American Murder: Criminals, Crime and the Media

By Mike Mayo

“There is much to praise. … an excellent resource, and is recommended.”— American Reference Books

“There are many true-crime compilations from which to choose, but a stronger focus on movies and how they have altered the legends may make this [book] worth purchasing. It’s likely to be a hit .”— Library Journal

“Written in an informal style . . . this “encyclopedia” offers a rogue’s gallery of famous US killings, killers, and other scoundrels.”— Book News

“Shaping Public Perception. Mayo’s breezy and often-irreverent style sheds some fascinating light on events about which we think we know, and subjects ranging from outlaws and mobsters to serial killers. Despite its grim subject matter, it’s a fun read.”— The Roanoke Times

Mass murderers, spree killers, outlaws … and Hollywood tales!

How would you treat a murderer? If you’re from Hollywood and he’s notorious, you might turn him into a folk hero. Separate the facts from the many legends and revisions that have blossomed around these killers in this frightening look at the bloody real lives of movie’s infamous antiheroes.

You’ll find a blood-curdling assortment of the “criminal elite” in American Murder: Criminals, Crime and the Media, a rogue’s gallery of our most famous killings, killers and other scoundrels (and some that ought to be more famous than they are). A collection of high-profile murderers, gangsters, assassins, psychopaths, such as O.J., Amy Fisher, Robert Blake, Susan Smith, Claus Von Bulow, the Menendez brothers, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Richard Speck, Al Capone, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bugsy Siegel, Jesse James, John Dillinger, Charles Manson, Albert Fish, T. Cullen Davis, Ronald DeFeo, Jr., Edmund Kemper, Beulah Annan, Bonnie and Clyde, Billy the Kid, Charlie Starkweather, as well as an assortment of lesser known killers with some incredible tales!

With numerous photos and illustrations, this tome is richly illustrated, and its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness. American Murder explores the legends as depicted in movies, stories, and songs. You’d not want to meet any of them in person – either the real or Hollywood versions!

American Ghost Stories

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Quick Facts:

ISBN: 9781578591916
Ebook ISBN: 9781578592562
Hardback ISBN: NA

400 Pages
120 Photos and Illustrations
7.5″ x 9.25″
Trade Paperback Price: $49.95
eBook Price: $19.99

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About the Author:

Michael Mayo has written about film for the Washington Post and the Roanoke Times.  He was the host of the nationally syndicated radio programs Movie Show on the Radio and Max and Mike on the Movies. He still talks about new films and DVDs every week on select North American radio stations. His non-fiction includes VideoHound’s DVD Guide, VideoHound’s Video Premieres, and VideoHound’s War Movies, as well as, Visible Ink's The Horror Show Guide and American Murder: Criminals, Crime and the Media. He is writing a series of suspense novels set in Prohibition-era New York.