Central Kansas Library System

For five centuries, the Vatican-the oldest organization in the world, maker of kings and shaper of history-has used a secret spy service, called the Holy Alliance, or later, the Entity, to carry out its will. Forty popes have relied on it to carry out their policies. They have played a hitherto invisible role confronting de-Christianizations and schisms, revolutions and dictators, colonizations and expulsions, persecutions and attacks, civil wars...

Caught In A Trap For Darlene Roberts, a quiet drive home from work turned out to be the end of the road when a stranded motorist flagged her down. As soon as she stopped, Darlene was forcibly dragged from her car and viciously thrown to the ground, bound with cords and tightly gagged. A second attacker stepped into the scene, a woman in a hood and a mask.... Hunted Like An Animal In the ensuing struggle, the woman's mask slipped off, revealing...

She was fifteen when she visited the therapist; still a teen when they had sex. She was twenty-five when she married him and forty-four when she killed him. In October 2002, the quiet northern California town of Orinda was rocked by murder when Susan Polk, the mother of three teenage boys, was arrested for stabbing her husband and former therapist, Dr. Felix Polk, to death. The arrest and subsequent trial quickly became one of the most talked about...

"The never-before-told story of Martin T. Manton, a corrupt federal appeals court judge in New York who was convicted in 1939 and sent to prison. From his misconduct, to his co-conspirators, to the sensational prosecution and trial, this is the exhaustively researched account of a discovery that shocked the nation"--

Sam Capelli stumbled backwards in an effort to get away from Leo Stegner. "Remember Joe? You bastard!" Leo threw several blows. Capelli staggered and fell to the ground. "You killed my father. You're a dead man Capelli!" He kicked Capelli, while reciting John 3:16, "For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son," he kicked him again, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life," and kicked him again, real hard. Leo...

The Tar Heel State's most notorious crimes are revealed by the coauthor of Ghosts of the Triangle: Historic Haunts of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The smiling faces and southern hospitality of North Carolina promise a paradise for visitors and residents alike, but darkness still lurks in small towns as well as big cities. The state's dangerous past of violence and murder is never seen in tourist pamphlets. From the capture of Olympic bomber Eric...

In July 1864, Thomas Briggs was traveling home after visiting his niece and her husband for dinner. He boarded a first-class carriage on the 9:45 pm Hackney service of the North London railway. A short time later, two bank clerks entered the compartment and noticed blood pooled in the seat cushions and smeared all over the floor and windows. But there was no sign of Thomas Briggs. All that remained was his ivory-knobbed walking stick, his empty leather...

During the catastrophic economic depression of the 1890s, young Jack London found himself in the same situation as many others-homeless and unemployed. After a failed American investment and crop failure, the nation found itself in a panic. As London recounts these times, he tells stories of hopping on freight trains, consequently being forcefully removed. While living as a hobo, London often had to beg for food and money, and frequently found himself...

Called the "Bob Gates of his generation" by Politico, Michael Morell was a top CIA officer who played a critical role in the most important counterterrorism events of the past two decades. Morell was by President Bush's side on 9/11/01 when terrorists struck America and in the White House Situation Room advising President Obama on 5/1/11 when America struck back-killing Usama bin Ladin. From the subway bombings in London to the terrorist attacks in...

Eastern North Carolina is a land of contrasts, and its crime stories bear this out. A lovelorn war hero or a stalker? Conniving wife or consummate homemaker? Murder or suicide? The answers can be as puzzling as the questions. Mystery author Cathy Pickens details an assortment of quirky cases, including a duo of poisoning cases more than one hundred years apart, a band of folk hero swamp outlaws, sex swingers and a couple of mummies. Each story has,...