Uncle John's True Crime: A Classic Collection of Crooks, Cops, and Capers [Paperback]

Bathroom Readers' Institute (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2011

Do you like to read great stories? This book is loaded with them! We’ve rounded up the best cops-and-robber articles we’ve ever done--plus a rogue’s gallery of new offenders. You’ll read about dumb crooks and criminal masterminds, mafia henchman and low-level goons, ancient warriors and Old West gunslingers, crazed cops and jovial judges, and even a few loony lawyers and crooked Wall Street types. It’s the True Crime book that only Uncle John could make! Here are some of the unusual suspects . . .

- New York City’s “Mad Bomber”
- The Biddle Brothers and the Queen of the Jail
- Law and Order: Special Pants Unit
- Dopes who hide their dope in the strangest places
- America’s first private eye
- NASCAR’s bootlegging beginnings
- The real pirates of the Caribbean
- Why CSI makes the cops’ job even harder
- Billy the Kid and other outlaws who died with their boots on
- George Luger, Samuel Colt, and other fathers of guns
- The greatest train robberies
- Arrested for farting
- And much more!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bathroom Readers' Institute: The Bathroom Readers' Institute is a tight-knit group of loyal and skilled writers, researchers, and editors who have been working as a team for years. The BRI understands the habits of a very special market—Throne Sitters—and devotes itself to providing amazing facts and conversation pieces.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Portable Press; 1 edition (November 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607103184
• ISBN-13: 978-1607103189
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Lawyers & Criminals
  • #36 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Business & Professional

More About the Author

Since 1988, the Bathroom Readers' Institute has led the movement to stand up for those who sit down and read in the bathroom (and anywhere else, for that matter). Our crack staff works year-round to bring you the publishing industry's most absorbing anthologies of history, humor, origins, flops, fads, quotes, puzzles, kids' stuff, and more. Today, with more than 11 million books in print and a membership base topping 40,000 loyal readers, the movement begat by Uncle John is stronger than ever. In fact, the "Uncle John's Bathroom Reader" series in the longest-running, most popular series of its kind in the world.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book to read July 22, 2012

By Kenneth A. Klomhaus

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Being a retired cop, I am always interested in true crime stories and this book provides many great stories that I find fun to read about. It is a good book to read anywhere in the house.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Recycled Uncle John's Material Still a Winner! February 20, 2012

By Michael OConnor TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

UNCLE JOHN'S TRUE CRIME, A CLASSIC COLLECTION OF CROOKS, COPS AND CAPERS features crime-related material lifted from over 100 previously published Bathroom Reader volumes. Despite that, it's still an appealing and educational read.

As with other UJBR volumes, this 2011 release serves up a mix of quick reads, two-three page articles, four-five pagers and multi-part articles that examine crime topics in some depth. Included in this smorgasbord are the following:

*the disappearance of Judge Crater;
*strange prisoner lawsuits;
*the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa;
*Johnny's Cash concerts at Folsom and San Quentin;
*a history of the RCMP;
*the helicopter jailbreaks of 'Kalashnikov Pat;'
*serial killer quotes;
*modern pirates;
*dumb crooks;
*weird sentences;
*the disappearance of the Mary Celeste;
*the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872; and
*the Dashiell Hammett story.

Being an avid Bathroom Reader fan, I did get a vague sense of deja vu paging through UNCLE JOHN'S TRUE CRIME. However, since I haven't read all the UJBR volumes used to compile this book, there were some new items to tickle my trivia fancy. And, in truth, the whole compilation, with its focus on crime, was entertaining.

Trivia buffs and crime afficiandos alike will enjoy UNCLE JOHN'S TRUE CRIME. It's interesting and fun and only $9.95! Recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars True Crime July 27, 2012

By C. Houghton

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Fun! Enjoyed learning some new facts and remembering some old tales. You know, some of those potential crooks are pretty dumb.