8 books based on true events that give you chills

8 books based on true events that give you chills

These works surprise, sometimes even shock and make you think about the darker sides of human nature.

Books are our perfect intellectual partner. Sometimes we want to read something light and emotionally unload, and sometimes we need to experience more powerful experiences and what is called catharsis. If the latter is more your thing right now, then this selection is for you. These stories literally give you the chills: a thriller about a maniac from Gilgo Island or a drama about a crime that couldn’t be solved for a quarter of a century. Whichever book you start with, you’re in for a bestseller whose plot was invented by life itself.

“The Book of Stolen Children. The American story of a crime that lasted 26 years,” Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate

All the ends of this tangled tale lead back to Tennessee in the 1950s. It was here that the Children’s Home Society trafficked babies under the guise of charity. Over the decades, its founder Georgia Tann swindled 5,000 babies from their parents and sold them. You’ll learn who gave the babies names and how it confused the investigation, why even after the Society was exposed, finding blood relatives was difficult.

“Sex Cult Nun. My Life in and Escape from the Children of God Cult,” by Faith Jones

What was it like growing up in one of the most perverted sects of the twentieth century? “Children of God” claimed that the world was about to end and that sex was the only way to god. Adherents abandoned families, quit their jobs, fled to the community. Hiding from reality, they made their own laws: children should be flogged, teenagers molested, and women sold for donations. The Children of God is where the author of this book, Faith Jones, was born. “The Sex Cult Nun” is the story of her life, the heartbreaking tru-story of someone who managed to escape.

“Last Stop Auschwitz. A true story of fortitude and what it takes to survive when there’s no hope at all.” Eddie de Winde.

She’s 18, he’s 27. In the only photo from their wedding, they are in love and happy. Six months later, their lives will be put to the cruelest test – the concentration camp test… The real life of the prisoners of “Block 10”, where SS doctors conducted horrific experiments, was told by psychiatrist Eddie de Wind. He was a paramedic in the medical barracks, and his wife Friedel – a prisoner of “block 10”. De Wind meticulously documented the workings of the Nazi machine, plucked from the darkness and shared what was stronger than death.

“Bad good daughter. What’s wrong with those who love us,” Ashley Ford

Ashley lives in constant anxiety, never knowing what to expect from her mother. Will she be sweet and caring or will she beat her again for some nonsense? The girl desperately needs her father, but he is in prison and no one tells her why. Poverty, pain, loneliness, violence, the betrayal of loved ones, the desire to be a beloved daughter – and to break free as soon as possible. Tru-story about difficult growing up will grab your attention and will not let go until the very last page.

“Vanished Girls. The unsolved mystery of a serial killer”, Robert Kolker

In 2010, the remains of four women were found on a beach on American Long Island. All the skeletons were carefully wrapped in burlap and buried at an equal distance from each other. The maniac was searched for 13 years and caught only in 2023! In the 13 years that the killer walked free, hundreds of articles, a documentary and a podcast were published about the case. And crime journalist Robert Kolker wrote this book. A perfect read for fans of true crime and suspenseful psychological thrillers – especially since now the killer has finally been caught.

“Below was only hell,” Saint White

As a child, the world seems like a place where any dream can come true, if you just put in the effort. But sometimes a person slams the door on a world that promised so many possibilities and sets out on a path of self-destruction. Why does this happen? Entrepreneur and blogger Svyat Bely wrote his first post in prison. About what circumstances and beliefs led him there and thanks to what invisible door to life opened for him anew, he tells in this book.

“I am Rada. The girl who got out of hell”, Radmila Janalieva

In the beginning there was a childhood in a gypsy tabor, full of pain, humiliation and violence. Then – an escape to reality, which promised salvation and a loving family, but turned out to be a betrayal. And then prison. Despite the heavy burden of the past, she did not give up and returned to normal life. What chain of events led the most popular ex-convict runet in prison, how lived in the zone and after release? Read in the confession of Radmila Janalieva, known under the nickname Instaze4ka.

“Bag of marbles”, Joseph Joffo.

1941. Occupied Paris. 10-year-old Joseph and 12-year-old Maurice play with marbles. They do not know that that same evening they will have to run across the country on their own to their older brothers – to a zone free of German occupation. On the way they will have to show their wits to avoid meeting the SS. Joseph Joffo’s autobiographical novel was first published in France in 1973. Since then, the book has been translated into 18 languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide.