Wanna know what was the best-executed bank heist of the 20th century? John Wayne Gacy’s responses to a prison questionnaire? The humorous last words of executed inmates? Or even the going rate for a blowjob? You’ll find the answers in Tom and Michael Philbin’s THE KILLER BOOK OF TRUE CRIME: INCREDIBLE STORIES, FACTS AND TRIVIA FROM THE WORLD OF MURDER AND MAYHEM.

This diverting, large-print paperback separates its contents into compact little chapters like “Robbery,” “Arson,” “Mass Murder,” “Sexual Perversions” and “Kids Who Kill.” Each is loaded with case studies, Q&As, quizzes, jargon, stats and other miscellaneous sidebars.

Numerous lists spread throughout shed light on common wallet-stealing tricks, movies with prostitutes as main characters, leading American cities for car thefts, nicknames for the electric chair and the favored murder weapons used by females.

The book is illustrated with photos throughout – some of which aren’t for the faint-hearted, like a body that has been burned to death. Ditto the morgue photos of such celebrities as President John F. Kennedy and beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey. Look also for complete autopsy reports of the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Nicole Brown Simpson.

KILLER works best when it resembles an Internet page: full of fast, quick bits of information that make it ideal for a twisted toilet read. The longer pieces – on such star criminals as Charles Whitman, Charles Manson or AMITYVILLE’s Ronald DeFeo Jr. – lag, like weak summaries of stories we’ve heard told before, and better. The book’s strengths are in its periods of brevity. –Rod Lott

Buy it at Amazon.