How to kill for Kali. Examines the tools of terror Indian thuggees used centuries ago, and now freely adapted for military special operations training. “Cloaked in religious mysticism and secrecy, members of the cult of Thuggee wandered India and surrounding lands, seeking out victims and squeezing the life from their bodies—without spilling a drop of blood.” In two parts: historical perspective and methodology. Meet the great and Terrible Mother, then learn how to use the Hammer Blow, the Twist Down Technique, the Strangulation Stick, and the traditional thuggee Rumal Scarf. GR

Publisher: Paladin
Paperback: 101 pages
Illustrated

Tells—in great detail—how to secure and interpret one’s FBI files. “Too many Americans, deluded by the immense size and anonymity of modern civilization, have not yet realized that they actually live in a small town whose mayor for over 50 years was J. Edgar Hoover.” Chapters include: “The FBI Filing System,” “The FBI and the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts,“ and “How To Send for FBI Files.“ Informative and instructive, with samples of the many types of dossier pages that can be received. Includes sample letters: “Appeal of Deletions or Witholdings” and “Request to Amend Records.” GR

Publisher: Eden
Paperback: 226 pages

For the connoisseur of real-life, not Hollywood, gunfights. This book reprints 15 cases from the author's series in American Handgunner magazine detailing actual gunfights and describing what went down: the weapons used by both criminals and those defending themselves, their mindsets, who survived the gunfights, who didn't and why. Ayoob looks closely at what happened and tries to analyze both sides' tactics. Included are an interpretation of the Rodney King incident and its aftermath that runs counter to the prevailing wisdom, and a very close analysis of a massacre in Miami on April 11, 1986, when a gun battle between two heavily armed professional criminals and FBI agents left both the bad guys and two agents dead, three agents permanently crippled, and others wounded. MC

Publisher: Police Bookshelf
Paperback: 223 pages
Illustrated

Illustrates defensive techniques against fist fighting and shows wrist releases, escapes from chokeholds, headlocks, grab attacks from the rear and defenses when knocked down to the ground. Includes a chapter on defending against knives and clubs. Works best as a guide to training with a partner. MC

Publisher: Paladin
Paperback: 128 pages
Illustrated

“In the realm of exotic weapons, the blowgun holds a special status as an ancient and mysterious tool of silent death. Blowguns is the first book to strip away the mystique of this immensely practical, remarkably effective and easily accessible device.
“The blowgun may be the perfect weapon, providing the capability for accurate and silent delivery of a variety of projectiles in a very inexpensive package. Author Janich is a longtime fancier, collector and user of blowguns, and here he shares with the reader the many secrets of their capabilities and uses, including how to acquire modern blowguns and projectiles, make your own guns and darts (including “special” projectiles), shoot your blowgun, devise custom targets and customize, maintain and store your weapon.”

Publisher: Paladin
Paperback: 88 pages
Illustrated

Brief, illustrated guide to types of improvised car bombs: how they're made and how to detect them. Shows how criminals can rig an automobile to become a deadly trap, how to recognize suspicious devices and situations, and how bombs are placed. Not a how-to manual, but a useful field guide. MC

Publisher: Paladin
Paperback: 64 pages
Illustrated

“Opens with a summary of known health hazards and their effects, and goes on to discuss the techniques of organizing a community to conduct a scientific health survey. With these tools, citizens living near petrochemical plants or waste disposal areas—or many who have simply noticed a high incidence of certain health problems in their community—can determine for themselves whether a problem really exists and if they should seek remediation. Given the reality that government agencies often lack the resources—or the will—to detect certain health hazards before they affect a community, an informed citizenry should be its own environmental watchdog.” Newly revised and updated.

Publisher: University of Texas
Paperback: 240 pages

A well-photographed book on basic defenses in close-quarter combat, showing proper use of night sticks, and come-along hand control techniques. It includes defenses against unarmed attacks; attacks with knives, baseball bats and clubs. Also features techniques for disarming pistol-wielding assailants and ground-fighting tactics. MC

Publisher: Universal Force Dynamics
Paperback: 122 pages
Illustrated

Book and disk combination, dealing with types of codes. “Designed to allow individuals and companies who must exchange sensitive personal or business information, to develop and maintain a secure method of trading information with each other.” Includes Cypher Pad for Windows, a double substitution cypher. “Cryptologically, it works by converting the letters of the original file and of the Key into ASCII codes, and mathematically manipulating these codes… to produce the encrypted message.” Since the encryption Key consists of up to 15 spaces, a Pentium PC would take several thousand centuries to break the random combination of letters making up the code. The CIA and NSA, however, do not have this difficulty. It is only their effort that is keeping 36-space-plus Keys off the commercial market—and those would be near impossible for others to break. GR

Publisher: Flores
Paperback: 118 pages
Illustrated

Complete, direct and thorough instructional presentation of what a tumbler lock is and how it functions, explaining the problems most lock specialists encounter and how aligning all the discs simultaneously in a tumbler opens a lock. Contains illustrations of using a tension wrench in order to rotate the plug to bypass the lock, and discusses the psychological approach in the field of “BLT” (lock-bypassing techniques). Chronological guide to all common disc and pin tumbler locks, and understanding how they operate. Shows various procedures to determine types of locks—warded lock, lever tumbler lock, pin tumbler, disc tumbler or wafer tumbler locks. Eddie the Wire exposes the specialist to brand name locks and what to expect, and how much lubricant to use on a lock, noting that large amounts of dust indicate a recent oiling. It is observed that sometimes even a lock specialist should check to see if the lock is really locked, or should look for an extra set of keys in nearby flower pots.

Publisher: Loompanics
Paperback: 80 pages
Illustrated