Victoria Hester

Blaine Pardoe

One brutal murder. Two possible suspects. And a “fascinating . . . puzzling case” that divided a Michigan community (Lansing State Journal). In the summer of 1982, the body of twenty-year-old Maggie Hume was found under a pile of blankets in the closet of her apartment. A Catholic school girl and daughter of a local football coach, Maggie had been raped and strangled. It was the only active murder investigation in Battle Creek, Michigan, suggesting the case would be an easy victory for authorities. Plus, they already had two persons of interest on watch. Maggie’s neighbor, Michael Ronning, confessed to the crime. Yet it was Maggie’s boyfriend, Jay Carter, who failed the polygraph, and whose account of his whereabouts on the night of the murder kept changing. Unfortunately, the Calhoun County Prosecutor’s Office and Battle Creek Police Department couldn’t agree on whom to charge. And the city soon took sides. Cracking open three decades of never-before-seen evidence, this real-life whodunit exposes the dark secrets and tragic infighting that turned the murder of Maggie Hume into an unwinnable contest of wills, egos, politics, and the law—a contest that, to this day, isn’t over.

Cold Case in Battle Creek

The Murder of Maggie Hume

It was the closest we ever came to unleashing the Third World War.... The image of that world was so horrible to contemplate that both sides stepped away from that precipice and opted for peace. Fires of October is the exhilarating military history of the Cuban Missile Crisis exploring in detail the strategic plans implemented by American Armed Forces as they headed towards a catastrophic nuclear collision with Cuba and the USSR. Using recently declassified material, Blaine Pardoe systematically recounts the origins of the crisis, from the Berlin Crisis of 1961 and Cuba s military metamorphosis, to the internal disorganization of the US military, which exacerbated tensions between the USA, Cuba, and the USSR. Pardoe reveals that the invasion plans were based on old intelligence, outdated maps, and misconceptions about the size, strength, and composition of the Soviet forces in Cuba; for the first time, and with harrowing results, he scrutinizes the potential fallout had the invasion gone ahead. Gripping and unnerving, Fires of October shows us just how close the world came to nuclear war.

The Fires of October: The Planned US Invasion of Cuba During the Missile Crisis of 1962

Personal Journal: Blaine Pardoe"I wasn't prepared for this, hell, no one was, especially the police. I could wrap my mind around a serial killer back then. Oddly, that was easy especially when these crimes first broke. Serial killers seemed commonplace - almost boring. The Route 211 killings were big news, but only for a few weeks, then the story disappeared, except for those of us involved with the investigation."These killings were something more. The Virginia Piedmont had malevolent secrets that were thought long lost and forgotten. The more I dug the more I discovered that these horrific murders spanned centuries. The common link to the savage murders was to the crazy Fitzwater family, but their ties to the crimes were even more sinister than the public ever knew. It was something dark and evil, a killer that didn't just kill his victims, it performed rituals that still send shivers down my spine."Nothing prepared me to face a force of darkness centuries old, one that consumed its victims to cheat death. I always said I had seen everything until that autumn of 1998 when I found myself ensnared in a diabolical growth of Virginia Creeper...

Virginia Creeper

Every small town has a moment when the real world abruptly intrudes, shattering the town's notions of itself and its people. For citizens of Marshall, Michigan, that moment came August 18, 1967. Nola Puyear was working downtown at the Tasty Cafe that morning when she received a package. She opened it and was instantly killed in a fiery explosion. In the months that followed, law enforcement and prosecutors wrestled with a crime that to all appearances was senseless. Evidence recovered from the blown-up restaurant, including a bottle of pills that had been tainted with lye, suggested a concerted plot to murder Mrs. Puyear. But why had someone wanted to kill the well-liked woman, by all accounts a pillar of her close-knit community? For that matter, was Marshall really the quaint paradise it seemed to be? Secret Witness brings to light startling new evidence and freshly uncovered facts to address these and other questions that, to this day, surround one of Michigan's most brutal murders. Based on extensive interviews with surviving prosecutors, police, and witnesses, Blaine Pardoe re-creates the investigation that pried into Marshall's dark underbelly and uncovered the seamy private lives led by some of the town's citizenry but led to only tenuous theories about the bombing. The book also examines the pivotal role played by the Secret Witness program, an initiative by the Detroit News that offered rewards for anonymous tips related to violent crimes. What's ultimately revealed is the true depth of evil that occurred in Marshall that day. Every small town has dirty little secrets. This time, they were deadly.

The Untold Story of the 1967 Bombing in Marshall, Michigan

Secret Witness

Praise for Lost Eagles "The pilot and observer stories selected have not previously seen much exposure. Not only are they interesting, but I found myself relishing getting to the next chapter to find out what Frederick Zinn was doing during the next stage of his life." ---Alan Roesler, founding member, League of World War I Aviation Historians, and former Managing Editor, Over the Front Praise for Blaine Pardoe's previous military histories (which average 4.5-star customer reviews on Amazon.com): Terror of the Autumn Skies: The True Story of Frank Luke, America's Rogue Ace of World War I "This painstaking biography of World War I ace Frank Luke will earn Pardoe kudos . . . Pardoe has flown a very straight course in researching and recounting Luke's myth-ridden life. . . . Thorough annotation makes the book that much more valuable to WWI aviation scholars as well as for more casual air-combat buffs." ---Booklist The Cruise of the Sea Eagle: The Amazing True Story of Imperial Germany's Gentleman Pirate "This is a gem of a story, well told, and nicely laid out with photos, maps, and charts that cleverly illuminate the lost era of ‘ gentlemen pirates' at sea . . . [German commerce raider Felix von Luckner's] legend lives on in this lively and readable biography." ---Admiral James Stavridis, U.S. Navy, Naval History Few people have ever heard of Frederick Zinn, yet even today airmen's families are touched by this man and the work he performed in both world wars. Zinn created the techniques still in use to determine the final fate of airmen missing in action. The last line of the Air Force Creed reads, "We will leave no airman behind." Zinn made that promise possible. Blaine Pardoe weaves together the complex story of a man who brought peace and closure to countless families who lost airmen during both world wars. His lasting contribution to warfare was a combination of his methodology for locating the remains of missing pilots (known as the Zinn system) and his innovation of imprinting all aircraft parts with the same serial number so that if a wreck was located, the crewman could be identified. The tradition he established for seeking and recovering airmen is carried on to this day. Blaine Pardoe is an accomplished author who has published dozens of military fiction novels and other books, including the widely acclaimed Cubicle Warfare: Self-Defense Tactics for Today's Hypercompetitive Workplace; Terror of the Autumn Skies: The True Story of Frank Luke, America's Rogue Ace of World War I; and The Cruise of the Sea Eagle: The Amazing True Story of Imperial Germany's Gentleman Pirate. Jacket photo: Frederick Zinn's Sopwith aircraft, which crashed during World War I. National Museum of the United States Air Force Archives.

One Man's Mission to Find Missing Airmen in Two World Wars

Lost Eagles

Adam "Pump" Arnold was both feared and regaled in Victorian- era Battle Creek. He was a bootlegger and a pimp, a robber and a con artist, an arsonist and a loan shark and even an assassin. Arnold faced off with the city over illegal liquor sales and flaunted his victory with a life-size statue of the mayor dressed as a hobo. Called the "greatest criminal in the history of Battle Creek," Arnold was convicted in a captivating public trial for the murder of his own son. Join authors Blaine Pardoe and Victoria Hester as they explore the life and misdeeds of the unabashed criminal mastermind who rocked Battle Creek to its core.

The Original Battle Creek Crime King: Adam “Pump” Arnold’s Vile Reign

How a vicious bombing murder on Main Street shattered the small town of Marshall, Michigan

Few people have ever heard of Frederick Zinn, yet even today airmen's families are touched by this man and the work he performed in both world wars. Zinn created the techniques still in use to determine the final fate of airmen missing in action. The last line of the Air Force Creed reads, "We will leave no airman behind." Zinn made that promise possible. Blaine Pardoe weaves together the complex story of a man who brought peace and closure to countless families who lost airmen during both world wars. His lasting contribution to warfare was a combination of his methodology for locating the remains of missing pilots (known as the Zinn system) and his innovation of imprinting all aircraft parts with the same serial number so that if a wreck was located, the crewman could be identified. The tradition he established for seeking and recovering airmen is carried on to this day. Blaine Pardoe is an accomplished author who has published dozens of military fiction novels and other books, including the widely acclaimed Cubicle Warfare: Self-Defense Tactics for Today's Hypercompetitive Workplace; Terror of the Autumn Skies: The True Story of Frank Luke, America's Rogue Ace of World War I; and The Cruise of the Sea Eagle: The Amazing True Story of Imperial Germany's Gentleman Pirate.

Blaine Pardoe

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