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Famous Crimes the World Forgot: Ten Vintage True Crime Stories Rescued from Obscurity

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Tired of Reading About the Same Crimes and Criminals Over and Over? Are You Looking for Something Completely New and Different? Ten Extraordinary True Crimes You Never Knew About With 34 Images Famous Crimes the World Forgot Volume II is also now available. Click on the Author link above to see all titles available. Famous Crimes the World Forgot uncovers ten amazing true crimes that exploded into the national news, shocking Americans from coast to coast—crimes that were eventually forgotten—until now. Many of these incredible cases went unexplored for decades. They a “Jack the Slugger” style serial killer who haunted the streets of Denver, bashing women in the head with a baton; the hatchet murder of a wife and child in Florida that put the husband in the prosecutor’s cross-hairs; a psychotic and delusional killer who taunted the public and police with coded messages—long before the Zodiac Killer did the same thing in California; the only family in America to produce two spree killers; a beautiful, young coed who shot a foreign student for a bizarre motive; a doctor who sought revenge and wiped out an innocent family; a blind man so desperate to support his family that he set off a bomb in one of America’s largest department stores; and a ruthless killer who murdered a husband and wife in their car on Route 66 while their four young sons slept in a pup tent just a few feet away. These astonishing true crimes will leave you wondering how they could have been ignored for so long. Silver Medal 2015 eLit Book Awards, True Crime Category. Famous Crimes the World Forgot Volume II is also now available. Click on the Author link above to see all titles available.

287 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 19, 2014

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Jason Lucky Morrow

8 books16 followers

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5 stars
334 (26%)
4 stars
433 (34%)
3 stars
345 (27%)
2 stars
98 (7%)
1 star
31 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
Profile Image for Aishuu.
517 reviews15 followers
May 5, 2015
This is one of those "surprisingly good" books. It appears self-published, which always makes me a bit skeptical about ultimate quality, but it's first rate work. The author has style and enjoys telling the tales, but really has a strength in pacing and revealing the crime as the public learned about it.

The crimes included are actual "forgotten" crimes I've never heard of before. Each of the chapters reads easily, and this is more a short story collection than book-length tale, but that's actually a strength in my opinion. These are really wild stories, and the summary is correct: how come they're not more notable in the American historical murder "canon?"

The author really manages to build suspense as the newspaper reader would have encountered it, containing the dead ends, red herrings and other leads. I can't comment on the quality of the research since I'm unfamiliar with the background, but it does seem well done.

23 reviews
January 17, 2015
Famous Crimes

I became fascinated by true crimes when the Charles Manson murders occurred. I was 10 years old at the time and when Helter Skelter came out, I devoured it. Ever since then I have read true crime books, losing myself in the insanity of people who kill and marveling in the writer's ability to keep me entranced and allow me to understand the complexity of the legal system. I think it's easier to write about a crime that is recent than ones that happened decades ago, especially in the early to mid 1900's, when police work and evidence collecting was so different.
This book does a great job in investigating these forgotten crimes. It had to have taken countless hours to gather all this information and I congratulate the author for his work. Though as much as I admire his tenacity, I can't say the stories were riveting. Interesting, yes, but not an engrossing page turner. Still, I would say this book should be a must read for those interested in the crime history of our country.
Profile Image for Teawench.
165 reviews2 followers
January 23, 2015
When I first started, I wasn't sure I would like the book. The first couple of stories didn't thrill me. But after that, it was a wild ride that I didn't want to stop. My favorite chapters were Mr. Secret Agent Man, 1930 - if it weren't so horrific, it might be amusing- and The Orphan Maker of Route 66, 1961 - I knew Route 66 is home to some pretty scary stuff, but wow. I had never heard of this one. It's a relatively quick read and I'd recommend it to anyone that's into true crime.

Profile Image for Osvaldo Reyes.
Author 30 books100 followers
May 8, 2021
Una recolección de crímenes poco conocidos, pero que hicieron noticia en su momento. Para los amantes de los true-crimes.
Recomendado.
Profile Image for Laurie.
450 reviews2 followers
January 4, 2015
An interesting read for people who enjoy True Crime. Had never heard much about these crimes so I found it quite interesting. The stories revolve around mostly murder cases which should not be forgotten. Everyone remembers the criminals names but hardly anyone remembers the victims.
Profile Image for Kate.
503 reviews81 followers
February 22, 2018
These true crime stories were interesting and engagingly written. I read a LOT of true crime and I had never heard of any of these cases, which was nice. If you enjoy true crime at all, you should check this one out. 3.5 stars.
Profile Image for Black Butterfly.
2,630 reviews39 followers
October 13, 2017
READING THIS MADE ME WONDER DID THE PRESENT DAY KILLERS READ ANY OF THESE CRIMES BEFORE THEY GOT STARTED. I KEPT CHECKING THE DATES THEY ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE BECAUSE OF THE SIMULARITIES IN THEM. THE WORLD MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN THESE CRIMES BUT SOME OF TODAY’S CRIMINALS DID NOT. IT WAS AMAZING HOW SIMULAR THE PAST CRIMES WERE TO SOME OF THE ONES TODAY, SICK MINDS HAVE NOT GONE AWAY THEY SEEM TO HAVE MULTIPLIED. ;/
Profile Image for Terry.
315 reviews19 followers
March 6, 2016
First rate reporting!

I stumbled across this collection of old true crime stories and as macabre as it may sound, thoroughly enjoyed the read. When I was a little girl my grandpa owned a trading post. He had everything you could think of in that dusty old place, including stacks of true crime magazines. Although I was never supposed to read those lurid, "dirty nasty things" I soon figured out that all I had to do was help clean the shelves where ALL the used magazines and comic books were and simply put the crime rags over by the comics, and then put both lots right behind a circular rack of men's clothing. From the cash register, where Papaw sat, he could only see the top of my head, right near all the comic books. It took him several weeks to discover my sneaky trick but by then, I'd read every one he had. I was hooked on true crime by first grade! (Papaw never said one word to me. The true crime magazines were just not there one day, and none ever replaced the original stacks. No censorship in my family but lots of common sense regarding precocious little girls!)
37 reviews3 followers
October 14, 2017
You've got to respect the author's diligence in uncovering forgotten crime stories and fact-checking contemporary accounts. But as a work of literature, it's lacking.

The author doesn't add much to the historic stories. Sometimes the answer to the mystery is obvious: did the man whose wife cheated on him kill her? Yes! Who would have thought. In other cases, the mystery is unsolved--and the author doesn't offer any theory or speculation about what the solution is. Even in cases where someone was actually tried for the crime, the author expresses no opinion about whether the person was guilty. It's just the flat facts--with nothing more interesting, abstract or theoretic, such as you would get from Bill James.
Profile Image for Sharon Kennedy.
409 reviews7 followers
December 30, 2014
This was an interesting and well researched book of ten true crime stories. The author has a nice style, and struck a nice balance between those which were solved and those which weren't. Well worth the read.
21 reviews
January 2, 2015
Very interesting book

I got this book for free, I like reading true crime stories and thought every story was fascinating. One of the stories reminded me of a Stephen King movie/book.
3 reviews
January 4, 2015
Great read

This was very well written. I was hooked when I began reading. I love a true crime story an for me this is what I wanted short stories that I have not heard of. Loved it and can't wait to read more books by Jason Lucky Morrow.
Profile Image for Lana.
6 reviews
June 1, 2015
Fascinating Stuff

These cases really were dramatic! Very good cadence, easy to read though. One of the cases happened right where my husband grew up. He literally had been right where a body was found and never heard of it till now. I recommend.
1 review
July 16, 2015
Interesting History

It was very interesting reading how crimes were handled in the last century. The author writes well and has done a lot of research. I highly recommend this book!
6 reviews
November 20, 2016
Great Book!

I never felt like I was reading a book, it was more like listening to someone telling a story. I was amazed at how many crimes were committed, and no-one was ever caught.


127 reviews7 followers
January 5, 2017
Solidly written look at once-famous crime cases from the last one hundred years in America. With enough detail to make them interesting, but not so much that they get bogged down. Also a nice mix of solved and unsolved crimes. I'll definitely look into more books by this author.
7 reviews25 followers
January 16, 2017
Page Turner

I really enjoyed this collection of crime stories, most of which I had never heard about before. The book was well-written, fun to read, and had great photographs. A must for any true crime fan.
Profile Image for sharlanemoore.
13 reviews
March 22, 2017
Spellbinding

I was just fascinated about stories in this book of murders that was committed before I was even born. It makes you think about people that are so damaged that they do not have any compassion for human life.
Profile Image for dawn rahe.
79 reviews
July 30, 2017
Jason did an excellent job of mixing outstanding story telling with true facts researched and documented in this book. I love Law & Order, this being said, the stories read as if watching the detectives on assignment across time.
Profile Image for Sandra Burns.
1,798 reviews41 followers
September 17, 2017
Great read, with pictures!

The first story, was a bit long. The other ones, I enjoyed immensely. I felt really bad, for the kids, who found their parents murdered.Other good stories also.
Profile Image for Guy Payne.
2 reviews
January 1, 2017
Great read!

I like all things vintage, including true crime stories. Mr. Morrow does a great job brining the forgotten back to life.


18 reviews
May 21, 2017
Great book

I've been a lover of true crime for a long time. This book ranks up there with Ann Rule and other true crime writers. I'm looking forward to reading volume 2.
Profile Image for Katie.
564 reviews13 followers
January 2, 2018
Fascinating

Worth a read. The details have been assembled well and each case is therefore easy to follow. It was hard to put down.
603 reviews35 followers
January 13, 2018
Interesting

Very interesting subject matter and I enjoyed these rare stories. That being said, I did find the author's writing style to be a bit overdramatic.
2 reviews
February 11, 2018
Good Read

Very interesting stories. Easy to read. This book was factual without being gory. I like the way the author have the characters dimension.
Profile Image for Amy.
23 reviews3 followers
March 20, 2018
A must for true crime fans

Fascinating tales of sensational crimes forgotten by time. Very refreshing to find stories that I haven't read about dozens of times.
Profile Image for Kristina Boyd.
6 reviews
May 28, 2018
Nice!

I love historical true crime and the author keeps your attention and gets into the why and how of each story. Cannot wait to read more!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews

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