The Ascension of Jerry: Business Lies, Hitmen and the Making of an L.A. Muckraker

Bumbling hitmen. Burning corpses. Life in hiding. A threatened son. Jerry Schneiderman's orderly world evaporated when his business partner was executed by an assassin in 1979 Los Angeles, and the buzzard-eyed ringleader soon came for him.

Though the killers behind this murder-for-hire corporation were nabbed, the trauma annihilated Jerry's family and stripped his trust. Recovery only came years later with Jerry's improbable rebirth as a prank-loving activist who defended the weak and made enemies with the rich and powerful.