Thomas Thompson

Power, passion, oil money, murder—all the ingredients of a fast-paced, gripping mystery novel drive this true-crime story that on its original publication leapt onto best-seller lists nationwide. To that mix, add glamorous personalities, prominent Texas businessmen, gangland reprobates, and a whole parade of medical experts. At once a documentary account of events and a novelistic reconstruction of encounters among the cast of colorful characters, this anatomy of murder first chronicles the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death in 1969 of Joan Robinson—the pampered daughter of a Texas oil millionaire and the wife of plastic surgeon Dr. John Hill—then examines the bizarre consequences that followed it. For in 1972, having been charged by his father-in-law with Joan's death and having survived a mistrial, John Hill himself was killed, supposedly by a robber. So was the robber, by a cop, supposedly for resisting arrest. From the exclusive haunts of Houston's super-rich to the city's seamy underworld of prostitutes, pimps, and punks, author and investigative journalist Thomas Thompson tracks down all the leads and clues. And in a brutal tale of blood and money he uncovers some shocking and bitter truths.

Blood and Money

This acclaimed book reconstructs the bizarre, bloody journey of a mesmerizing but sinister young man named Charles Sobhraj. Journeying back and forth over half the globe - from the boulevards of Paris to the slopes of Mount Everest to the underbellies of Bangkok and Hong Kong - Sobhraj left in his wake a trail of baffling mystery and inexplicable horror. He also led the police of a dozen nations on a chase that ended at least twelve and possibly twenty-four corpses later with a mere seven-year prison sentence in Delhi. Since when he has been released... In masterly fashion Thompson examines the lives not only of the intelligent, charismatic, conscienceless and thoroughly dangerous Sobhraj but also of the unsuspecting victims that he drugged, robbed, sometimes tortured and without a qualm killed. First published in 1979, Serpentine continues to offer a reading experience as frightening as it is unforgettable.

Serpentine

Lost!

New York Times Bestseller: Three former friends bound by ambition, fame, and a dark secret reunite in this spellbinding saga from the author of Blood and Money. They were the princes of their high school in Fort Worth, Texas. Valedictorian Kleber Cantrell became a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who befriended the famous and exposed the notorious. Mack Crawford, teenage Adonis and University of Texas football hero, used his good looks to jumpstart an acting career. And T.J. Luther, voted “most popular” by the senior class, fell into a lurid life of crime but found God in prison and reinvented himself as the nation’s leading right-wing televangelist, his message of faith masking an all-consuming desire for power and revenge. The different routes Kleber, Mack, and T.J. took to celebrity share common signposts: personal upheavals, ruinous marriages, petty jealousies, and blind ambition. Now, on the eve of their twenty-fifth high school reunion, their separate paths will cross to devastating effect—because these three friends have something else in common. It happened in an isolated cabin in the Texas woods on the night they graduated. They vowed never to speak of it again, but they always knew there would be a terrible price to pay . . . A unique blend of fiction and autobiography, Celebrity is an “enthralling” tale of suspense from an Edgar Award–winning author whose journalism career gave him a front-row seat to the tumultuous lives of the rich and famous (TheBoston Globe). A six-month national bestseller, it was the basis for a television miniseries starring Ned Beatty, Hal Holbrook, and James Whitmore

A Novel

Celebrity

An account of the work and rivalry of two famous cardiac surgeons, Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley of Houston.

Hearts; of Surgeons and Transplants, Miracles and Disasters Along the Cardiac Frontier

Addressed to Country Gentlemen

Tithes Indefensible, Or, Observations on the Origin and Effects of Tithes

The “powerful and moving” true story of a Long Island family torn apart by drugs, violence, and the unbridgeable divide between generations (Kirkus Reviews). George Diener, World War II veteran and traveling salesman, and his wife, Carol, had old-fashioned values and ordinary aspirations: a home, a family, the pleasure of watching their two sons grow up. But in February 1972, an unthinkable tragedy occurred in the basement of their Nassau County residence, shattering their hopes and dreams forever. George and Carol doted on their shy eldest son, Richie. But at fifteen, the boy fell into a devastating downward spiral. He started smoking marijuana, shoplifting, and hanging out with drug dealers, and was soon arrested for assault and expelled from school. By the time his parents sought psychiatric counseling for their son, Richie was addicted to barbiturates and given to violent outbursts and threats. The boy George and Carol knew was long gone. Then, one winter evening, Richie came at his father with a steak knife and a suicidal cry of “Shoot!” Edgar Award–winning author Thomas Thompson delivers a “scary, harrowing” account of a turbulent era in American history when the gulf between young and old, bohemian and conservative, felt wider and more dangerous than ever before (The New York Times Book Review). A tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, the devastating account of George and Carol Diener’s nightmare was adapted into The Death of Richie, a television movie starring Ben Gazzara, Eileen Brennan, and Robby Benson as Richie.

A Father, His Son, and the Ultimate American Tragedy

Richie

Go Winds and whisper to my Love, [song] written by Mr Anderson. [Score.]

Nanny of the Tweed. [Song.] (Written by Mr Anderson.).

James Hogg

The Works of the Ettrick Shepherd [pseud.]: Tales and sketches

Tells the story of the crimes of a handsome young man and his accomplice, whose victims were tourists in Hong Kong, France, Greece, and Italy and whose methods were poisoning, burying, and burning

A History of the Church and Priory of Swine in Holderness ...

The world of dreams reveals itself in many ways. For Cass it's a place to escape the dull grind of her lonely life, a place where she can run the twisted streets that curl off the Boulevard and live out her violent fantasies. For Detective Babbage, it's a beat to walk, a dark, dangerous environment for him to hunt down his clues and get closer to who or what is haunting its streets. For Adlai, sitting drunk in a bar on the border between Milky Way Boulevard and the real world, it's a place to watch his creation transform itself from a theatre of heroism into, hopefully, something more vital. The one thread that pulls them together is the nightmare vision walking the streets, a rogue musical virus that infects users and feeds off their fears, growing stronger with each kill. It has been designed to take down the Grid, a powerful governing entity on the Boulevard, but this weapon has become twisted, harvesting any user it comes across, and threatening to take down the entire structure of the Boulevard itself.

The World of Dreams Reveals Itself in Many Ways

Milky Way Boulevard

Researches into the history of Welton and its neighbourhood

The Lancashire Omnibus

Pioneer heart surgeons and bitter rivals: The “thoroughly engrossing” true story of doctors Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley (The New York Times Book Review). By 1970, the Texas Medical Center in Houston was the leading heart institute in the world, home to the field’s two most distinguished surgeons: Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey and his young and ambitious disciple, Dr. Denton Arthur Cooley. Their combined mastery in occlusive disease, coronary artery bypass surgery, angioplasty, and heart transplants was unparalleled. For years they worked across the same operating table focused on, and fighting toward, the same lifesaving goals. But what began as a personal friendship and a mutually respectful professional partnership soon deteriorated into a jealous and embittered feud. Though their discord was a cause célèbre among colleagues, it would take award-winning investigative journalist Thomas Thompson to uncover the stunning betrayals and simmering resentments that fueled one of the most famous rivalries in the history of medicine. Weaving the story of DeBakey and Cooley with the stories of patients suffering life-threatening medical conditions, Thompson paints a fascinating portrait of the risks and rewards of cutting-edge science. From devastating tragedies to miraculous breakthroughs, Hearts is a richly detailed and utterly “compelling” account of the turmoil and tension behind one of the greatest medical achievements of the twentieth century (Time).

Of Surgeons and Transplants, Miracles and Disasters Along the Cardiac Frontier

Hearts

This is a reproduction of the original artefact. Generally these books are created from careful scans of the original. This allows us to preserve the book accurately and present it in the way the author intended. Since the original versions are generally quite old, there may occasionally be certain imperfections within these reproductions. We're happy to make these classics available again for future generations to enjoy!

Thomas Thompson

About

Books

Join the club