<div>Winner of the Edgar Award: The riveting account of an audacious fraud scheme that stretched from a Mafia hangout on the Lower East Side to the Vatican. With a round, open face and a penchant for tall tales, Matteo de Lorenzo resembled everyone&rsquo;s kindly uncle. But Uncle Marty, as he was known throughout the Genovese crime family, was one of the New York mob&rsquo;s top earners throughout the 1960s and &rsquo;70s, the mastermind of a billion-dollar trade in stolen and counterfeit securities. In the spring of 1972, de Lorenzo and his shrewd and ruthless business partner, Vincent Rizzo, traveled to Europe to discuss a plan to launder millions of dollars worth of phony securities. Shockingly, the plot involved Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the scandal-plagued president of the Vatican Bank. Unbeknownst to de Lorenzo and Rizzo, however, the NYPD was already on the case&mdash;thanks to the crusading work of Det. Joseph Coffey. Coffey, the legendary New York policeman who investigated the Lufthansa heist and took the Son of Sam&rsquo;s confession, first learned of the scheme in a wiretap related to the attempted mob takeover of the Playboy Club in Manhattan. From those unlikely beginnings, Detective Coffey worked tirelessly to trace the fraudulent stocks and bonds around the world and deep into the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and Rome. Meticulously researched and relentlessly gripping, The Vatican Connection is a true story of corruption and deceit, packed with &ldquo;all the ingredients of a thriller&rdquo; (San Francisco Chronicle).</div>

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The Vatican Connection

<div>The chilling true story of a beautiful violin prodigy, her devoted boyfriend, and the devastating family secrets that led to a brutal murder. Joyce Aparo seemed to be the perfect single mother. She doted on her sixteen-year-old daughter, Karin, encouraging her musical ability and lavishing affection on her. But behind closed doors, Joyce was a terror. For thirteen years, she beat Karin savagely, kept her away from other children, and demeaned her relentlessly. When Karin met the troubled yet brilliant Dennis Coleman, the two fell head-over-heels into lustful infatuation. But Joyce disapproved&mdash;so she had to die. On August 5, 1987, Joyce&rsquo;s body was found under a bridge near the Connecticut&ndash;Massachusetts border. She had been strangled, and was covered in bruises, with paper stuffed in her mouth and pantyhose knotted around her throat. The police investigation soon dragged her horrific treatment of Karin into the open, and the teenage lovers became the prime suspects. Dennis eventually confessed to the murder, testifying that Karin begged him to kill her mother. But Karin had a very different story to tell, claiming to have no knowledge of Dennis&rsquo;s plans. Was she manipulating the police the same way she manipulated her former boyfriend, or was she an innocent victim? Based on meticulous research, court transcripts, and interviews with the survivors, Beyond Obsession is the definitive account of an American tragedy and the basis for a popular TV movie starring Victoria Principal and Emily Warfield. </div>

Beyond Obsession

<div>Winner of the Edgar Award: The gripping account of a gruesome mass murder in gritty 1980s New York and the relentless hunt for a coldblooded killer. On a warm spring evening in 1982, thirty-seven-year-old accountant Margaret Barbera left work in New York City and walked to the West Side parking lot where she kept her BMW. Finding the lock on the driver&rsquo;s side door jammed, she went to the passenger&rsquo;s side and inserted her key. A man leaned through the open window of a van parked in the next spot, pressed a silenced pistol to the back of Margaret&rsquo;s head, and fired. She was dead before she hit the pavement. It was a professional hit, meticulously planned&mdash;but the killer didn&rsquo;t expect three employees of the nearby CBS television studios to stumble onto the scene of the crime. &ldquo;You didn&rsquo;t see nothin&rsquo;, did you?&rdquo; he demanded, before shooting the first eyewitness in the head. After chasing down and executing the other two men, the murderer sped out of the parking lot with Margaret&rsquo;s lifeless body in the back of his van. Thirty minutes later, the first detectives arrived on the scene. Veterans of Midtown North, a sprawling precinct stretching from the exclusive shops of Fifth Avenue to the flophouses of Hell&rsquo;s Kitchen, they thought they&rsquo;d seen it all. But a bloodbath in the heart of Manhattan was a shocking new level of depravity, and the investigation would unfold under intense media coverage. Setting out on the trail of an assassin, the NYPD uncovered one of the most diabolical criminal conspiracies in the city&rsquo;s history. Richard Hammer&rsquo;s blow-by-blow account of &ldquo;the CBS Murders&rdquo; is a thrilling tale of greed, violence, and betrayal, and a fascinating portrait of how a big-city police department solved the toughest of cases. </div>

The CBS Murders

<div>From a multiple Edgar Award winner: Three gripping accounts of murder, betrayal, and greed that made headlines and shocked the nation. A Pulitzer Prize nominee for his landmark work, The Court-Martial of Lt. Calley, Richard Hammer is a fearless chronicler of the dark side of human nature. Here in one volume are three of his most electrifying true crime accounts. The CBS Murders: On a warm spring evening in New York City, four people were shot in a parking lot near the CBS television studios in Midtown. But detectives soon discovered that only one victim was the intended target; the others were eyewitnesses who tragically stumbled onto the scene of the crime. In this Edgar Award&ndash;winning account, the NYPD sets out on the trail of a merciless assassin, uncovering one of the most diabolical criminal conspiracies in the city&rsquo;s history. &ldquo;A gripping police procedural.&rdquo; &mdash;Kirkus Reviews Beyond Obsession: Joyce Aparo seemed to be the perfect single mother, doting on her daughter, Karin. But behind closed doors, Joyce had been viciously abusing the sixteen-year-old violin prodigy for years. Then, Karin met the equally troubled Dennis Coleman, and the two fell head-over-heels into lustful infatuation. Soon after, Joyce&rsquo;s strangled body was found under a bridge. Dennis would eventually confess to the murder, claiming Karin begged him to kill her mother. But Karin had a very different story to tell. Was this really a twisted case of love and obsession, or was Karin now manipulating the police the same way she manipulated her former boyfriend? &ldquo;This true-crime tale has all the elements of a novel . . . A satisfying read.&rdquo; &mdash;Library Journal The Vatican Connection: Matteo de Lorenzo was one of the New York mob&rsquo;s top earners when he and his ruthless business partner, Vincent Rizzo, traveled to Europe to discuss a plan to launder millions of dollars worth of phony securities. Their partner in crime? Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the scandal-plagued president of the Vatican Bank. What they didn&rsquo;t know was that Det. Joseph Coffey was already on their trail. The legendary New York policeman worked tirelessly to trace the fraudulent stocks and bonds around the world and deep into the corridors of power in Washington, DC, and Rome. This &ldquo;explosive&rdquo; Edgar Award winner has &ldquo;all the ingredients of a thriller&rdquo; (San Francisco Chronicle).</div>

Richard Hammer
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Books By Richard Hammer (4 Books)

The Vatican Connection

Beyond Obsession

The CBS Murders

Deadly Secrets

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Books By Richard Hammer (4 Books)

The Vatican Connection

Beyond Obsession

The CBS Murders

Deadly Secrets

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