More than two dozen gripping tales of murder, kidnapping, robbery, and much more from the Reader’s Digest archives.

For more than 90 years, Reader’s Digest has been telling the amazing true stories of real-life thrillers, unsolved mysteries, and tales of cold-blooded murder—and of the regular folks caught up in these harrowing situations. Now we’ve pulled together a collection of more than two dozen of these gripping narratives, including:

• A woman’s account of being taken hostage by a convenience store robber
• True crime writer Ann Rule’s encounter with Ted Bundy before she knew he was a killer
• The case of the man who rigged the lottery
• The inside story of how Al Capone was finally arrested for tax evasion
• The unlikely tale of a widower father who enlisted his teenage son and daughter to help rob banks

These modern classics are for crime aficionados and novices alike, tantalizing enough to hold your attention yet brisk enough to be your best beach or book club read. Enjoy the ride with an airplane bomber, an identity thief, and a Bonnie-and-Clyde team living on borrowed time. (Enjoy even more their comeuppance.)