The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson

The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson

Author: Gregory Klages

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2016-05-14

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1459731980

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A National Post Bestseller! How did Tom Thomson die in the summer of 1917? Was landscape painter Tom Thomson shot by poachers, or by a German-American draft dodger? Did a blow from a canoe paddle knock him unconscious and into the water? Was he fatally injured in a drunken fight? Did he end his life out of fear of being forced to marry his pregnant girlfriend? Commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of the renowned Canadian landscape painter, The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson offers an authoritative review of the historical record, as well as some theories you might not have thought of in a hundred years. Cultural historian Gregory Klages surveys first-hand testimony and archival records about Thomson’s tragic demise, attempting to sort fact from legend in the death of this Canadian icon.


Book Synopsis The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson by : Gregory Klages

Download or read book The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson written by Gregory Klages and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2016-05-14 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A National Post Bestseller! How did Tom Thomson die in the summer of 1917? Was landscape painter Tom Thomson shot by poachers, or by a German-American draft dodger? Did a blow from a canoe paddle knock him unconscious and into the water? Was he fatally injured in a drunken fight? Did he end his life out of fear of being forced to marry his pregnant girlfriend? Commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the death of the renowned Canadian landscape painter, The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson offers an authoritative review of the historical record, as well as some theories you might not have thought of in a hundred years. Cultural historian Gregory Klages surveys first-hand testimony and archival records about Thomson’s tragic demise, attempting to sort fact from legend in the death of this Canadian icon.

The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson

The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson

Author: Gregory Klages

Publisher: Dundurn

Published: 2016-05-14

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1459731972

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Commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of Tom Thomson's death, cultural historian Gregory Klages offers the deepest look to date at the historical record, testimony, and archives about the artist’s tragic and mysterious demise. Putting the whole range of theories under examination, he separates truth from legend in this great Canadian mystery.


Book Synopsis The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson by : Gregory Klages

Download or read book The Many Deaths of Tom Thomson written by Gregory Klages and published by Dundurn. This book was released on 2016-05-14 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of Tom Thomson's death, cultural historian Gregory Klages offers the deepest look to date at the historical record, testimony, and archives about the artist’s tragic and mysterious demise. Putting the whole range of theories under examination, he separates truth from legend in this great Canadian mystery.

Who Killed Tom Thomson?

Who Killed Tom Thomson?

Author: John Little

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2018-08-21

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 1510733418

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Tom Thomson was Canada's Vincent van Gogh. He painted for a period of five years before meeting his untimely death in a remote wilderness lake in July 1917. He was buried in an unofficial grave close to the lake where his body was found. About eight hours after he was buried, the coroner arrived but never examined the body and ruled his death accidental due to drowning. A day and a half later, Thomson's family hired an undertaker to exhume the body and move it to the family plot about 100 miles away. This undertaker refused all help, and only worked at night. In 1956, John Little's father and three other men, influenced by the story of an old park ranger who never believed Thomson's body was moved by the undertaker, dug up what was supposed to be the original, empty grave. To their surprise, the grave still contained a body, and the skull revealed a head wound that matched the same location noted by the men who pulled his corpse from the water in 1917. The finding sent shockwaves across the nation and began a mystery that continues to this day. In Who Killed Tom Thomson? John Little continues the sixty-year relationship his family has had with Tom Thomson and his fate by teaming up with two high-ranking Ontario provincial police homicide detectives. For the first time, they provide a forensic scientific opinion as to how Thomson met his death, and where his body is buried. Little draws upon his father's research, plus recently released archival material, as well as his own thirty-year investigation. He and his colleagues prove that Thomson was murdered, and set forth two persons of interest who may have killed Tom Thomson.


Book Synopsis Who Killed Tom Thomson? by : John Little

Download or read book Who Killed Tom Thomson? written by John Little and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-08-21 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tom Thomson was Canada's Vincent van Gogh. He painted for a period of five years before meeting his untimely death in a remote wilderness lake in July 1917. He was buried in an unofficial grave close to the lake where his body was found. About eight hours after he was buried, the coroner arrived but never examined the body and ruled his death accidental due to drowning. A day and a half later, Thomson's family hired an undertaker to exhume the body and move it to the family plot about 100 miles away. This undertaker refused all help, and only worked at night. In 1956, John Little's father and three other men, influenced by the story of an old park ranger who never believed Thomson's body was moved by the undertaker, dug up what was supposed to be the original, empty grave. To their surprise, the grave still contained a body, and the skull revealed a head wound that matched the same location noted by the men who pulled his corpse from the water in 1917. The finding sent shockwaves across the nation and began a mystery that continues to this day. In Who Killed Tom Thomson? John Little continues the sixty-year relationship his family has had with Tom Thomson and his fate by teaming up with two high-ranking Ontario provincial police homicide detectives. For the first time, they provide a forensic scientific opinion as to how Thomson met his death, and where his body is buried. Little draws upon his father's research, plus recently released archival material, as well as his own thirty-year investigation. He and his colleagues prove that Thomson was murdered, and set forth two persons of interest who may have killed Tom Thomson.

Northern Light

Northern Light

Author: Roy MacGregor

Publisher: Vintage Canada

Published: 2011-09-06

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 0307357406

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE OTTAWA BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION Roy MacGregor's lifelong fascination with Tom Thomson first led him to write Canoe Lake, a novel inspired by a distant relative's affair with one of Canada's greatest painters. Now, MacGregor breaks new ground, re-examining the mysteries of Thomson's life, loves and violent death in the definitive non-fiction account. Why does a man who died almost a century ago and painted relatively little still have such a grip on our imagination? The eccentric spinster Winnie Trainor was a fixture of Roy MacGregor's childhood in Huntsville, Ontario. She was considered too odd to be a truly romantic figure in the eyes of the town, but the locals knew that Canada's most famous painter had once been in love with her, and that she had never gotten over his untimely death. She kept some paintings he gave her in a six-quart basket she'd leave with the neighbours on her rare trips out of town, and in the summers she'd make the trip from her family cottage, where Thomson used to stay, on foot to the graveyard up the hill, where fans of the artist occasionally left bouquets. There she would clear away the flowers. After all, as far as anyone knew, he wasn't there: she had arranged at his family's request for him to be exhumed and moved to a cemetery near Owen Sound. As Roy MacGregor's richly detailed Northern Light reveals, not much is as it seems when it comes to Tom Thomson, the most iconic of Canadian painters. Philandering deadbeat or visionary artist and gentleman, victim of accidental drowning or deliberate murder, the man's myth has grown to obscure the real view—and the answers to the mysteries are finally revealed in these pages.


Book Synopsis Northern Light by : Roy MacGregor

Download or read book Northern Light written by Roy MacGregor and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2011-09-06 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE OTTAWA BOOK AWARD FOR NON-FICTION Roy MacGregor's lifelong fascination with Tom Thomson first led him to write Canoe Lake, a novel inspired by a distant relative's affair with one of Canada's greatest painters. Now, MacGregor breaks new ground, re-examining the mysteries of Thomson's life, loves and violent death in the definitive non-fiction account. Why does a man who died almost a century ago and painted relatively little still have such a grip on our imagination? The eccentric spinster Winnie Trainor was a fixture of Roy MacGregor's childhood in Huntsville, Ontario. She was considered too odd to be a truly romantic figure in the eyes of the town, but the locals knew that Canada's most famous painter had once been in love with her, and that she had never gotten over his untimely death. She kept some paintings he gave her in a six-quart basket she'd leave with the neighbours on her rare trips out of town, and in the summers she'd make the trip from her family cottage, where Thomson used to stay, on foot to the graveyard up the hill, where fans of the artist occasionally left bouquets. There she would clear away the flowers. After all, as far as anyone knew, he wasn't there: she had arranged at his family's request for him to be exhumed and moved to a cemetery near Owen Sound. As Roy MacGregor's richly detailed Northern Light reveals, not much is as it seems when it comes to Tom Thomson, the most iconic of Canadian painters. Philandering deadbeat or visionary artist and gentleman, victim of accidental drowning or deliberate murder, the man's myth has grown to obscure the real view—and the answers to the mysteries are finally revealed in these pages.

The Legend Of Barney Thomson

The Legend Of Barney Thomson

Author: Douglas Lindsay

Publisher: Blasted Heath Ltd

Published: 2013-12-05

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1908688068

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"Great fun and daft as monkeys" — Stuart MacBride, #1 bestselling author of THE MISSING AND THE DEADBarney Thomson — awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber — lives a life of desperate mediocrity. Shunned at work and at home, unable to break out of a twenty-year rut, each dull day blends seamlessly into the next. However, there is no life so tedious that it cannot be spiced up by inadvertent murder, a deranged psychopath, and a freezer full of neatly packaged meat. Barney Thomson's uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer...Praise for Douglas Lindsay"The plot, Russian literature fans, is a modern spin on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. The bloody ending, movie buffs, is pure Reservoir Dogs." - The Mirror"This is pitch-black comedy spun from the finest writing. Fantastic plot, unforgettable scenes and plenty of twisted belly laughs." - New Woman"This chilling black comedy unfolds at dizzying speed...an impressive debut novel." - Sunday Mirror"Gleefully macabre, hugely enjoyable black burlesque." - The ScotsmanThe Barney Thomson novels in order#1 THE LEGEND OF BARNEY THOMSON (first published as THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMSON)#2 THE BARBER SURGEON'S HAIRSHIRT#3 MURDERERS ANONYMOUS#4 THE RESURRECTION OF BARNEY THOMSON#5 THE LAST FISH SUPPER#6 THE HAUNTING OF BARNEY THOMSON#7 THE FINAL CUTThese seven novels can be bought together as a set. Search for THE BARBERSHOP SEVEN.


Book Synopsis The Legend Of Barney Thomson by : Douglas Lindsay

Download or read book The Legend Of Barney Thomson written by Douglas Lindsay and published by Blasted Heath Ltd. This book was released on 2013-12-05 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Great fun and daft as monkeys" — Stuart MacBride, #1 bestselling author of THE MISSING AND THE DEADBarney Thomson — awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber — lives a life of desperate mediocrity. Shunned at work and at home, unable to break out of a twenty-year rut, each dull day blends seamlessly into the next. However, there is no life so tedious that it cannot be spiced up by inadvertent murder, a deranged psychopath, and a freezer full of neatly packaged meat. Barney Thomson's uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer...Praise for Douglas Lindsay"The plot, Russian literature fans, is a modern spin on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. The bloody ending, movie buffs, is pure Reservoir Dogs." - The Mirror"This is pitch-black comedy spun from the finest writing. Fantastic plot, unforgettable scenes and plenty of twisted belly laughs." - New Woman"This chilling black comedy unfolds at dizzying speed...an impressive debut novel." - Sunday Mirror"Gleefully macabre, hugely enjoyable black burlesque." - The ScotsmanThe Barney Thomson novels in order#1 THE LEGEND OF BARNEY THOMSON (first published as THE LONG MIDNIGHT OF BARNEY THOMSON)#2 THE BARBER SURGEON'S HAIRSHIRT#3 MURDERERS ANONYMOUS#4 THE RESURRECTION OF BARNEY THOMSON#5 THE LAST FISH SUPPER#6 THE HAUNTING OF BARNEY THOMSON#7 THE FINAL CUTThese seven novels can be bought together as a set. Search for THE BARBERSHOP SEVEN.

Death in the Peaceable Kingdom

Death in the Peaceable Kingdom

Author: Dimitry Anastakis

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2015-01-01

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 1442606363

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Death in the Peaceable Kingdom is an intelligent, innovative response to the incorrect assumption that Canadian history is dry and uninspiring. Using the "hooks" of murder, execution, assassination, and suicide, Dimitry Anastakis introduces readers to the full scope of post-Confederation Canadian history. Beginning with the assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Anastakis recounts the deaths of famous Canadians such as Louis Riel, Tom Thomson, and Pierre Laporte. He also introduces lesser-known events such as the execution of shell-shocked deserter Pte. Harold Carter during the First World War and the suicide of suspected communist Herbert Norman in Cairo during the Cold War. The book concludes with recent Canadian deaths including the suicides of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons as a result of cyberbullying. Complementing the chapters are short vignettes--"Murderous Moments" and "Tragic Tales"--that point to broader themes and issues. The book also contains a number of "Active History" exercises such as activities, assignments, and primary document analyses. A timeline, 24 images, and further reading suggestions are included.


Book Synopsis Death in the Peaceable Kingdom by : Dimitry Anastakis

Download or read book Death in the Peaceable Kingdom written by Dimitry Anastakis and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Death in the Peaceable Kingdom is an intelligent, innovative response to the incorrect assumption that Canadian history is dry and uninspiring. Using the "hooks" of murder, execution, assassination, and suicide, Dimitry Anastakis introduces readers to the full scope of post-Confederation Canadian history. Beginning with the assassination of Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Anastakis recounts the deaths of famous Canadians such as Louis Riel, Tom Thomson, and Pierre Laporte. He also introduces lesser-known events such as the execution of shell-shocked deserter Pte. Harold Carter during the First World War and the suicide of suspected communist Herbert Norman in Cairo during the Cold War. The book concludes with recent Canadian deaths including the suicides of Amanda Todd and Rehtaeh Parsons as a result of cyberbullying. Complementing the chapters are short vignettes--"Murderous Moments" and "Tragic Tales"--that point to broader themes and issues. The book also contains a number of "Active History" exercises such as activities, assignments, and primary document analyses. A timeline, 24 images, and further reading suggestions are included.

Tom Thomson

Tom Thomson

Author: David Silcox

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: 2017-10-17

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1443442356

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A stunning new edition of the Canadian classic with never-before-seen paintings First published in 1977 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of a Canadian painter whose brief, brilliant life, and untimely death in a mysterious canoe accident, gained him mythic status in his homeland, Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm quickly attained legendary status in its own right. This newly designed and expanded edition revives a classic and adds more than 25 never-before-seen paintings and a new introduction. Co-authors Harold Town, a founder of the Painters Eleven and an icon of Canadian art himself, and art historian David P. Silcox, former head of Sotheby's Canadian division, celebrate this early associate of the Group of Seven as a key creative figure without falling into the trap of cultural jingoism. Thomson, the authors maintain, was an inspired regional painter—in the best sense of that term—who stumbled upon the bold Expressionist palette pioneered by Matisse and his contemporaries despite working from a provincial backwater. Thomson's finest works are reproduced here in painstakingly colour-matched plates, including more than 80 of Thomson's famous oil sketches in exactly their original size.


Book Synopsis Tom Thomson by : David Silcox

Download or read book Tom Thomson written by David Silcox and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stunning new edition of the Canadian classic with never-before-seen paintings First published in 1977 to commemorate the centenary of the birth of a Canadian painter whose brief, brilliant life, and untimely death in a mysterious canoe accident, gained him mythic status in his homeland, Tom Thomson: The Silence and the Storm quickly attained legendary status in its own right. This newly designed and expanded edition revives a classic and adds more than 25 never-before-seen paintings and a new introduction. Co-authors Harold Town, a founder of the Painters Eleven and an icon of Canadian art himself, and art historian David P. Silcox, former head of Sotheby's Canadian division, celebrate this early associate of the Group of Seven as a key creative figure without falling into the trap of cultural jingoism. Thomson, the authors maintain, was an inspired regional painter—in the best sense of that term—who stumbled upon the bold Expressionist palette pioneered by Matisse and his contemporaries despite working from a provincial backwater. Thomson's finest works are reproduced here in painstakingly colour-matched plates, including more than 80 of Thomson's famous oil sketches in exactly their original size.

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-07-29

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0309142393

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Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.


Book Synopsis Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States by : National Research Council

Download or read book Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-07-29 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.

Fashioning the Canadian Landscape

Fashioning the Canadian Landscape

Author: John Irvine Little

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2018-04-13

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1487510438

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Interpretations of Canada's emerging identity have been largely based on a relatively small corpus of literary writing and landscape paintings, overlooking the influence of the British and American travel writers who published hundreds of books and articles that did much to fix the image of Canada in the popular imagination. In Fashioning the Canadian Landscape, J.I. Little examines how Canada, much like the United States, came to be identified with its natural landscape. Little argues that in contrast to the American identification with the wilderness sublime, however, Canada’s image was strongly influenced by the picturesque convention favoured by British travel writers. This amply illustrated volume includes chapters ranging from Labrador to British Columbia, some of which focus on such notable British authors as Rupert Brooke and Rudyard Kipling, and others on talented American writers such as Charles Dudley Warner. Based not only on the views of the landscape but on the racist descriptions of the Indigenous peoples and the romanticization of the Canadian ‘folk’, Little argues that the national image that emerged was colonialist as well as colonial in nature.


Book Synopsis Fashioning the Canadian Landscape by : John Irvine Little

Download or read book Fashioning the Canadian Landscape written by John Irvine Little and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2018-04-13 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interpretations of Canada's emerging identity have been largely based on a relatively small corpus of literary writing and landscape paintings, overlooking the influence of the British and American travel writers who published hundreds of books and articles that did much to fix the image of Canada in the popular imagination. In Fashioning the Canadian Landscape, J.I. Little examines how Canada, much like the United States, came to be identified with its natural landscape. Little argues that in contrast to the American identification with the wilderness sublime, however, Canada’s image was strongly influenced by the picturesque convention favoured by British travel writers. This amply illustrated volume includes chapters ranging from Labrador to British Columbia, some of which focus on such notable British authors as Rupert Brooke and Rudyard Kipling, and others on talented American writers such as Charles Dudley Warner. Based not only on the views of the landscape but on the racist descriptions of the Indigenous peoples and the romanticization of the Canadian ‘folk’, Little argues that the national image that emerged was colonialist as well as colonial in nature.

Serpentine

Serpentine

Author: Thomas Thompson

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2016-12-13

Total Pages: 491

ISBN-13: 1504043278

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New York Times Bestseller: This in-depth account of Charles Sobhraj, the serial killer portrayed in Netflix miniseries The Serpent, is “compulsive reading” (The Plain Dealer). There was no pattern to the murders, no common thread other than the fact that the victims were all vacationers, robbed of their possessions and slain in seemingly random crimes. Authorities across three continents and a dozen nations had no idea they were all looking for same man: Charles Sobhraj, aka “The Serpent.” A handsome Frenchman of Vietnamese and Indian origin, Sobhraj targeted backpackers on the “hippie trail” between Europe and South Asia. A master of deception, he used his powerful intellect and considerable sex appeal to lure naïve travelers into a life of crime. When they threatened to turn on him, Sobhraj murdered his acolytes in cold blood. Between late 1975 and early 1976, a dozen corpses were found everywhere from the boulevards of Paris to the slopes of the Himalayas to the back alleys of Bangkok and Hong Kong. Some police experts believe the true number of Sobhraj’s victims may be more than twice that amount. Serpentine is the “grotesque, baffling, and hypnotic” true story of one of the most bizarre killing sprees in modern history (San Francisco Chronicle). Edgar Award–winning author Thomas Thompson’s mesmerizing portrait of a notorious sociopath and his helpless prey “unravels like fiction, but afterwards haunts the reader like the document it is” (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland).


Book Synopsis Serpentine by : Thomas Thompson

Download or read book Serpentine written by Thomas Thompson and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2016-12-13 with total page 491 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller: This in-depth account of Charles Sobhraj, the serial killer portrayed in Netflix miniseries The Serpent, is “compulsive reading” (The Plain Dealer). There was no pattern to the murders, no common thread other than the fact that the victims were all vacationers, robbed of their possessions and slain in seemingly random crimes. Authorities across three continents and a dozen nations had no idea they were all looking for same man: Charles Sobhraj, aka “The Serpent.” A handsome Frenchman of Vietnamese and Indian origin, Sobhraj targeted backpackers on the “hippie trail” between Europe and South Asia. A master of deception, he used his powerful intellect and considerable sex appeal to lure naïve travelers into a life of crime. When they threatened to turn on him, Sobhraj murdered his acolytes in cold blood. Between late 1975 and early 1976, a dozen corpses were found everywhere from the boulevards of Paris to the slopes of the Himalayas to the back alleys of Bangkok and Hong Kong. Some police experts believe the true number of Sobhraj’s victims may be more than twice that amount. Serpentine is the “grotesque, baffling, and hypnotic” true story of one of the most bizarre killing sprees in modern history (San Francisco Chronicle). Edgar Award–winning author Thomas Thompson’s mesmerizing portrait of a notorious sociopath and his helpless prey “unravels like fiction, but afterwards haunts the reader like the document it is” (The Plain Dealer, Cleveland).