FREDDY Cako "saw a man stabbed right through with a blade, and another set alight with petrol".
This was not in some dingy alleyway, but Melbourne's notorious Pentridge prison.
Australian True Crime Stories: Outside the Law 3, edited by Lindy Cameron. Five Mile Press, rrp $29.95
This is just one of the blood-curdling moments in this crime collection.
There is plenty of emotionally tough reading here.
Not least the chapter Kids Don't Get Murdered.
It describes the savage murders of Ferntree Gully mother Margaret Tapp and her nine-year-old daughter, Seana.
Twenty-five years on from the investigation, many of their friends are still suffering.
Do you remember the infamous New Zealander, Terry Clark, and his "Mr Asia" gang of drug smugglers?
What about the heist known as the Great Bookie Robbery in 1976? They are included with 14 other crimes.
The many contributors who make up this collection are all writing from either a direct association with the crime or personal experience.
Does this lessen the book's appeal?
No. There are plenty of readers who like the relative security of reading about the most grisly of crimes from the safety of their own home.
To this end, the book will surely please true crime devotees.
Why do we watch so much crime on television? We like it and are taken in by the sophistication of an investigation.
Even so, this book shows that most crimes are just plain brutal and bloody where people get hurt and sometimes get caught.
