One thing about writing crime – you need to do a lot of research! In addition to my standard stock of books and the experts I consult, I also do specific research for each book. In the case of The Killing Hands, this focused mostly on organised crime, gangs, Kung Fu and contract killers. Below is pretty much every specific resource I used.
FBI
FBI – Violent Gang Task Forces
Congressional Testimony on Merida Initiative
Other law enforcement
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD)
2005 National Gang Threat Assessment (PDF)
Office of National Drug Control Policy – High-intensity Drug Trafficking Areas
Contract killers
Australian Institute of Criminology’s Contract Killings in Australia
Hitman Manual for Independent Contractors
Louis Schlesigner, The Contract Murderer: Patterns, Characteristics and Dynamics, J Forensic Sci 2001;46(5):1119–1123.
General forensic psychology
Constructive functions of aggression in psychopaths
Organized crime and gangs
Origin of the Yakuza – TruTV Crime Library
The Yakuza in America – TruTV Crime Library
Kung Fu
Dim Mak
The Ancient Art of Life and Death: The Book of Dim Mak, A. Flane Walker & Richard C Bauer, Paladin Press, Boulder, Colorado, 2002
Death Touch: The Science
