid of the light. Several young men began vanishing into
thin air and rumor spread that they all frequented the same solitary
farm. Fear sealed the lips of neighbors and it appeared the mystery
of the disappearances would linger forever. The mother
of one man, Kenneth Countie, panicked when she did not hear from her
son, whom she usually spoke with daily. A missing persons report was
filed and investigators
questioned Countie’s girlfriend, Sheila LaBarre, an attractive blonde
he had been living with on the secluded farm. When police searched the
property, they came upon a grizzly sight—a meaty bone sticking out of
a smoking burn pit. As they looked closer, the bone appeared to be human.
The tempestuous suspect went on the run, thinking she had obliterated
any physical evidence that could be used against her. And even when
police found LaBarre and indicted her for murder, major questions about
this violent saga remained: How was Kenneth Countie killed? Were more
of LaBarre’s lovers dead? Did she poison her longtime companion in an
effort to obtain his million-dollar farm? With evidence so deteriorated,
could LaBarre’s guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt? And the most
puzzling question of all: who really was Sheila LaBarre? How could she
commit such crimes of brutal execution and of wicked intentions? As
the Emmy award-winning television reporter who became Sheila LaBarre’s
confidant and first broke the story, Kevin Flynn is uniquely positioned,
like Ann Rule in The Stranger Beside Me, to tell
the bizarre chain of events which cumulated in one of America’s most
sensational murder stories. -- Gregg Olsen, New York Times bestselling author -- Jane Velez-Mitchell, celebrity journalist and author of Secrets Can Be Murder -- Michael Glasgow, author of The
Bridge: Murder, Intrigue and a Struggle for Justice in Nicaragua
and co-author of An Unfinished
Canvas: A True Story of Love, Family and Murder in Nashville -- Amanda Lamb, author of Deadly
Dose |
||||
