It has been a long road to justice for Reena Virk, beaten and murdered at the hands of her teenage peers. The murder of this girl is one of the most notorious and heartbreaking cases in Canadian history. Here, for the first time, acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey reveals the stunning truth about a Canadian tragedy that captured international headlines.
Who were the seemingly ordinary suburban teenagers who found themselves under the bridge in Victoria, BC, on the night of November 14, 1997? Why would a girl who longed to be their friend be beaten and killed? And how did so many teenagers keep terrible secrets from parents, teachers and police for eight days? These are the questions all of us have been asking, and in Under the Bridge the answers are revealed in a stunning narrative. Godfrey spent six years researching the case, conducting exclusive interviews with parents, classmates, police, prosecutors and, perhaps most importantly, several of the youths, including Warren Glowatski, one of the two teenagers convicted of murdering Virk. Godfrey also witnessed firsthand the many trials of Kelly Ellard, also found guilty of killing a girl who just wanted to fit in.

Under the Bridge: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk

Biographies & Memoirs

Godfrey, Rebecca

True Crime

HarperCollins, Publishers-

In 1961, a country singer named Johnny Cash picked her as his 'Girl in Saskatoon' and sang to her in front of a home-town crowd. A few months later she was murdered. The author was a friend of the murdered girl.

The Girl in Saskatoon: A Meditation on Friendship, Memory and Murder

Butala, Sharon

Phyllis Bruce Books

Vengeance

In 1972, 11 Israeli athletes were murdered at the Munich Olympics. This is the chilling account of how they were avenged.
First published in 1984, George Jonas’s #1 bestseller Vengeance has become a real-life espionage classic. The story of five ordinary young Israelis whose mission it was to hunt down and kill the terrorists responsible for the massacre of eleven athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, Vengeance plunges the reader into an explosive world of terrorism and political murder.
This is an account of what happened when five idealistic volunteer agents were sent to track down and kill the central figures of the PLO's Munich operation, told from the point of view of "Avner," a member of the team chosen to avenge the monstrous crime, and the first Mossad agent to come out of "deep cover" to tell his story. His description of the mechanics, the horrors and the unrelenting suspense of this mission surpasses the wildest fabrications of today’s blockbuster movies and bestselling crime thrillers. As these men moved from country to country, changing identities and risking their lives, they soon became targets themselves—tracked, hunted and even killed.
A profoundly human story, Vengeance explores firsthand the revulsion and doubt that came to torment the Israeli agents, inexorably changing their view of the mission and ultimately how they felt about themselves. It is also a stark examination of the timeless concerns that continue to plague our consciousness today: the nature of good and evil, and the difference between right and wrong.

History

Jonas, George

World

Canadian youth gangs, shout politicians and the media, are an American export. The truth, says youth gang expert Michael C. Chettleburgh, is that Canada has been cultivating its own home-grown gang culture for years. And it’s not just in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver but also in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Halifax and Hobbema, Alberta. It includes not only poor black kids but privileged white youth, First Nations and Southeast Asian teens in large and small communities across Canada. Why is this happening now? What is it about the gang subculture that attracts our kids? Are our police equipped to cope with the violence? And what can we do about the proliferation of gangs?
In this timely and provocative book, Michael C. Chettleburgh, who authored Canada’s first-ever national study of youth gangs, answers these questions and many others, including:
• What is life really like for a gang member?
• How do gangs make money?
• What do gang members think about the glamorization of gang culture?
• How do jails breed gangs?
• Why do girls join?
• How can we keep kids out of gangs, and what do we do if our kids are in one?
In a powerful narrative driven bychilling real-life stories of gang members, victims, families and police, and anchored by rigorous research and thoughtful commentary, Chettleburgh creates both an intimate insiders’ portrait and a touchstone guide that will act as a wake-up call for Canadians.

Young Thugs Inside Dangerous World

Politics & Social Sciences

Chettleburgh, Michael

Social Sciences

National Bestseller and Finalist for the Donner Prize
Politicians and the media may claim that youth gangs are an American export, but the truth, says youth-gang expert Michael C. Chettleburgh, is that Canada has been cultivating its own homegrown gang culture for years. And gang culture isn’t relegated to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver—it’s also in Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Halifax and Hobbema, Alberta. It includes not only poor black kids but privileged white youth, First N ations and Southeast Asian teens in large and small communities across Canada.In a powerful narrative driven by chilling real-life stories of gang members, victims, families and police—and anchored by rigorous research and thoughtful commentary—Chettleburgh creates a touchstone guide that acts as a wake-up call for Canadians.

Young Thugs

Harper-perennial

Woman On trial

Bembenek, Lawrencia

HARPER/COLLINS.

Offers an account of CIA defector Edward Lee Howard, from his recruitment by the CIA, to his dimissal and detection, to his escape to the Soviet Union

The Spy Who Got Away

Wise, David

HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd

One Man's Medicine

Gibson, Morris

Totem

Re-creates the social and political climate of the time and dramatically re-evaluates the roles of the police, the judiciary, and others

The AIRMAN AND CARPENTER: The Lindbergh Case and the Framing of Richard Hauptmann

Kennedy, Ludovic.

Metzger's Dog

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thomas, Perry

Thrillers & Suspense

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