Nestled deep in the Surrey countryside stands the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial. Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, its panels contain the names of nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of Britain and the Commonwealth who died in the Second World War and who have no known grave.Among the men and women who names are carved on the memorial are Special Operations Executive agents who died as prisoners or while working with Allied underground movements, servicemen killed in the various raids on enemy occupied territory in Europe, such as Dieppe and Saint-Nazaire, men and women who died at sea in hospital ships and troop transports, British Army parachutists, and even pilots and aircrew who lost their lives in flying accidents or in aerial combat.But the panels also hide a dark secret. Entwined within the names of heroes and heroines are those of nineteen men whose last resting place is known, and whose deaths were less than glorious. All were murderers who, following a civil or military trial, were executed for the heinous offense they had committed. The bodies of these individuals, with the exception of one, lay buried in un-consecrated ground.As Paul Johnson reveals, the cases of the 'Brookwood Killers' are violent, disturbing and often brutal in their content. They are not war crimes, but crimes committed in a time of war, for which the offender has their name recorded and maintained in perpetuity. Something that is not always applied in the case of the victim.

Nestled deep in the Surrey countryside stands the Brookwood 1939-1945 Memorial. Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, its panels contain the names of nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of Britain and the Commonwealth who died in the Second World War and who have no known grave. Among the men and women who names are carved on the memorial are Special Operations Executive agents who died as prisoners or while working with Allied underground movements, servicemen killed in the various raids on enemy occupied territory in Europe, such as Dieppe and Saint-Nazaire, men and women who died at sea in hospital ships and troop transports, British Army parachutists, and even pilots and aircrew who lost their lives in flying accidents or in aerial combat. But the panels also hide a dark secret. Entwined within the names of heroes and heroines are those of nineteen men whose last resting place is known, and whose deaths were less than glorious. All were murderers who, following a civil or military trial, were executed for the heinous offence they had committed. The bodies of these individuals, with the exception of one, lay buried in un-consecrated ground. As Paul Johnson reveals, the cases of the ‘Brookwood Killers’ are violent, disturbing and often brutal in their content. They are not war crimes, but crimes committed in a time of war, for which the offender has their name recorded and maintained in perpetuity. Something that is not always applied in the case of the victim.

• Aileen Wuornos (US): Became a prostitute in Florida and murdered seven men between 1989 and 1990. Claimed self-defense, saying the men had either raped or attempted to rape her. • Amelia Dyer (UK): Operated as a baby farmer, taking in infants for money but neglecting and often killing them. Suspected of being responsible for the deaths of over 400 infants. • Amelia Sach (UK): Along with her partner Annie Walters, ran a baby farming business where they murdered infants for profit. • Anna Maria Zwanziger (Germany): Infamous for poisoning victims with arsenic. • Belle Gunness (Norway): Lured men to her farm through personal ads, then murdered and robbed them. Estimated to have killed between 25 to 40 people. • Bertha Gifford (US): Poisoned several family members and neighbors with arsenic. Arrested in 1928, declared insane, and died in a mental institution in 1951. Suspected of killing up to 17 people. • Carol M. Bundy (US): Teamed up with her lover to murder several young women. Known as the Sunset Strip Killers. Sentenced to life in prison in 1983, and died in prison in 2003. • Charlene Gallego (US): Along with her husband, kidnapped, raped, and murdered several young women. Arrested in 1980, and sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. Paroled in 1997 but rearrested in 2002 for violating her parole.

A gripping true crime compendium of some of the world's most infamous and shocking mass murderers, such as John Wayne Gacy, the Boston Strangler, the Moors murderers and Harold Shipman, as well as some lesser-known figures. This book not only relates the disturbing events that transpired but also delves into the psychology of the perpetrators.

The Oise-Aisne American Cemetery is the last resting place of 6,012 American soldiers who died fighting in a small portion of Northern France during the First World War. The impressive cemetery is divided into four plots marked A to D. However, few visitors are aware that across the road, behind the immaculate façade of the superintendent’s office, unmarked and completely surrounded by impassable shrubbery, is Plot E, a semi-secret fifth plot that contains the bodies of ninety-four American soldiers. These were men who were executed for crimes committed in the European Theater of Operations during and just after the Second World War. Originally, the men whose death sentences were carried out were buried near the sites of their executions in locations as far afield as England, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Algeria. A number of the men were executed in the grounds of Shepton Mallet prison in Somerset – the majority of whom were hanged in the execution block, with two being shot by a firing squad in the prison yard. The executioner at most of the hangings was Thomas William Pierrepoint, assisted mainly by his more-famous nephew Albert Pierrepoint. Then, in 1949, under a veil of secrecy, the ‘plot of shame’, as it has become known, was established in France. The site does not exist on maps of the cemetery and it is not mentioned on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s website. Visits to Plot E are not encouraged. Indeed, public access is difficult because the area is concealed, surrounded by bushes, and is closed to visitors. No US flag is permitted to fly over the plot and the graves themselves have no names, just small, simple stones the size of index cards that are differentiated only by reference numbers. Even underground the dishonored are set apart, with each body being positioned with its back to the main cemetery. In Without Stars & Stripes, the historian Paul Johnson uncovers the history of Plot E and the terrible stories of wartime crime linked to it.

Blair Russo makes the biggest mistake of her life when she hires private detective Jack Darrow to help solve the brutal slayings of her sister and brother-in-law. One unforgettable night in New York, Jack delivers a shocking message that turns Blair's world upside down. Jack's idea of fun is to play a deadly game, promising that people close to Blair will die in her hometown of Greenpointe, California-not now, but at some point in the future-all just for fun. More than a year passes before Blair receives a package from Jack-he's in town and he's ready to play. As Jack's game of murder begins, the body count steadily rises. Is Jack's game really what it seems? What secrets and lies are hiding behind the handsome and charismatic Jack Darrow? Does someone else know about the game? A deadly surprise is waiting where and when it is least suspected. Someone else has malice in mind.