Tamerlan Tsarnae’s wish-list from his Amazon account was recently posted and available to the public. I found the items on the deceased Boston Marathon bomber suspect to be interesting. I cannot figure out why he would have something like this available for all to see if he was planning on doing this horrible bombing. Then after pulling up his wish list, I see the last item was added on July 8, 2007. Perhaps he forgot about this account over time? Lost the password? Who knows…. 

Here are a few of the items listed plus a brief description. Some descriptions are edited only to shorten the length. Content is still the same.

•  How to Make Driver’s Licenses and Other ID on Your Home Computer ~ by Max Forgé (Paperback)

Description: Sometimes you just need to fake it. Author Max Forgé brings liberation to the technology front with this step-by-step manual that tells you everything… about making your own ID cards at home. Instructions are outlined in plain language so that even a novice can set up shop, download software, and create authentic-looking cards to fool bouncers and store clerks…. Gone are the days when you have to settle for flagrantly fake ID….

•  The I.D. Forger: Homemade Birth Certificates & Other Documents Explained ~ by John Q. Newman (Paperback)

No description available.

•  Secrets Of A Back Alley ID Man: Fake Id Construction Techniques Of The Underground ~ by Sheldon Charrett (Paperback)

Description: Find out how crafty counterfeiters stay one step ahead of the bureaucrats and security professionals and readily replicate driver’s licenses, birth certificates and other supposedly “secure” identity documents. … Sheldon Charrett … will show you the most effective “new school” and “old-school” techniques for new IDs, as well as poor man’s tricks for those on a tight budget; the latest printers, scanners, cameras, software and other equipment used to forge IDs; groundbreaking research in hologram reproduction; simple and quick methods for producing do-it-yourself templates for licenses and official seals; ways to make composite IDs using a standard 35mm camera; and the availability of ready-made IDs on the Internet and other sources. Plus, for the first time ever in print, are precise instructions on how metallic holograms and repetitive lettering are done at home. Also included are difficult-to-find driver’s licenses backs, which are nonexistent on the Internet and ignored in other ID books.

•  Principles of Fraud Examination ~ by Joseph T. Wells (Hardcover)

Description: … Joseph Wells… provides a wealth of informative and entertaining insights into the complex social factors behind fraudulent behavior. The text also provides a broad overview of the field of Fraud Examination—from what fraud is, to how it is committed, detected, and deterred. Coverage begins with an explanation of fraud examination methodology, followed by detailed examination of the most prevalent fraud schemes used by employees, owners, managers, and executives.

•  Document Fraud and Other Crimes of Deception ~ by Jesse M. Greenwald (Paperback)

No description available.

The brothers were from Chechnya, so there were a few Chechen books:

•  Chechen Dictionary & Phrasebook (Hippocrene Dictionary and Phrasebook) ~ by Nicholas Awde (Paperback)

•  The Lone Wolf And the Bear: Three Centuries of Chechen Defiance of Russian Rule ~ by Moshe Gammer (Paperback)

•  Allah’s Mountains: The Battle for Chechnya, New Edition ~ by Sebastian Smith (Paperback)

He also had an interest in the Roman Empire and there are several books about that period in history.

And prior to the Roman Empire are many books about the Mafia.

•  Wiseguy ~ by Nicholas Pileggi (Mass Market Paperback)

Description: “At the age of twelve my ambition was to become a gangster. To be a wiseguy. Being a wiseguy was better than being President of the United States. To be a wiseguy was to own the world.” — Henry Hill

Wiseguy is Nicholas Pileggi’s remarkable bestseller, the most intimate account ever printed of life inside the deadly high-stakes world of what some people call the Mafia. Wiseguy is Henry Hill’s story, in fascinating, brutal detail, the never-before-revealed day-to-day life of a working mobster — his violence, his wild spending sprees, his wife, his mistresses, his code of honor.

Henry Hill knows where a lot of bodies are buried, and he turned Federal witness to save his own life. The mob is still hunting him for what he reveals in Wiseguy: hundreds of crimes including arson, extortion, hijacking, and the $6 million Lufthansa heist, the biggest successful cash robbery in U.S. history, which led to ten murders. A firsthand account of the secret world of the mob,

Wiseguy is more compelling than any novel.

•  American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power (John MacRae Books) ~ by Thomas A. Reppetto (Hardcover)

Description: A history of the rise of the Mafia in the world of crime and in the mainstream American political and economic life

Organized crime-the Italian American kind-has long been a source of popular entertainment and legend. Now, Thomas Reppetto provides a balanced history of the Mafia’s rise-from the 1880s to the post-WWII era-that is as exciting and readable as it is authoritative.

•  Organized Crime: AN INSIDE GUIDE TO THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL INDUSTRY ~ by Paul Lunde (Hardcover)

Description: Looking at the characteristics, resources, and strategies of organized crime from around the world and the social, political, and economic context in which they function, Organized Crime provides a fascinating and in-depth account of the criminal underworld and its inhabitants….

•  Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia ~ by John Dickie (Hardcover)

Description: The Italian-American mafia has its roots in a mysterious and powerful criminal network in Sicily. While the mythology of the mafia has been widely celebrated in American culture, the true origins of its rituals, laws, and methods have never actually been revealed. John Dickie uses startling new research to expose the secrets of the Sicilian mafia, providing a fascinating account that is more violent, frightening, and darkly comic than anything conceived in popular movies and novels….

•  Blood and Honor: Inside the Scarfo Mob, the Mafia’s Most Violent Family ~ by George Anastasia (Paperback)

Description: Here is the critically acclaimed inside story, now in an expanded edition, about the rise and fall of Philadelphia’s notorious Scarfo organization. Blunt and unsparing, it is a first-hand account of murder, money, and corruption told by wiseguy-turned-witness Nick Caramandi, whose testimony put Nicky Scarfo and many of his associates behind bars for the rest of their lives….

•  Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America’s Most Powerful Mafia Empires ~ by Selwyn Raab (Hardcover)

Description: Genovese, Gambino, Bonnano, Colombo and Lucchese. For decades these Five Families ruled New York and built the American Mafia (or Cosa Nostra) into an underworld empire. Today, the Mafia is an endangered species, battered and beleaguered by aggressive investigators, incompetent leadership, betrayals and generational changes that produced violent and unreliable leaders and recruits. A twenty year assault against the five families in particular blossomed into the most successful law enforcement campaign of the last century.

Five Families is the vivid story of the rise and fall of New York’s premier dons from Lucky Luciano to Paul Castellano to John Gotti and more. The book also brings the reader right up to the possible resurgence of the Mafia as the FBI and local law enforcement agencies turn their attention to homeland security and away from organized crime.

And there you have it. A few other mainstream entertainment-only type books, but most on Tamerlan Tsarnae’s wish-list seemed to be for educational purposes.

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