The Kidnapping

Winner of a 2020-2021 New York City Book Award In a rapidly changing New York, two forces battled for the city's soul: the pro-slavery New Yorkers who kept the illegal slave trade alive and well, and the abolitionists fighting for freedom. We often think of slavery as a southern phenomenon, far removed from the booming cities of the North. But even though slavery had been outlawed in Gotham by the 1830s, Black New Yorkers were not safe. Not only was the city built on the backs of slaves; it was essential in keeping slavery and the slave trade alive. In The Kidnapping Club, historian Jonathan Daniel Wells tells the story of the powerful network of judges, lawyers, and police officers who circumvented anti-slavery laws by sanctioning the kidnapping of free and fugitive African Americans. Nicknamed "The New York Kidnapping Club," the group had the tacit support of institutions from Wall Street to Tammany Hall whose wealth depended on the Southern slave and cotton trade. But a small cohort of abolitionists, including Black journalist David Ruggles, organized tirelessly for the rights of Black New Yorkers, often risking their lives in the process. Taking readers into the bustling streets and ports of America's great Northern metropolis, The Kidnapping Club is a dramatic account of the ties between slavery and capitalism, the deeply corrupt roots of policing, and the strength of Black activism.

A teenage girl is kidnapped, but when freed, she is accused of masterminding the scheme to extort money from her wealthy grandmother.

Thieves have stolen the Mona Lisa and are on the run throughout Europe's greatest cities. Join the search and see what other discoveries you can make in the pages of the book.

IF YOU FIND ME DEAD, THIS IS WHO KIDNAPPED ME . . . . (Note hidden in boot by Abby Drover) Audiobook release coming summer 2021! More than 91⁄2 hours narrated by the author and others, including cameos by Abby and her kidnapper! Exclusively on Amazon, Audible and iTunes A true crime classic that made headlines around the world, shocking and moving everyone including some of the biggest celebrities -- among them tough guy crooner Frank Sinatra still pained by his own son's kidnapping a decade before. "Compelling . . . an inspiration for others to reach out!" -- Leeza Gibbons, NBC-TV. "Utterly stunning . . . inspirational . . . riveting," -- readers' comments on Amazon. Long before the Cleveland house of horrors, readers were awed by this gripping, in-depth narrative of non fiction and suspense -- and now you can get the updated, second Kindle edition with a brand new cover, stunning new revelations, and eight pages of photographs! Trapped, chained and abused for months in her dismal underground cell at the age of 12 and then 13, courageous Abby hides a note identifying her kidnapper. She prays for a miracle -- but she despairs that her fate is sealed and is heartbreakingly realistic about her prospects. "If I don't live through this," says her tear-stained plea. "I would like my body to be cremated and the ashes poured all over my house on 1617 Barnet Highway. "PS: If you find me dead, my killer is . . . He kidnapped me on the morning of March 10, 1976. I also died, if so, after my 13th birthday." Abby then stoically hides this note identifying her kidnapper in the lining of one of her boots, assuming it will eventually be found somewhere along the shoreline together with her lifeless body. Instead, readers will discover how everyone worked tirelessly to solve the mystery, including a self-proclaimed psychic who incredibly and almost exactly pinpointed Abby's whereabouts! Now years later, the author, who originally covered her improbable rescue as a newspaper reporter, collaborates with Abby to tell you her story, and explore the twisted mind of her abductor. In her own words, Abby describes how she was abused and starved during six months of solitary confinement as she lay helplessly captive less than half a block from home -- and how she has since survived her harrowing ordeal. In addition, you can now glimpse into the mind of a supposedly reformed kidnapper, who seeks freedom and expects Abby to forgive him. The kidnapper claims he has never abused anyone else and, incredibly, has numerous misguided supporters whom he continues to deceive almost to his final days -- when the awful truth finally comes out. But ultimately, through these shocking, deeply moving pages, there emerges an inspirational testimony to one young girl's gulp-inducing courage--and her indomitable will to triumph. "Gripping . . .compelling, tightly written . . . flair for investigation," -- Paul Musgrove, The Vancouver Sun. "A gripping story of real-life horror and suspense, written with Drover's co-operation," Cathleen Fillmore, Quill & Quire Magazine. "Illuminating, highly commendable, good reading."

Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg. A National Book Award Finalist The extraordinary story of how the vatican's imprisonment of a six-year-old Jewish boy in 1858 helped to bring about the collapse of the popes' worldly power in Italy. Bologna: nightfall, June 1858. A knock sounds at the door of the Jewish merchant Momolo Mortara. Two officers of the Inquisition bust inside and seize Mortara's six-year-old son, Edgardo. As the boy is wrenched from his father's arms, his mother collapses. The reason for his abduction: the boy had been secretly "baptized" by a family servant. According to papal law, the child is therefore a Catholic who can be taken from his family and delivered to a special monastery where his conversion will be completed. With this terrifying scene, prize-winning historian David I. Kertzer begins the true story of how one boy's kidnapping became a pivotal event in the collapse of the Vatican as a secular power. The book evokes the anguish of a modest merchant's family, the rhythms of daily life in a Jewish ghetto, and also explores, through the revolutionary campaigns of Mazzini and Garibaldi and such personages as Napoleon III, the emergence of Italy as a modern national state. Moving and informative, the Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara reads as both a historical thriller and an authoritative analysis of how a single human tragedy changed the course of history.

Carolina Mendonza is a very smart and upbeat girl. Niece and admirer of Deputy Mendonza's work, a respected police officer, the youngster tries to follow the steps of her uncle, becoming an amateur detective. In this case, when her friend Camile's dentist go missing, Carolina decides to investigate the doctor's disappearence, which leds her to live different and dangerous experiences. On the other hand, Deputy Mendonza has a difficult kidnapping to solve. A lot of emotion and adventure are reserved for this mysterious case.

Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg. A National Book Award Finalist The extraordinary story of how the vatican's imprisonment of a six-year-old Jewish boy in 1858 helped to bring about the collapse of the popes' worldly power in Italy. Bologna: nightfall, June 1858. A knock sounds at the door of the Jewish merchant Momolo Mortara. Two officers of the Inquisition bust inside and seize Mortara's six-year-old son, Edgardo. As the boy is wrenched from his father's arms, his mother collapses. The reason for his abduction: the boy had been secretly "baptized" by a family servant. According to papal law, the child is therefore a Catholic who can be taken from his family and delivered to a special monastery where his conversion will be completed. With this terrifying scene, prize-winning historian David I. Kertzer begins the true story of how one boy's kidnapping became a pivotal event in the collapse of the Vatican as a secular power. The book evokes the anguish of a modest merchant's family, the rhythms of daily life in a Jewish ghetto, and also explores, through the revolutionary campaigns of Mazzini and Garibaldi and such personages as Napoleon III, the emergence of Italy as a modern national state. Moving and informative, the Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara reads as both a historical thriller and an authoritative analysis of how a single human tragedy changed the course of history.

This book is about the kidnapping of Sister Angelus. Who did this and why was she chosen?'