In the 1980s, there were two ways to make big bucks in the Big Apple: sell drugs or rob drug dealers. The main characters in this story did both, and they weren’t worried about the cops, because they were the cops. Drug dealers with a badge, criminals in a squad car, the Cocaine Cops of the NYPD were the most powerful drug gang in Brooklyn. CRACK! Some say that what happened in the 1980s was, when studied in retrospect, a … [Read more...]
NYPD: SCANDAL, CORRUPTION AND THE 75TH PRECINCT; Burl Barer on His Upcoming True Crime Book for WildBlue
I’m working on a new book with Frank C Girardot and Ken Eurell about the cocaine cops of the 75th Precinct in New York City — maybe you saw the documentary. I was writing the introduction….and here is a rough draft of my opening remarks. ***** There is one thing upon which we all agree. None of us were brought by the stork. Planned or unplanned, we are all the product of the same process of biology and genetics. We are all influenced by … [Read more...]
MURDER IN THE FAMILY, a New York Times Bestselling True Crime Classic by Burl Barer
The Updated eBook-only Version of Edgar Award Winning Author's Shocking Story of Murder and Brutality " ... where for the first time an FBI profiler was allowed to testify and the controversial, pre-DNA science of allotyping was presented to a jury." On March 15th, 1987 police in Anchorage, Alaska arrived at a horrific scene of carnage. In a modest downtown apartment, they found Nancy Newman's brutally beaten corpse sprawled across her … [Read more...]
Author Moved To Tears Writing His True Crime Classic MURDER IN THE FAMILY
On March 15th, 1987 police in Anchorage, Alaska arrived at a horrific scene of carnage. ... ... In a modest downtown apartment, they found Nancy Newman's brutally beaten corpse sprawled across her bed. In other rooms were the bodies of her eight-year-old daughter, Melissa, and her three-year-old, Angie, whose throat was slit from ear to ear. Both Nancy and Melissa had been sexually assaulted. After an intense investigation, the police … [Read more...]
Burl Barer and Frank C. Girardot Jr. True Crime Collaboration: A TASTE FOR MURDER
Frank Rodriguez, a much-loved counselor of troubled teens, lies dead on the bedroom floor. His wife and stepdaughter are in shock, and so is the medical examiner when he performs the autopsy. Aside from being dead, Frank is in perfect health. Demanding to know the cause of her husband's death, Angie Rodriguez badgers the police, insisting that Frank was murdered. The cops attribute her assertions to overwhelming grief, but soon they too … [Read more...]
HEADLOCK: A Jeff Reynolds Mystery
The updated edition of Burl Barer's classic mystery noir with a streak of insanity. Available Now! A WildBlue Press Mystery Classic A paranoid recluse lures private eye author Jeff Reynolds into a complex web of deception, where delusions are deadly, life after death can be hell, and all roads lead to the McFeely Tavern. Several popular mystery writers, including G.M. Ford and Tony Fennelly, make cameo appearances in this clever and captivating … [Read more...]
Authors Burl Barer and Frank Girardot Craft New True Crime Book for Wild Blue Press
See that headline? Well, it’s not just some silly rumor — it’s a promise! Award-winning journalist and world-renowned true crime commentator Frank C. Girardot and I have been having fun cranking out a few mini-true crime features as tie ins to DEADLY SINS — to mixed reviews — but we were testing our ability to merge our styles and attitudes as warm ups to giving you a full length NEW TRUE CRIME BOOK of murder and mayhem. Frank and I found … [Read more...]
The MAN OVERBOARD Phil Champagne on True Crime Uncensored
Date: October 11, 2014 Time: 2 p.m. (Pacific) What: Phil Champagne, the main character in Edgar Award winning author Burl Barer's 20th Anniversary Special Edition of MAN OVERBOARD recently released by WildBlue Press, will be regaling Burl with tales of his adventures (and misadventures) on True Crime Uncensored. … [Read more...]
Man Overboard – Introduction to the 20th Anniversary Edition
My first foray into true crime, MAN OVERBOARD: The Counterfeit Resurrection of Phil Champagne, was a surprise hit, achieved universal rave reviews, and was nominated for an Anthony Award at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention as “Best True Crime Book of the Year.” “Oh, Burl,” said true-crime author Ann Rule, “I just know you’re going to win.” I didn’t. Ann won for Dead by Sunset. Ann Rule actually appears in Man Overboard and was the … [Read more...]
MAN OVERBOARD: The Counterfeit Resurrection of Phil Champagne
A WildBlue Press True Crime Classic 20th Anniversary Special Edition A mind-boggling blend of fraud, deception, trickery, lies, and fine prime rib, MAN OVERBOARD was nominated Best True Crime Book of the Year by the World Mystery Convention-and universally praised as the most laugh-filled book in the genre's history. 1982: Oregon businessman Phil Champagne died in a tragic boating accident off Lopez Island, Washington. He was survived by one … [Read more...]
