Some folks have been writing about the recent publication of a "how to" book for pedophiles, so I thought I had heard everything. Not so! While stumbling about on Google this morning I came across an archived article in the New York Times about a publisher agreeing to withdraw a "how to" book for hired assassins.
Way back in 1983, Paladin Press released Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors, ostensibly to benefit "a wide audience, including crime buffs and mystery writers." It also apparently influenced James E. Perry, who in 1993 killed a mother, her 8-year-old son, and the boy's nurse - the child being a quadriplegic. Curiously, in the ensuing case it came to light, a la one of those CIA programs, that the boy's father wanted to inherit the $1.7 million estate that his son had won through a medical malpractice suit. Perry was hired for the job and the rest is history.
Naturally, rather than simply acknowledge Perry's wickedness, someone went looking for the "cause" and targeted Paladin Press, forcing them through a pretty major court case to withdraw the book, despite evidence suggesting that Perry relied more upon his background in Detroit than on the contents of Hit Man. No matter, a quick Amazon search suggests that the book remains out of print, though prior to the book being pulled it had sold roughly 13,000 copies...
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