911 Operator

"Peterson's Master the Public Safety Dispatcher/911 Operator Exam, is the must-have guide for those seeking a career as an emergency dispatcher or 911 operator. This guide provides everything you need to succeed on the exam, including full-length practice tests, reviews of every question type on the exam, proven test-taking strategies to help you score higher, and comprehensive information for beginning and advanced-level emergency personnel."--Publisher's website

A rookie 911 operator writes with humor, empathy, and amazing candor of the demanding job that changes her life forever.

Master the Public Safety Dispatcher/911 Operator Exam provides everything you need to succeed on the exam, including two full-length practice tests, thorough review of every question type on the exam, proven test-taking strategies to help you score higher, and comprehensive information for beginning and advanced-level emergency personnel. Also, expert tips on how to best analyze job announcements and interviewing successfully are included to give you an edge over the competition.

For years there have been rumors of inhuman things inhabiting the forests and mountains that make up the Trinity Alps of Northern California. Bigfoot. UFOs. Ghosts. Vampires. One family is about to learn the truth behind these rumors as their summer vacation quickly turns into a one-way trip to Hell. No one is safe and nothing is sacred when dealing with the Nothing Men.

A horrific account of the murders, investigation, and trial of the serial killer doctor known as the “Creighton Killer.” “A powerful and compelling story.”—The Haunted Reading Room Detective Derek Mois wasn’t sure what he was dealing with when in March 2008 he walked into a home in an affluent Omaha neighborhood and was confronted with the bodies of an 11-year-old boy and the housekeeper. Both had been murdered with kitchen knives plunged into their throats. Who would do something so vile—and why? Lacking answers, Mois and other detectives working the case were stumped. Five years later, a strikingly similar crime occurred in which two more victims were brutally murdered with knives expertly thrust into their jugular veins. The modus operandi of the murders pointed Mois and a special task force in the direction of looking for a serial killer. But no one could have anticipated that path would lead to the Department of Pathology at Creighton University. In Pathological: The Murderous Rage of Dr. Anthony Garcia, authors Henry J. Cordes and Todd Cooper, who covered the story for the Omaha World-Herald, recount the dramatic tale of deep-seated revenge, determined detectives, and the sensational trial of the doctor-turned-serial killer.

The true-crime story of one man’s life after his faked death, by the New York Times–bestselling author of Murder in the Family. 1982: Oregon businessman Phil Champagne, age 52, dies in a tragic boating accident off Lopez Island off the coast of Washington state. He is survived by one ex-wife, four adult children, an octogenarian mother, and two despondent brothers. Phil didn’t know he was dead until he read it in the paper. All things considered, he took it rather well. So did Phil’s brother, Mitch, the beneficiary of a 1.5 million dollar policy on Phil’s life. 1992: Washington restauranteur Harold Stegeman, famous for his thick, juicy steaks, is arrested by the Secret Service for printing counterfeit United States currency in an Idaho shed. In addition to the bogus bills, Stegeman also has a fraudulently obtained passport, a fabricated Cayman Island driver’s license, and Phil Champagne’s fingerprints. When the uproarious reality of Harold Stegeman’s secret identity hit the headlines, the counterfeit resurrection of Phil Champagne became one of the most celebrated and hysterically funny true-crime stories of the twentieth century. And while every supermarket tabloid and television talk show hounded after the untold story, only Edgar Award–winner Burl Barer captured Champagne’s confidence and received permission to detail Phil’s post-mortem career of fraud, deception, trickery, lies, and fine prime rib, bringing to life the exploits of a man his family thought dead over a decade ago. Includes bonus photographs, a police interrogation transcript, and an afterword by Phil Champagne Praise for Man Overboard “True crime at its best. . . . Barer has undeniable talent, pizzaz and imagination!” —Jack Olsen, New York Times–bestselling author of Son: A Psychopath and His Victims “Crisp as a freshly printed C-note. Exceptionally clever and vastly entertaining!” —Lee Goldberg, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Bone Canyon “Barer does it again! A deft and dazzling display of solid research and rapier wit—a must for all true crime aficionados.” —Gary C. King, author of Love, Lies, and Murder

A “riveting account of guilt versus innocence” from the bestselling author and host of the true crime radio show House of Mystery (Aphrodite Jones, New York Times bestselling author). It was a shattering death bed confession by a heartbroken mother. But would it solve the oldest cold case murder case in American jurisprudence? In January 1994, Eileen Tessier told Jack McCullough’s half-sister Janet Tessier that he, her son, kidnapped 7-year-old Maria Ridulph from their neighborhood in Sycamore, Illinois, and killed her in December 1957. It was a case that tore the child’s family apart, as well as dividing and terrifying the town as the days, then the months, and finally the years passed with no arrest. In 2008 the Illinois State police reopened the case against Jack after receiving an email from Janet Tessier about their mother’s deathbed confession. After the Illinois State police interviewed Janet and learned that Jack had also been accused of raping their other sister, Jeanne Tessier, they reopened the case. But would reopening the case solve the question of who killed Maria Ridulph? And was McCullough the killer? In The Last Man Standing, true crime author Alan Warren writes in exacting detail about the kidnapping, murder and subsequent investigations—both in 1957 and 2008—that eventually led to the murder conviction of Jack McCullough. But the story doesn’t stop there as it delves into the years McCullough spent in prison and the efforts to have his conviction overturned. Was McCullough the brutal killer of a little girl? Or was he the last man standing when the justice system decided he needed to pay for the crime? You decide.

You may have heard of the infamous dog snatches baby case that happened in Kentucky in July 2009. Just three days old, Baby AJ was fast asleep in his crib after a morning feeding. With his parents downstairs preparing for the rest of the day, Dakota and Nikita, two of the family dogs, snuck upstairs and opened the back door to the bedroom. Dakota then took AJ out of his crib and proceeded out back into the woods, carrying AJ in her mouth. The mother, Chrissie, is a British citizen and the father, Michael, was born in Indiana. Together they give a brief account of their lives prior to the accident followed by excruciating details of the accident itself including the 15 minutes it took to find their son and the nightmare they had to endure afterwards. Starting with the accident and the 911 call, followed by the emergency room and AJ's stay in Pediatric Intensive Care, Michael and Chrissie give a very personal account of the feelings and emotions they experienced along with pictures from their private collection. Although the story generated a massive media storm and immediately made national news, the public was generally shielded from the private details the couple had to deal with in the background. Michael and Chrissie intimately share those private details including social services and Sheriff investigations that ultimately resulted in information brought before the grand jury and formal child neglect charges filed against the couple. Michael and Chrissie gives you a chance to step into their shoes and experience what it was like to not only live through a horrifying accident of this nature but for all of the parents out there with newborns, wonder whether or not, Could This Happen To You?