The True Story of Harold Shipman One of Britain's Most Prolific Serial Killer With an Estimated 218 Victims
Series: True Crime Explicit Vol 7
Author: Genoveva Ortiz, True Crime 7
Publisher: Independently Published
Release Date: August 3, 2022
ISBN: 9798840508602
139 Pages
Blurb:
If you were a patient of this prolific serial killer doctor, you’re lucky to be alive.
Meet Harold Shipman, a serial killer with a disturbing proclivity to murder a specific kind of patient. With an estimated 250 victims, there’s no doubt his kill count might be much, much higher. But what drove him to murder?
You’ll have to read on to find out.
But we’ll warn you now, this story might haunt your nightmares and leave you scared to go to your next checkup. When you learn the truth of Harold’s crimes, and what happened to him in the end, you’ll be stunned, dismayed, and no doubt left with the kinds of questions that have no easy answers. So buy this book and learn the twisted truth… if you dare.
My Thoughts:
This was both a page turner and a quick read for me. While reading this, I found I was looking back at my own medical visits and thinking of how vulnerable we are every time we have a procedure done or when we take a prescribed medication. This really made me shudder. I am totally astounded by the numbers of patients that died both in those that had evidence and could be proven and those that were probable. Unbelievable!
Truly a must read for those that enjoy true crime or those that just want an interesting read about how a doctor can end up on the wrong side of his oath!
I received a copy of this book through LibraryThing. I was not required to post a positive review - but one of my honest opinion.
Arsenic and Clam Chowder: Murder in the Gilded Age New York
Author: James D. Livingston
Publisher: excelsior editions
ISBN: 9781438431796
Genre: Nonfiction, True Crime, History
About the Book:
Arsenic and Clam Chowder recounts the sensational 1896 murder trial of Mary Alice Livingston, a member of one of the most prestigious families in New York, who was accused of murdering her own mother, Evelina Bliss. The bizarre instrument of death, an arsenic-laced pail of clam chowder, had been delivered to the victim by her ten-year-old granddaughter, and Livingston was arrested in her mourning clothes immediately after attending her mother’s funeral. In addition to being the mother of four out-of-wedlock children, the last born in prison while she was awaiting trial, Livingston faced the possibility of being the first woman to be executed in New York’s new-fangled electric chair, and all these lurid details made her arrest and trial the central focus of an all-out circulation war then underway between Joseph Pulitzer’s World and Randolph Hearst’s Journal.
The story is set against the electric backdrop of Gilded Age Manhattan. The arrival of skyscrapers, automobiles, motion pictures, and other modern marvels in the 1890s was transforming urban life with breathtaking speed, just as the battles of reformers against vice, police corruption, and Tammany Hall were transforming the city’s political life. The aspiring politician Teddy Roosevelt, the prolific inventor Thomas Edison, bon vivant Diamond Jim Brady, and his companion Lillian Russell were among Gotham’s larger-than-life personalities, and they all played cameo roles in the dramatic story of Mary Alice Livingston and her arsenic-laced clam chowder. In addition to telling a ripping good story, the book addresses a number of social and legal issues, among them capital punishment, equal rights for women, societal sexual standards, inheritance laws in regard to murder, gender bias of juries, and the meaning of “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Read the Excerpt!
Matricide is a particularly heinous crime, and the arrest of Mary Alice in mourning clothes immediately after attending her mother’s burial drew special notice from the press. That the allegedly poisonous chowder was delivered to the victim by her ten-year-old granddaughter added extra interest; experience had shown that stories involving children always drew considerable attention, particularly among women readers. There was also a substantial inheritance involved, and Mary Alice was a member of the prominent and socially prestigious Livingston family. Money and New York society were reliable attention getters. On top of all this, Mary Alice was the mother of three illegitimate children and pregnant with a fourth. Scandal piled upon scandal. Although this was not the first time that Mary Alice had drawn the attention of the New York newspapers, her 1896 trial for the murder of her mother was to dominate the news for many weeks in the era of “yellow journalism” when papers focused even more attention than usual on sensational stories. Hundreds of thousands of readers in New York and well beyond would become very familiar with the story of Mary Alice, the clam chowder she sent to her mother, and the death of Evelina Bliss.
My Thoughts:
A wonderfully written and well researched book, "Arsenic and Clam Chowder" is guaranteed to make you look at your family and food in a totally different light. Mr. Livingston does a fantastic job of telling the story of a powerful Socialite family and the tragedy that struck them and shook all of New York. What I found even more interesting is that the story is not just another story to the author, but is much more personal, as Mary Alice is his distant cousin!
I found this book transported me to the time, and made me familiar with New York in the late 1890's and early 1900's. His descriptions and retelling of events made the time and event come to life, making this an easy book to read. The twist that were revealed left me shocked and amazed. I was also amazed at how over 100 years ago, the evidence was collected and tested.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in True Crime, history of New York, the Gilded Age, or just a good book about a horrific deed centered around a bucket of clam chowder.
About James Livingston
Born June 23, 1930, in Brooklyn, New York, James D. Livingston studied engineering physics at Cornell University and received a PhD in applied physics from Harvard University in 1956. After retiring from General Electric after a lengthy career as a research physicist, he taught in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. Although a physicist by profession, he has long had a strong interest in American history, and is the coauthor, with Sherry H. Penney, of A Very Dangerous Woman: Martha Wright and Women’s Rights.
You can find out more about James and Arsenic and Clam Chowderat www.jamesdlivingston.net.
This book was provided by the author through Pump Up Your Book for me to honestly review.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Christy Wong of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rebecca Nichols Alonzo
Becky Alonzo never felt safe as a child. Although she lived next door to the church her father pastored, the devil lived across the street. This tormented man terrorized her family with rifle shots and ten bombings. When these violent acts didn't scare them away, he went even further. During dinner one evening, seven-year-old Becky and her younger brother watched as their parents were gunned down. Today Becky speaks about betrayal and the power of forgiveness. She is a graduate of Missouri State University and has been involved in ministry, including a church plant, youth outreach, and missions, for thirteen years. She and her husband, along with their two children, live in Franklin, Tennessee.
Product Details:
List Price: $14.99 Paperback: 288 pages Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (July 2, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1414326599 ISBN-13: 978-1414326597
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
Walking, Crawling, Dead or Alive
I ran.
My bare feet pounding the pavement were burning from the sunbaked asphalt. Each contact between flesh and blacktop provoked bursts of pain as if I were stepping on broken glass. The deserted country road, stretching into the horizon, felt as if it were conspiring against me. No matter how hard I pushed myself, the safe place I was desperate to reach eluded me.
Still, I ran.
Had a thousand angry hornets been in pursuit, I couldn’t have run any faster. Daddy’s instructions had been simple: I had to be a big girl, run down the street as fast as my legs could carry me, and get help. There was nothing complicated about his request. Except for the fact that I’d have to abandon my hiding place under the kitchen table and risk being seen by the armed madman who had barricaded himself with two hostages in my bedroom down the hall. I knew, however, that ignoring Daddy’s plea was out of the question.
And so I ran.
Even though Daddy struggled to appear brave, the anguish in his eyes spoke volumes. Splotches of blood stained his shirt just below his right shoulder. The inky redness was as real as the fear gnawing at the edges of my heart. I wanted to be a big girl for the sake of my daddy. I really did. But the fear and chaos now clouding the air squeezed my lungs until my breathing burned within my chest.
My best intentions to get help were neutralized, at least at first. I remained hunkered down, unable to move, surrounded by the wooden legs of six kitchen chairs. I had no illusions that a flimsy 6 x 4 foot table would keep me safe, yet I was reluctant to leave what little protection it afforded me.
In that space of indecision, I wondered how I might open the storm door without drawing attention to myself. One squeak from those crusty hinges was sure to announce my departure plans. Closing the door without a bang against the frame was equally important. The stealth of a burglar was needed, only I wasn’t the bad guy.
Making no more sound than a leaf falling from a tree, I inched my way out from under the table. I stood and then scanned the room, left to right. I felt watched, although I had no way of knowing for sure whether or not hostile eyes were studying my movements. I inhaled the distinct yet unfamiliar smell of sulfur lingering in the air, a calling card left behind from the repeated blasts of a gun.
I willed myself to move.
My bare feet padded across the linoleum floor.
I was our family’s lifeline, our only connection to the outside world. While I hadn’t asked to be put in that position, I knew Daddy was depending on me. More than that, Daddy needed me to be strong. To act. To do what he was powerless to do. I could see that my daddy, a strong ex–Navy man, was incapable of the simplest movement. The man whom I loved more than life itself, whose massive arms daily swept me off my feet while swallowing me with an unmatched tenderness, couldn’t raise an arm to shoo a fly.
To see him so helpless frightened me.
Yes, Daddy was depending on me.
Conflicted at the sight of such vulnerability, I didn’t want to look at my daddy. Yet my love for him galvanized my resolve. I reached for the storm-door handle. Slow and steady, as if disarming a bomb, and allowing myself quick glances backward to monitor the threat level of a sudden ambush, I opened the storm door and stepped outside. With equal care, I nestled the metal door against its frame.
I had to run.
I shot out from under the carport, down the driveway, and turned right where concrete and asphalt met. The unthinkable events of the last five minutes replayed themselves like an endless-loop video in my mind. My eyes stung, painted with hot tears at the memory. Regardless of their age, no one should have to witness what I had just experienced in that house—let alone a seven-year-old girl. The fresh images of what had transpired moments ago mocked me with the fact that my worst fears had just come true.
I had to keep running.
Although I couldn’t see any activity through the curtains framing my bedroom window, that didn’t mean the gunman wasn’t keeping a sharp eye on the street. I hesitated, but only for a moment more. What might happen gave way to what had happened. I had to get help. Now, almost frantic to reach my destination, I redoubled my efforts.
I ran on.
To get help for Momma and Daddy. To escape the gunman. To get away from all the threatening letters, the sniper gunshots, the menacing midnight phone calls, the home invasions—and the devil who seemed to be behind so many of them.
But I’m getting ahead of the story.
My Thoughts:
I have no idea how many times I had to stop reading this book and give myself a little time to grasp what I had read. Did you ever hear that saying, "Truth is stranger than fiction"? This book definitely fits that category. If this had been a fiction book, I would have said the author was really stretching things - this would never happen in real life. But this book is nonfiction, and it really did happen.
I am still trying to find the words to express my mortification of all the events that took place. A family is terrorized by the neighbor across the street, and nothing is done about it. Why? He's a person of affluence and influence and without LOTS of solid proof, a case can't be made against him. For years, the local police try to build a case, and finally, they have enough to bring in outside help, like the FBI and ATF.
To imagine the horror the family went through - even after reading it, I cannot even fathom the terror that this family dealt with. The choice for them not to leave, is a stunning one, and one that the father will question for years to come. What happens to the family comes as a total surprise, because they face their largest test by becoming victims of an unsuspected act of violence - one that I never saw coming.
The final surprise is how the daughter of the family (and the author of this book) follows her father's example and forgives those that have ruined her life. She explains why and how that happens and how it has helped her move on.
This book is truly jaw-dropping and an absolutely amazing read!
Parental Note - This book is disturbing and shouldn't be read by children. If you are thinking about giving it to your teen, please read it first before deciding if it is appropriate.
This book was provided by the FIRST program for me to honestly review.
