Hitmen for Hire takes the reader on a journey like no other, navigating a world of paid hitmen, informers, rogue policemen, criminal taxi bosses, gang leaders, and crooked politicians and businessmen. Criminologist Mark Shaw examines a society in which contract killings have become commonplace, looking at who arranges hits, where to find a hitman, and even what it is like to operate as a hitman – or woman. Since 1994, South Africa has seen a worrying increase in the commercialisation of murder – and has been rocked by several high-profile contract killings. Drawing on his research of over a thousand incidents of hired assassinations, from 2000 to 2016, Shaw reveals how these murders are used to exert a mafia-type control over the country's legal and illegal economic activity. Contracted assassinations, and the organised criminal activity behind them, contain sinister linkages with the upperworld, most visibly in relation to disputes over tenders and access to government resources. State security actors increasingly mediate relations between the under and upper worlds, with serious implications for the long-term success of the post-apartheid democratic project.

The No 1 Bestseller! 'A triumph' Nicola Tallant, Sunday World Crime World podcast 'An incredible catalogue of mayhem ... amazing' Pat Kenny, Newstalk 'Riveting' Irish Times Meet the Wilsons - the deadliest family in crime Brothers Eric, Keith and John Wilson, their cousin Alan, and nephew Luke shared a trade - assassination. Working for Ireland's criminal gangs they brought bloodshed and chaos to the streets. The Wilsons were not choosy about their targets. Hutches, Real IRA chiefs or random opponents from pub rows - they were all the same to them. Nor were they picky about motives - as long as the price was right, they asked no questions. The Hitmen is the shocking story of how a family cornered the market in intimidation and vengeance. It details the terrible cost in human suffering, particularly the death of an innocent teenage girl, Mariaora Rostas, when she randomly crossed their path. And it reveals how, one by one, each of the Wilsons was put out of business. The Hitmen draws on exclusive access to wire taps, case files and interviews with sources close to the gang who have never spoken before. No 1 bestselling authors Stephen Breen and Owen Conlon have written an extraordinary account of a family business like no other.

The unbelievable account of life as a hitman from a man who has been doing it for decades Hitmen commit heinous crimes virtually every day of the week and, in most instances, we don’t even realize. He’s been a killer for hire for more than twenty years now, but life as a fulltime professional assassin has never been easy. There have been close calls, failed attempts and a lot of looking over his shoulder. And now, he has decided to come clean and seek atonement for his life as a murderer and one of the most covertly dangerous men alive. An account of a life lived between our world and a shadowy underworld of criminals, a life lived under the radar of the law, a life lived in death. This is the true story of a hitman.

Perkins, a former chief economist at a Boston strategic-consulting firm, confesses he was an "economic hit man" for 10 years, helping U.S. intelligence agencies and multinationals cajole and blackmail foreign leaders into serving U.S. foreign policy and awarding lucrative contracts to American business.

Rex Feral kills for hire. Some consider him a criminal. Others think him a hero. In truth, he is a lethal weapon aimed at those he hunts. He is a last recourse in these times when laws are so twisted that justice goes unserved. He is a man who feels no twinge of guilt at doing his job. He is a professional killer. Learn how a pro gets assignments, creates a false identity, maizes a disposable silencer, leaves the scene without a trace, watches his mark unobserved and more. Feral reveals how to get in, do the job and get out without getting caught.

Written by an investigative journalist, this book looks at professional killers, the people who hire them, and those who die at their hands. Among the true stories described are the story of the ultimate hitman, Carlos the Jackal, and how he was eventually brought to justice; the mother who hired a hitman to murder the wife of the son she could not bear to lose; and the story of Northern Ireland terrorist turned hitman Michael Boyle, whose hit on Jimmy Brindle, the infamous South London criminal, was captured on camera by police as he tried to execute his plan.

An Edgar-nominated collection of new short stories by some of the genre's most popular writers features hired assassins who match their criminal wits with seasoned or novice investigators, in a volume that includes contributions by such authors as Ed Gorman, Robert J. Randisi, and John Harvey. Reprint.