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True Crime Book Club meets on the second Thursday of the month. Murders, heists, kidnappings, fraudโwe read and discuss true stories about them all. Conspire with us to share your โwhodunnitโ theories at our friendly gathering of this fascinating genre.
Note: Book selections are non-fiction, and may contain disturbing content. Reader discretion is advised.
๐๐ป ๐๐๐ด๐๐๐, ๐๐ฒ'๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ "๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ: ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ" ๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ
๐๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ฒ'๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ "๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐จ๐: ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐น, ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐" ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐-๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐๐ผ๐ป
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"๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ: ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ, ๐๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ" ๐ฏ๐ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ
One of NPR's Best Books of 2017
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year
A breathtaking feat of reportage, American Fire combines procedural with love story, redefining American tragedy for our time.
The arsons started on a cold November midnight and didnโt stop for months. Night after night, the people of Accomack County waited to see which building would burn down next, regarding each other at first with compassion, and later suspicion. Vigilante groups sprang up, patrolling the rural Virginia coast with cameras and camouflage. Volunteer firefighters slept at their stations. The arsonist seemed to target abandoned buildings, but local police were stretched too thin to surveil them all. Accomack was desolateโthere were hundreds of abandoned buildings. And by the dozen they were burning.
The culprit, and the path that led to these crimes, is a story of twenty-first century America. Washington Post reporter Monica Hesse first drove down to the reeling county to cover a hearing for Charlie Smith, a struggling mechanic who upon his capture had promptly pleaded guilty to sixty-seven counts of arson. But as Charlieโs confession unspooled, it got deeper and weirder. He wasnโt lighting fires alone; his crimes were galvanized by a surprising love story. Over a year of investigating, Hesse uncovered the motives of Charlie and his accomplice, girlfriend Tonya Bundick, a woman of steel-like strength and an inscrutable past. Theirs was a love built on impossibly tight budgets and simple pleasures. They were each otherโs inspiration and escapeโฆuntil they werenโt.
Though itโs hard to believe today, one hundred years ago Accomack was the richest rural county in the nation. Slowly itโs been drained of its industryโagricultureโas well as its wealth and population. In an already remote region, limited employment options offer little in the way of opportunity. A mesmerizing and crucial panorama with nationwide implications, American Fire asks what happens when a community gets left behind. Hesse brings to life the Eastern Shore and its inhabitants, battling a punishing economy and increasingly terrified by a string of fires they could not explain. The result evokes the soul of rural Americaโa land half gutted before the fires even began.
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๐๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐๐ฒ'๐น๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ "๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐จ๐: ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐น, ๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐" ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐๐-๐๐ฎ๐บ๐ถ๐น๐๐ผ๐ป
AN EDGAR AWARDS 2020 WINNER AND WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER
In this powerful true crime memoir, an award-winning identity theft expert tells the shocking story of the duplicity and betrayal that inspired her career and nearly destroyed her family.
Axton Betz-Hamilton grew up in small-town Indiana in the early '90s. When she was 11 years old, her parents both had their identities stolen. Their credit ratings were ruined, and they were constantly fighting over money. This was before the age of the Internet, when identity theft became more commonplace, so authorities and banks were clueless and reluctant to help Axton's parents.
Axton's family changed all of their personal information and moved to different addresses, but the identity thief followed them wherever they went. Convinced that the thief had to be someone they knew, Axton and her parents completely cut off the outside world, isolating themselves from friends and family. Axton learned not to let anyone into the house without explicit permission, and once went as far as chasing a plumber off their property with a knife.
As a result, Axton spent her formative years crippled by anxiety, quarantined behind the closed curtains in her childhood home. She began starving herself at a young age in an effort to blend in--her appearance could be nothing short of perfect or she would be scolded by her mother, who had become paranoid and consumed by how others perceived the family.
Years later, her parents' marriage still shaken from the theft, Axton discovered that she, too, had fallen prey to the identity thief, but by the time she realized, she was already thousands of dollars in debt and her credit was ruined.
The Less People Know About Us is Axton's attempt to untangle an intricate web of lies, and to understand why and how a loved one could have inflicted such pain. Axton will present a candid, shocking, and redemptive story and reveal her courageous effort to grapple with someone close that broke the unwritten rules of love, protection, and family.
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