Reviewed by Michelle Robertson for Readers' Favorite

Come visit an era of violent gangsters, corrupt politicians, and honorable policemen as they live their lives in one of the most violent times of the 1920s-1930s Michigan and Illinois states ever experienced, with murders, brutal acts, automobile accidents, speak-easies, bootleggers, and much more. Learn about famous gangster Al Capone, Officer Charles Skelly, and Fred Burke, with the documented true account in interviews, quotes, and photographs. A Killing in Capone's Playground: The True Story of the Hunt for the Most Dangerous Man Alive by Chriss Lyon is an incredible crime story based on real events and people. There is probably not a person in the United States who doesn't know who Al Capone, the famous gangster is, but do they know the ins and outs of his "playground" or operation, the truths and lies about his legacy or life?

With its documented quotes from interviews, and historical pictures, A Killing in Capone's Playground is a book a reader will not put down until the end. Having long been fascinated with the '20s era and everything that went with it - bootleggers, gangsters, Prohibition, speak-easies, and corrupt politics - I wasn't disappointed when reading Chriss Lyons' book, but was rather joyfully overwhelmed with facts, accounts, and events new to my knowledge on the subject. Author Chriss Lyon has provided readers with a well researched, highly detailed account of Mr. Al Capone, his cronies, and the policemen involved during one of the most violent eras in American history.

Reviewed by Michelle Robertson for Readers' Favorite

Fifteen-year-old Glen Klinkhart finds himself unable to reconcile his emotions of guilt and anger over his sister Dawn's atrocious murder. All he knew is that he needed to find justice for his sister's death, and others like it. Glen Klinkhart enters the Alaskan State Police Academy and makes his way up the ranks to eventually become a homicide detective. Throughout his career he has solved cases, dealt with killers, suffered through much grief, pain, frustration, and many more raw emotions. Finding Bethany is a highly detailed account of Glen Klinkhart's career as a homicide detective that concentrates on the specific case of a young woman, Bethany Rose Correira.

Many readers may automatically think of beautiful mountain ranges, animals, wilderness, along with pioneer "rough necked" people when they hear of Alaska. Although beautiful, mysterious with its wilderness, a lot of Alaska's dangers come from within the cities and the people themselves. Finding Bethany is a true story of the author Glen Klinkhart's experience with such dangerous people as one of Alaska's homicide detectives for 17 years. The author gives readers a look "behind the headlines" as he brilliantly, expertly, and expressively describes one of his most trying, frustrating, and painfully heartrending cases - finding Bethany Rose Correira. The book contains specific processes the crime departments, police departments, FBI, and ATF have to go through in order to investigate, process, and book a suspect. The book is highly impressive with its criminology content, forensic details, and technological aspects described throughout each chapter. Any reader interested in criminology, law enforcement, forensics, or who just loves a good mystery will fare well reading this memoir.

Reviewed by Kathryn Bennett for Readers' Favorite

Murder is a Family Affair by Donalie Beltran describes a family that begs the question - can evil be inherited? The Tuxhorn family takes us to Illinois in the mid 1850s, where Charles was a boy with a hard heart and a lovely face. Evil is then set in motion by Charles’ grandfather and the younger man carries on the family’s violent tendency for destruction. The Pinkertons end up looking for him when he disappears following a rash of gruesome murders. Is he truly gone or is something worse coming next?

This book really brings to mind the old school of thought - is evil inherent in people, is it learned or is it maybe a mixture of both? What is scary is that this is based on a real story and really, if you look into the pasts of some of the other evil men of the world, you can find similarly based stories, maybe not as twisted but close. Donalie Beltran has done a fantastic job of writing this and laying it out in a tale that is both gripping and terrifying, all in the same book. I found myself biting my lip often when I was reading this book and to me that is the sign of reading something good. I can say I have not read of a family or a story as twisted and truly evil as Charles and his family, bringing a whole new definition to the phrase “screwed-up family.” They truly prove there is evil in the world. With that said, this is a good book and an interesting read, one I would recommend.

Reviewed by Carine Engelbrecht for Readers' Favorite

The saying goes that clothing maketh the man, but all too often, clothing serves as armor and disguise, hiding the pain and heartbreak of derailed human lives. Jo Dibblee knows all about hiding. As Frock Off: Living Undisguised chronicles, some of her earliest lessons in life revolved around hiding her dysfunctional family's doings from the outside world and protecting her flawed and damaged parents from the interference of social workers. At times, an 'earth angel' offers a respite from the tension. At times, hurtful family secrets are uncovered. With grim determination and an occasional lucky break, she is able to turn her life around.

Frock off: Living Undisguised is ultimately a well-written and uplifting tale of survival - both physical and emotional - against great adversity and against all odds. The book graphically illustrates exactly what potential dangers are faced by youth at risk, (especially when parents are incapable of providing adequate support) as well as the potential for damage that is realized when society turns a blind eye. I liked the honesty and introspection with which the author tackles her own past. I enjoyed her voice and her fighting spirit - people who have faced a struggle or two in their lives make worthier role models than overachievers born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths. I think this book can serve as great inspiration for anyone who strives to turn a damaged life around. It could also provide greater insight into the dynamics of dysfunctional families. Jo Dibblee should be praised for sharing her past with such courage and integrity.

Reviewed by Natasha Jackson for Readers' Favorite

In this age of television, where even the most gruesome police drama ends with warm and fuzzies, Zach Fortier turns that notion on its head with his gritty and often dark glimpse into the life of a true crime fighter. CurbChek Reload is more than a disturbing post-mortem on a career that spanned several decades; it is a clinical and sometimes humorous look into the underbelly of society. The book is presented in small vignettes of his calls throughout the years and his interactions with other officers, informants, and the general public. This isn’t the story of one case that has stuck with Fortier over the years, but rather the everyday nuts and bolts of being an officer on the beat. Just like most lifelong police officers, Fortier displays the trademark egotism that is part and parcel of making life and death decisions.

CurbChek Reload is a true crime tale that is both gruesome, heartbreaking, and true to his law and order roots. Zach Fortier has but one primary emotion about all of this: anger. His anger is understandable, but the average civilian will not be able to read the crimes he’s worked without a healthy dose of sadness, disgust, and happiness that a guy like Fortier was there with his gallows humor to get the job done. He does a great job of simply “telling it like it is,” without a lot of sugarcoating or embellishments, because true crime is enough on its own with extra blood, guts, or victims. After reading this installment of CurbChek, those old episodes of Law & Order won’t be nearly as satisfying!

Reviewed by Samantha Rivera for Readers' Favorite

The world of a police detective isn’t as ‘fun’ or ‘simple’ as it may seem from the television shows most people know and love. You don’t always ‘get your man’ and you’re not always going to have clear photographic evidence or videos. You’re going to have to get out there and do some digging, do some hard work and Street Creds by Zach Fortier is definitely proof of that. A detective who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty in the pursuit of criminals on the street, Fortier is willing and able to explain the ins and outs of being a detective and working with (and against) detectives who couldn’t care less about the results of the job.

Street Creds is about working the gang task force and managing to survive it. In larger cities it’s common for gangs to pop up and to practically rule the streets, but for the citizens only the police have a hope of saving them. This book shows that not all cops have the best interests of their citizens at heart. Many may be on the gang’s payroll and many others may simply be going through the motions every day, uncaring of what’s happening around them. Fortier has created a book that shows what really goes on behind the closed doors of a police station, and how corruption and greed are rampant everywhere. For him, this was personal and it became even more so as he suffered through the difficulty of being a good cop in a bad cop arena.

Reviewed by Lee Ashford for Readers' Favorite

“CurbChek” by retired Police Officer Zach Fortier is a gritty, behind the scenes look at the day to day existence of a city patrol officer on night shift. This is fiction only in the sense that the geographic areas in which he worked are not identified, and names are changed to protect the innocent as well as the guilty. Officer Fortier relates some incredibly appalling situations in which he played a significant role and some loathsome situations where the good guys didn’t always win. His stories instilled in me a greater sense of respect for the men and women who put their lives, their marriages, and their personal relationships on the chopping block to serve and protect the innocent from become victims of those who would do them harm. Sadly, he also exposes the ugly underbelly of office politics hindering good, honest police officers from doing their jobs while under the direction of the egocentric wannabe “brass”. In that regard, the street cop faces the same brown-nosing, butt-kissing, back-stabbing, “good old boy” system and nepotism faced by most of the actual working class in this country, and perhaps other countries as well.

Zach Fortier has published four books in this same vein, but it would be wrong to call them “a series”. I can’t speak about the other three – yet – but “CurbChek” is flawlessly written and utterly fascinating. It is one of those rare books where, when you check the page number you are on, you are amazed at how far you have read since the last time you checked. These stories are nearly impossible to turn away from until you have read them all. Fortier has graphically and accurately portrayed night life in the inner city; a part of life nine-to-five suburbanites do not see, and may not believe. The author has presented an honest look at a slice of real life. You will do yourself a favor to read what he has written.

Reviewed by Maria Beltran for Readers' Favorite

"Damned from Memory" is an explosive expose by former US narcotic agent Sparky McLaughlin who, according to him, has been a cop all his life. The first part of the book is his own personal story explaining how he developed a calling to become a cop and his first few years on the job in Philadelphia. In telling the rest of his story, we get to learn the flow of drugs from the streets and brings us all the way to the White House, the US State Department, and the CIA. It is disheartening to know that Washington politicians are willing to raise funds even from personalities who are linked to drug traffickers. And it is an ugly revelation that dedicated cops are punished, with their reputations soiled, when they want to get to the bottom of the narcotic problem in the US.

Harassed by the CIA in cahoots with international drug traffickers, McLaughlin painfully learns that honesty and dedication to his job as a narcotic agent will change the course of his life forever. His book "Damned from Memory" is a creative nonfiction that exposes one man's war against the narc-traffickers in the US and the reasons why it is impossible to win it. Face to face with powerful criminals working together with international drug traffickers, it becomes a matter of life and death. Sparky McLaughlin writes with frankness that shows his courage and dedication. His life reads like an action packed novel and sends a chilling message on why the US can never win the war against narc-traffickers. This is one of those books that keep the reader on his seat until the very last page. Written with zeal and conviction, it seems the author's pen can also be made as an effective weapon in this ongoing war. What makes the story more compelling is the fact that it is happening in real life. And what makes it scary is that it is still happening now.