This book was written by Kevin Weeks, a partner of Whitey Bulger in the Irish Crime Syndicate. Kevin Weeks goes into detail about his life and induction into crime, as well as his illicit activities he got up to with Bulger and the gang. He also detailed how it came to be that he turned into an informant against Bulger and other gangster movements. It was really enlightening and I thought a good read. 

 I enjoyed this book, despite the negative things I have read about it. I will admit that it did feel repetitive in parts, and the author did have a selfish streak as wide as the Pacific Ocean. It has been my personal experience that drug addicts can often be quite selfish. If you are in the grips of an addiction, other things become less important to you. Behavior is very altered due to substances. I did enjoy the honesty of this author's experience and how he got there and out. 

 Word of Faith Fellowship was stared in 1979 by Sam and Jane Whaley. This religion is sort of a non denominational Protestant type of thing. Members often speak in tongues, and take part in something called "blasting". In this book, blasting is described as screaming at a person about how they are demon possessed and sinning. In fact, it was stated that she got in the face of a six month old baby and "blasted" it. (I would have ripped her voice box out with my bare hands if she screamed at me or my kid like that, but people get really into this cult nonsense and get brainwashed or something.) There are a lot of rules that members must follow, including having to get permission to buy a home or car, or go to college (where Jane Whaley picks their majors and sends someone with them to monitor their behavior). They are not allowed to watch tv, read newspapers, or listen to music. They cannot eat at restaurants that serve any alcohol. They also do not celebrate any kind of holiday, including birthdays.

There are a lot of allegations of abuse, and not just what was mentioned in this book. I would certainly consider the "blasting" abuse. People have claimed that they were beaten to "beat the demons out" of them. It was also claimed that children were beaten and "blasted". There have been claims that the "security team" follows people around and tries to keep them from leaving, which reminds me of some Scientology tactics. Others have claimed to have been held prisoner and be beaten during their imprisonment. Former members have said that once they left, all contact with their friends and family stopped. The official church website has a whole tab devoted to media lies. It also has several photos of Jane Whaley, and I cannot imagine how people aren't getting some red flag vibes from her. I hope that more people are able to break free from whatever hold she has on people, but I guess if they are happy living like that, more power to them.

I got this book on Audible a while back, and I finally got around to listening to it. I listened to a podcast about this cult and this book was mentioned on it, which is how I became aware of it. I Googled the Word Of Faith Fellowship, and there is a facility of theirs located in Knoxville, Tennessee....an hour away from me. I never knew it. (In Chattanooga, we have a Twelve Tribes house and a Yellow Deli, so this should not have shocked me.) I thought this book was enraging and horrifying. If you are interested in cults, pick this one up. 

 This book is actually an adaptation of the documentary, which is available on Amazon Prime. The book was something like two dollars on Audible, which is the copy I have. I turned this on and listened to it while folding laundry, so that was a useful way to multitask. Broadmoor is a well known facility that housed the criminally insane. Many notable murderers were kept here, including Peter Sutcliffe (The Yorkshire Ripper), David Copeland (The London Nail Bomber), Ronnie Kray, and Ian Ball (who attempted to kidnap Princess Anne). Broadmoor also has a history for the amount of breakthrough treatments and psychiatric care of the times. Even though this was a short little book, it was very interesting. I plan to watch the documentary as well. 

 This book was pretty in depth about all of the Greek Mythology figures. I bought this book on a whim, and I found it very informative. I like learning about other religions, and Greek Mythology has so many tendrils in so many things in the modern world. It was neat to see all the connections. 

 This book details the events surrounding the Battle of Arnhem in World War II. As a history major whose specialization was World War II, I very much appreciate in depth accounts of various battles. This particular battle was a massive undertaking of aircraft- planes and gliders- that dropped Allied military across German lines to capture the bridge over the Rhine located in Arnhem. I knew gliders were used, but this was not something that was ever mentioned in my college education, and only two books I have ever read mentioned the use of gliders. One of those was a novel, and the other was a memoir about Hitler's pilot. Ultimately, this battle cost the Allies more casualties than the undertaking during the D-Day invasion. I got this on Audible, and it was something like 17 hours worth of listening, but it was so worth it. I really enjoyed this book. 

 I have read some other books by Jack Olsen, and I really enjoyed them. This book was interesting, well researched, and about the Kennedy family. I am all about reading material on the Kennedy family. The Bridge at Chappaquiddick is a bridge that Ted Kennedy's car wound up going over. He was driving with a woman when they went over and into the water. She drowned, he got out. There was a lot of speculation about this accident, namely if he was driving while intoxicated. There was also speculation that he was having an affair with this woman, and this accident was a way to cover it up to keep her from talking or something of that nature. I think that the Kennedy family in general harbors a lot of secrets, and this is just one of them. I enjoyed this book, and am glad to have it in my Kennedy collection. 

 I am having a great time with these short murder stories. I love this author, and love the fact that these books are included in the Audible Plus catalog. There are six of them, and I have two left to read. This one was about the murders of several women, who were beaten in the head with bricks. A black man was arrested for the crimes. What stood out the most to me was the descriptive language used in the media about the suspect... This was a good book, and only about an hour long to listen to. 

 This book was written by Rachel Jeffs, a daughter of Warren Jeffs. Rachel details her experiences growing up in the FLDS cult. Rachel suffered so much at the hands of her father and other leaders in the FLDS. She was physically and emotionally abused, sexually assaulted, locked up as punishment for disobeying insane rules, and forced into an arranged marriage. She even had her children taken away. I cannot imagine having to live like this. I have read several books about the FLDS, and this was one of the most heartbreaking ones. I cannot imagine being treated the way Rachel was by my own father. The women and children in the FLDS seem to have absolutely horrific lives and experiences. I hope that people read books like this and it changes their hearts and minds to help people leave the FLDS if they are in a position to. 

 Bill Bonanno was born into the mob. His father was Joseph Bonanno, leader of the Bonanno Crime Family. Bill followed in his father's footsteps as a leader in the family and also as a writer of a memoir. He seems pretty candid about his life and his life in organized crime, though I am doubtful some of the things he said are the entire truth. However, it was an interesting personal account of life inside the semi secretive organized crime syndicate.