Patrick J. Geary Pořadí knih

Tento výkladový slovník je rozsahem i pojetím ojedinělým pokusem představit epochu středověku v celé její šíři a plasticitě. Každé z více než osmi desítek hesel je samostatným esejem.

During the years 1918 and 1919, six people in New Orleans were killed and six more injured, in their homes, in the dead of night, by an axe-wielding intruder who got away without a trace. After more than a year, the killings stopped as suddenly as they started. No trace of the murderer was ever found. Geary presents the facts and the speculations about these attacks in the third in his series on twentieth-century murder.

William H. Bonney went from cowboy and gunslinger to pure outlawry. On the one hand, he was charming, fun-loving - often at social events like dances. On the other hand, he had no compunction to coldly kill a man, and anyone else who got in his way. He also proved hard to keep in jail even when caught. It is probably his feats of derring-do escaping from jails that made him most famous and it is the main subject of this biography which follows him until he is finally found and shot in the dead of night.

On January 15, 1947, a woman walking with her daughter in a Los Angeles neighborhood passed what looked to be a discarded mannequin. It turned out to be the body of Elizabeth Short: posed, drained of blood, meticulously scrubbed, and cut in two. From this point, Geary reconstitutes and reveals for us the life of this 22-year-old woman who had become known as "Black Dahlia" because of her striking appearance. How could her life have ended in such a ghastly fashion? Was it a jealous boyfriend, a rejected suitor, or one of LA's notorious mafia members, with whom she had been connected? The case gets more complex when, days later, a local newspaper receives a cut-out letter from an anonymous "Black Dahlia Avenger" admitting to the crime.

"Blue has never left the state of Maryland. Smith has never been in love. By the end of the next week, neither of these statements will still be true. Roxie alternates between Blue's story in urban Baltimore and Smith's in rural Mississippi, following the ten days that will transform their lives forever. Things have never really changed for Blue--same friends, same jobs, same selfish behavior with women. But when his best friend threatens to move to New Orleans, Blue begins to reflect upon his fundamental purpose in life. Simultaneously, along come two prospective love interests who will complicate things as they push him to the brink of insanity. Smith cuts fabric at a mattress factory but dreams of much more. After receiving an unexpected promotion, he encounters "the girl with the brilliant lilac," a beautiful young woman who is new in town. The story builds to a powerful and thought-provoking conclusion as the two men's lives ultimately collide. Roxie is a story of redemption, resiliency, personal growth, and the interconnectedness of us all. It inspires deep introspection, punctuated by a cast of delightfully eccentric characters who provide humor and levity to this dramatic tale."--Amazon.com.

"The first omnibus volume from Geary's increasingly storied 'Treasuries of Murder'"--Back cover.