Jon Krakauer, popular journalist and mountaineer, was part of an expedition to the summit of Mount Everest in May 1996. Multiple groups were climbing at this time, with sherpas, and were all caught in a blizzard at high altitude. Eight people would lose their lives during this disastrous event. The author of this book made it off the mountain with some trauma and survivor's guilt. This book is his personal account of the disaster and the aftermath. I hope that he was able to find some peace within himself after expressing his thoughts and feelings. If you are into mountain climbing, this may be a good book for you. 

 

The Wendel family is the focus of this book. This was an extremely wealthy real estate family from New York. The family amassed around 150 properties in Manhattan, often leaving them to fall into disrepair and causing them to be nicknamed the "Weird Wendels" in the papers. The patriarch of the family had six sisters, who he did not allow to marry to keep the fortune in the family. When the last family member died, the fortune and properties were dished out to multiple charities. This book was really interesting. I had never heard of this family before, and I do love a family dynasty moment. Each person in the family had their own unique story, which I enjoyed reading about.

 

 This book discusses Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, president of the Vatican Bank, and his relationship with Matteo de Lorenzo of the Genovese Family. The two were involved in discussions about laundering money for a security scam they were running. Police were aware of the situation and were hot on the trail. The investigation into these people and their associates is outlined in this book. I thought the book was really interesting. I enjoy crime books to begin with, but I do have a deep interest in organized crime. I bought this book during an Audible sale, and I am thoroughly pleased with the purchase.

The Catholic Church has found itself in a series of disgraceful events and coverups. The Catholic Church has funded cultural genocide, genocide, religious suppression, the Nazi Party, other undesirable characters and who even knows what else. They have covered up sexual abuse. They have been exceptionally racist. The fact that they would become involved in some type of conspiracy with members involved in organized crime is not at all shocking, as they are also an organized criminal enterprise. (If you happen to be a member of the Catholic community and are reading this clutching your pearls.... sorry not sorry.) Certainly, there are normal functioning people that do not get up to shenanigans and nonsense, but, historically, that is what the leadership of this cultish organization does. 

This book takes a deep dive into the secretive world of sex work in New Orleans during the 1920s and beyond. The Last Madam of New Orleans, Norma Badon, began her career in sex work as a "street walker" before opening up a "house of ill repute". Unsurprisingly, she did quite well for herself financially, as people will always pay for sex. She had many clients that included wealthy society members and politicians...also not a surprise. The book was a little boring in parts, but the accounts rendered by Norma about her activities and the research conducted by the author painted a really detailed picture of life in New Orleans during this time period. I can appreciate the historical value of the book. 

 Baron Édouard-Jean “Wado” Empain was born in Budapest in 1937. At the time of his kidnapping, he was the 3rd Baron Empain, as well as the CEO of the Schneider-Emapin Group. He was kidnapped on January 23, 1978, after a faked road accident that one would imagine seeing in a movie theatre. He remained in captivity for 63 days, pending a massive manhunt by the police. This book details the conditions he was kept in during his captivity, the investigation, and criminal proceedings against his kidnappers. After his release, he suffered greatly from the experience. He died in 2018, at the age of 80.

This book was really well done. The flow of the writing was acceptable. The research was well done. I had never heard about this case, and bought this book during an Audible sale. I have been trying to get my unread books down to a manageable number, and this happened to be next on the list. I am very pleased with this purchase. 

 Katherine Knight was born in New South Wales, Australia in 1955. Knight had a pretty rough childhood in an abusive, chaotic home. She was often alone, but did fly into rages and assault other children at school. Knight had a series of relationships with men, following her mother's pattern of affairs and abuse. Knight murdered John Price in February 2000, skinning him and cooking parts of his body with plans to serve it to his children. This book discusses Knight's background, crimes, and investigation. I thought it had a decent amount of detail and was decently written. If you are interested in learning more about this woman, this is a good book for that. I believe this book was recommended by the hosts of a podcast (The Last Podcast on the Left) that I used to listen to. 

 

UpStairs Lounge was a gay bar located on Iberville Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. The club was located on the second floor of a three-story building. The people inside the club at the time of the attack were members from the Metropolitain Community Church. The MCC held services there sometimes, but did use the club as a meeting place afterwards as well. The MCC had been targeted before, losing both their buildings in Nashville and Los Angelas to arson attacks. (There is no hate like "Christian" love.) This arson attack occurred on June 24, 1973. Firefighters found themselves blocked by traffic as patrons inside the club burned to death after becoming trapped on the second floor. The fire burned for sixteen minutes before firefighters were able to get the blaze under control. Twenty-eight people died at the club, another died on the way to the hospital, and another eighteen were injured significantly. This book covers the crime, the victims, and the (disappointing) investigation.

I would like to note that many area churches refused to hold any type of funeral or memorial service to the people who died because they are hateful, homophobic jackasses. I have never seen a bigger group of hateful people than those who claim to be Christians. They are so happy to shove their beliefs down everyone else's throat and commit cultural genocide with their missionaries, but FORGET living by their own rules and being a kind helpful neighbor to those who are grieving. I am not a member of the LGBTQ community, but I am a member of civilized society and to treat people who died in a horrific way like this and their families and friends who are hurting inexpressibly with this loss is about scummy as scummy can get. For those people whining about how June is Pride month......THIS IS WHY THERE IS ONE. People should not be murdered because of their sexual orientation or their relationships with other people. People should not react with such disgusting behavior when people are hurting.

At any rate, I had never heard of this event. I came across this book in the disaster section of my local bookstore, though I think it should have been in the crime section. Overall, this book was informative, and I learned a lot. It was also enraging. If you plan to read it and you are a member of civilized society, prepare to be enraged.

 

 

I am saving my normal background information on the person discussed in this book, as I have already read another book on this subject and had a more detailed review. I am going to keep this short because I am behind on reviews as it is. This book was decently written and provided a lot of information about Charles Starkweather. If you are interested in spree killings, this is a solid book for you to read.

 

 

Theodore John Kaczynski was born in 1942 in Chicago. Kaczynski became known as the Unabomber after implementing a mail bombing campaign against people he believed were using advanced technology. These attacks would kill three and injure twenty-three others. This book provides solid details about his criminal activities, mental state, and background information. The issue is the writing itself leaves a lot to be desired.

 

 This book discusses David Berkowitz. Berkowitz was born in Brooklyn in 1953. Berkowitz began his violent crime career in the 1970s. He wound up killing six people and injuring eleven others in his stabbing attacks. This book outlines those crimes and also discusses the letter he wrote to police in which he gave himself the Son of Sam moniker.

When I looked up Berkowitz to see his birth and death dates, I was shocked to discover he was still alive. I thought he had died after this book had been written, but I obviously made that up. He is currently 72 years old and is imprisoned at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in New York. The book was okay. I wouldn't read it again nor strongly recommend it to anyone. It was informative enough, but I was a little bored with it. Read at your own risk.