Born to Lose: Stanley B. Hoss & the Crime Spree That Gripped a Nation (True Crime History)
Jim Hollock is a killer writer (and I mean that in the best possible way). InBorn To Lose, Mr. Hollock has crafted an impossible-to-put-down account of Stanley Hoss, a Pittsburgh thug turned robber, rapist, prison escapee, kidnapper and murderer. Nicknamed the "Pennsylvania Badman"; Hoss did everything he could to live up to his reputation. Describing him as evil doesn't quite do Hoss justice. Even folks who are against the death penalty would make an exception for this guy. Get ready for many sleepless nights. -Tony Norman, Book Editor,Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,April 2013.Stanley Hoss was a precursor of change for us. We didn't lock our doors before him, only after. Fleeing a cop shooting, Hoss pulled into Lavale, Md. Then, the unimaginable - the kidnapping, and the horror and sorrow we would come to know. Jim Hollock has written a profound story.Born To Lose is cut from the same cloth as those too few books exemplifying the best in non fiction. But beware, once the front cover is opened, you'll be yanked into the pages, skip meals and stay up very late. -Jan Alderton, Editor,Cumberland Times-News, June 2013                     This is a heart-pounding tale of one of middle America's nastiest killers. Reading Mr. Hollock's award-winning story keeps you teetering on the morbid edge between repulsion and fascination. -Jim Barnes, Director,Independent Publisher Book Awards, 2012In a special edition we incorporated our readers' most memorable events over the past century. In the top five was the criminal episode of Stanley Hoss. A youngster's recollection recently told might be, "It was the first and only time I saw my daddy's shotgun propped up by his easy chair." Our area never before experienced such a happening - and hasn't since. Author Jim Hollock's powerfully toldBorn To Loselays bare in frightening detail all the alarm and palpable fear of those times. Quite a read!  -  Jeff Domenick,Editor, Valley News Dispatch, 2013.In all my 45 years on the bench my most disturbing case was that of Stanley Barton Hoss. I can easily state that if there is one criminal episode used as an argument for returning the Death Penalty to Pennsylvania and Maryland, it is that of Stanley Hoss. Capturing all the violence, shock and heartache, Jim Hollock'sBorn To Lose tells why. -Judge James S. Getty, Maryland Court of Appeals, Ret. May 2014