Showing posts with label Ad Lib Publishers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ad Lib Publishers. Show all posts

Tuesday, 3 January 2023

๐Ÿ“– Book Review ~ Dirty Briefs by Dave Fendem

 


Ad Lib Publishers
Mardle Books


My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book


From top to bottom – a shocking and hilarious journey through the legal profession unlike anything seen before.

Straight from the bowels of back street police stations, locked psychiatric wards and the criminal courts, these are the brazen tales of a bare-knuckle barrister.

For those who think that all barristers are high flyers blessed with fabulous incomes and sophisticated lives, this book will decisively re-inform you. It will dispel any myth that those we trust to steer the ship are any less maladjusted than the clients they represent.

Unapologetically rude and irreverent, welcome to the real world of criminal barristers; an unruly place where nudity, misappropriation of sex toys and dirty protests are not just for the accused, and where judges’ discomfort brings widespread joy.


๐Ÿ“– My Review...

I'm no expert on the criminal justice system and have no idea what goes on in the mysterious world of criminal defence however, as this book is written by someone who knows the system well it soon becomes a rather ironic account of what goes on behind the scenes with a criminal defence barrister. Well written, with entertaining anecdotes, the book made me smile with stories about incidents I never expected to find amusing.

At just over two hundred pages this comes in as a quick read which makes it the perfect sort of book to settle down with on a rainy afternoon. If you have an interest in the law and want to know more about some irreverent behind the scenes shenanigans then Dirty Briefs might be just your cup of tea.



Twitter @DFendem

@AdLibPublishers @MardleBooks












Thursday, 8 July 2021

๐Ÿ“– Publication Day Book Review ~ Bombshell: The Night Bobby Kennedy Killed Marilyn Monroe by Detective Mike Rothmiller and Douglas Thompson

 

Publication Day Book Review


Ad Lib
8 July 2021

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book


Drawing on unseen police files, Marilyn Monroe’s private diary and first-hand testimony, this book makes the most persuasive case yet that Robert Kennedy was directly responsible for her death.

It details Marilyn Monroe’s tumultuous personal involvement with him and his brother, President John Kennedy. The new evidence and testimony is provided by Mike Rothmiller who, as an agent of the Organised Crime Intelligence Division (OCID) of the LAPD, had direct personal access to hundreds of secret files on exactly what happened at Marilyn Monroe’s Californian home on August 5th 1962. With his training and specialist knowledge, Rothmiller used that unseen information to get to the heart of the matter, to the people who were there the night Marilyn Monroe died - two of whom played major roles in the cover-up - and the wider conspiracy to protect the Kennedys at all costs. 

There will be those with doubts, but to them, the lawman - who has advised the White House, the Pentagon and international crime agencies - says the printed, forensic and oral evidence are totally convincing. He insists: ‘If I presented my evidence in any court of law, I’d get a conviction.’

๐Ÿ“– My thoughts..

It's almost sixty years since her death and yet there is a still a fascination with Marilyn Monroe, who is, after all, one of the most celebrated, and quite possibly, most misunderstood, icons of the twentieth century. That her life, and subsequent tragic, and unexplained, death still haunts us is the subject of this fascinating theory into just who was responsible for her death in August, 1962.

Mike Rothmiller served for ten years with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and during that time he had access to certain secret files and from the knowledge gleaned from the files and from first hand testimonies and private diary entries he makes his case that Robert Kennedy, who was then, Attorney General,  was responsible for Marilyn Monroe's death.

There has been much written about Marilyn Monroe's alleged suicide, and there is endless speculation and not to forget countless conspiracy theories into just what happened on the night of August 4th, 1962 when Marilyn was home alone in her Californian residence. That there are dark secrets in the life of this enigmatic actress have long been known but the authors make a convincing case of presenting their new evidence in a consistent and believable manner.

The book is complex as any investigation into an unexplained death must be and the authors give a comprehensive account of all those who featured in Marilyn's tragically short life, from the US security systems which were in place to trace her every move, to the men, in authority, and in the celebrity spotlight, who exploited and abused Marilyn for their own sexual gratification, and ultimately to the most powerful family in America, the Kennedys, who had so much to lose if Marilyn Monroe carried through her threat to expose them.

As with all speculation, I am sure that there will be those who discount this theory as just another fabrication of facts but Mike Rothmiller's argument that Robert Kennedy was responsible for Marilyn's Monroe's death is convincing and sheds a whole new light onto what happened on August 4th and 5th, 1962. 

Both fascinating, and disturbing, in equal measure Bombshell is a compelling read and its theory into Marilyn Monroe's tragic death is certainly one that I shall continue to ponder over for some time to come.



About the Authors

Mike Rothmiller served for ten years with the Los Angeles Police Department [LAPD], including five years as a deep undercover detective with the Organised Crime Intelligence Division [OCID]. He is the author of numerous books, his first, LA Secret Police: Inside the Elite LAPD Spy Network, was a New York Times bestseller. Alongside his dedication to public service, Mike Rothmiller has established a media career producing television documentaries and working as a correspondent and presenter for America’s PBS, ESPN and other international television markets. 


Douglas Thompson is the author of major Hollywood biographies to revelatory bestsellers about remarkable people and events. The author, broadcaster and international journalist is a regular contributor to major newspapers and magazines worldwide. With Christine Keeler, he wrote her revealing memoir The Truth At Last. His bestseller, The Dark Heart of Hollywood, detailed the history and influence of organised crime on the film capital and is being developed as a multi-season television series.

Twitter @AdLibPublishers @MardleBooks

@DOUGIETHOMPSON #Bombshell #MarilynMonroe 





Monday, 14 June 2021

Book Review ~ A Special Place in Hell by Christopher Berry-Dee





Ad Lib
March 2021

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book


Sunday Times bestselling author Christopher Berry-Dee is the man who talks to serial killers. A world-renowned investigative criminologist, he has gained the trust of murderers across the world, entered their high security prisons, and discussed in detail their shocking crimes. The killers' pursuit of horror and violence is described through the unique audiotape and videotape interviews which BerryDee conducted, deep inside the bowels of some of the world's toughest prisons. 

Christopher Berry-Dee has collated these interviews into this astounding, disturbing book. Not only does he describe his meetings with some of the world's most evil men and women, he also reproduces, verbatim, their very words as they describe their crimes, allowing the reader a glimpse into the inner workings of the people who have committed the worst crime possible - to mercilessly take the life of another human being.


My Thoughts..

I'm not an enthusiastic reader of the true crime genre but after watching a recent TV programme about the psychiatric hospital Broadmoor I found myself dipping into this book which has been so kindly sent to me by Ad Lib publishers and Mardle Books. I have to be honest and say that this one has lingered on my shelf since March as I wasn't too sure if I wanted to read it.

Any way into the book I go which seems a rather incongruous choice of reading on a beautiful summer afternoon. Going into the minds of a bunch of killers isn't really a fun way to spend time but it did becoming morbidly fascinating, even though I have to admit to skipping some sections as I had my fingers over my eyes. 

Criminologist, Christopher Berry-Dee has spent time analysing some of the world's most evil men and women and so doesn't shy away from recounting their stories, their words, their lack of morality and blasรฉ indifference at taking away another person's life. Of the ten 'killers' mentioned in this book I was only familiar with two of them, one being Peter Sutcliffe, the depraved serial killer, who terrorised the streets of Northern England in the late nineteen seventies. I lived, and worked in Leeds, at the height of Ripper mania and remember only too well, the sheer terror that this evil man instilled into the hearts of women as they went about their daily lives. I will never forgive him for making my early years in a wonderful city fraught with danger.

This is definitely not a book for the faint hearted, and certainly not pleasant reading if you don't find getting into the minds of seriously disturbed individuals interesting. However, in A Special Place in Hell, the author shares his thoughts about ten of the most heinous serial killers/mass murderers who fully deserve their special place in hell, and all credit must go to the author for writing with dispassionate ease about some quite horrific subjects. That there are more killers out there who have the potential to be the worst of the worst Christopher Berry-Dee readily admits but I don't think I want to  read about them.

If you like true crime, and are not easily shocked, then A Special Place in Hell is a well written and interesting account of ten of the world's most evil serial killers.


About the Author

Noted writer and criminologist, Christopher Berry-Dee's recent books include Talking With Psychopaths and Savages, the UK's best selling true-crime title of 2017, and Talking With Female Serial Killers. He is the country's No. 1 true crime author.



Twitter @AdLibPublishers

@MardleBooks