James Scott Popular Books
James Scott Biography & Facts
James Robert Scott (born November 20, 1969) is an American who was convicted of causing a massive flood of the Mississippi River at West Quincy, Missouri as part of the Great Flood of 1993. Scott is currently serving a sentence of 20 years to life in a Missouri prison. The 2007 book Damned to Eternity and a 2022 Vice News documentary have been critical of Scott's conviction. Early life Scott grew up in Quincy, Illinois. By his twenties, he had a criminal record and had served time in six prisons. While most of these arrests were for burglary, they also included two for arson. In 1982, he burned down his elementary school, Webster Elementary School in Quincy. In 1988, he burned down a garage and set several other fires, netting him a sentence of seven years in prison. By 1993, Scott was out of prison on parole for the 1988 fire. He worked at a Burger King in Quincy and spent most of his nights drinking heavily. He lived in the nearby town of Fowler with his wife Suzie. Flood During flooding on the Mississippi River in 1993, the Scotts, along with several other residents living in and around Quincy and Hannibal, spent much of mid-July reinforcing the West Quincy levee. By July 16, the river had stopped rising and had dropped 1.5 feet (46 cm) below the levee. That night, however, the levee unexpectedly failed when the river burst through its main stem. The resulting flood inundated 14,000 acres (57 km2) on the Missouri side of the river. In one incident, a barge was sucked into the levee and slammed into a gas station, causing a fire. The flood washed out all of the bridges in the area—the only links across the river for 200 miles (320 km). While no one was killed, many people on the Missouri side of the river had to drive 80 miles (130 km) to either St. Louis or Burlington, Iowa, fly, or take a ferry to get across the river for several weeks after the waters receded. One major bridge, the Bayview Bridge, was out of service for 71 days. Several businesses in West Quincy were also destroyed, most of which have never returned. Reporter Michele McCormack of WGEM-TV, the NBC affiliate in Quincy, was told by two Department of Transport workers at the edge of the bridge that a man standing close by was first on the scene. She walked up to him and Scott volunteered to do a live interview with her and photographer Rick Junkerman. Scott said that he had seen a weak spot on the levee and tried to put more sandbags along it. He then said he went for a drink, only to come back and discover the levee had let go. He then helped the Coast Guard load boats into the floodwaters. In a second interview with McCormack at his home which aired after his arrest, he told a similar story. Investigation Scott's account of the flood sounded suspicious to Neal Baker, a sergeant with the Quincy Police Department. Baker was familiar with Scott; he had arrested Scott for the 1982 and 1988 arsons while he was a patrolman. For one thing, Baker noticed that Scott looked too clean to have been working on a levee all day. He also had trouble recalling simple details about working on the levee. Baker also noticed that Scott was not wearing a life jacket. Missouri authorities were also suspicious. The levee had failed at one of its strongest points, and that area had been inspected two hours earlier, although later, two independent soil-science experts testified there was strong evidence the levee failed due to natural causes. They became even more suspicious when they found out about Scott's extensive criminal record, including the arsons. Adams County, Illinois, sheriff's deputies questioned him a week after the flood, and he was unable to keep his story straight. On October 1, Quincy police arrested Scott on an unrelated burglary charge. During questioning, he admitted to pulling four sandbags from one portion of the levee and moving them to the trouble spot he had claimed to have seen. He told police, "My town was in trouble. The folks in Quincy and in West Quincy were about to lose everything. That’s why I went down to that levee. I had no plans to hurt anything. They needed help, so I helped." While he denied any intent to cause any harm, he said, "I didn't mean to cause a problem but I did... I'm up shit creek." He was released after an hour and a half. However, he was convicted of burglary in January 1994 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Trial Meanwhile, authorities on both sides of the river joined federal authorities to investigate the case. Their investigation eventually led to Joe Flachs, an old friend of Scott's. Flachs told authorities that Scott had told him he had broken the levee so he could strand his wife, Suzie, on the Missouri side of the river. Suzie worked as a waitress at a truck stop in Taylor, Missouri. As the story went, Scott wanted to be free to party, fish, and have an affair. Investigators subsequently found other witnesses who said Scott boasted about breaking the levee at a party after the flood. Based on this evidence, Scott was taken to Missouri for trial in November 1994. Scott was tried under a 1979 Missouri law that made it a crime to intentionally cause a catastrophe. The law, codified as Section 569.070 of the Missouri Revised Statutes, defined a catastrophe as "death or serious physical injury to ten or more people or substantial damage to five or more buildings or inhabitable structures or substantial damage to a vital public facility which seriously impairs its usefulness or operation." Due to publicity, the trial took place in Kirksville, 68 miles (109 km) west of West Quincy. Prosecutors and investigators believed that Scott either removed or cut the plastic sheets covering the levee, then burrowed through the sand until the water rushed in. The defense rested largely on two soil-science experts who testified there was strong evidence the levee failed due to natural causes. David Hammer of the University of Missouri said there had been "something like 11 or 12 levee failures" upriver from West Quincy, and Charles Morris of the University of Missouri-Rolla said a last-minute decision to bring in bulldozers to shore up the levee actually weakened its structural integrity. The prosecution presented numerous witnesses claiming to have heard Scott bragging about breaking the levee, and pointed to the inconsistencies in his story. After a three-day trial, the jury deliberated for four hours and then convicted Scott of causing a catastrophe. A month later, he was sentenced to 10 years to life in prison, to run consecutively with his 10-year burglary sentence in Illinois. Scott appealed, and on February 25, 1997, the Missouri Court of Appeals threw out the conviction due to prosecutorial misconduct. Prosecutors had not told the defense about two witnesses who reportedly heard Scott say he had deliberately broken the levee. He was retried in 1998, and convicted a second time after three hours of deliberation on April 30. The original sentence was reinstated on Ju.... Discover the James Scott popular books. Find the top 100 most popular James Scott books.
Best Seller James Scott Books of 2024
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The Book of Secrets
Tom HarperFrom the pen of prizewinning author Tom Harper, this is a highoctane adventure thriller in the bestselling tradition of The Da Vinci Code. Jampacked with murder, mystery and mindbl...
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A Moveable Feast
Ernest HemingwayPublished for the first time as Ernest Hemingway intended, one of the great writer's most enduring works: his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s Published posthumously in 1964, ...
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Operative 66
Andy McDermottEVERY OPERATIVE KNOWS THE RULES. The mission comes first. You are a deniable asset. Betrayal is punished by death.'Operative 66 is an actionpacked thrill ride...twists and turns t...
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A Case of Redemption
Adam MitznerThis riveting followup to A Conflict of Interest is a gritty, sophisticated thriller that will draw fans of Scott Turow and John Grisham into a world of relentless suspense.Dan Sor...
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The Once Upon a Time World
Jonathan MilesChronicling twohundred years of glamour, intrigue, and hedonism, this rich and vivid history of the French Riviera features a vast cast of characters, from Pablo Picasso and Coco C...
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Savage Son
Jack Carr“Take my word for it, James Reece is one rowdy motherfer. Get ready!”Chris Pratt, star of the #1 Amazon Prime series The Terminal List “A rare gutpunch writer, full of grit and ins...
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The Rule of Law
John LescroartAttorney Dismas Hardy is called to defend the least likely suspect of his career: his longtime, trusted assistant who is suddenly being charged as an accessory to murder in this in...
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True Believer
Jack CarrINSTANT BESTSELLER “Take my word for it, James Reece is one rowdy motherfer. Get ready!” Chris Pratt, star of the #1 Amazon Prime series The Terminal List“Jack Carr and his altereg...
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Rogue Asset
Andy McDermottEVERY OPERATIVE KNOWS THE RULES. The mission comes first. You are a deniable asset. Betrayal is punished by death.'A writer of almost cinematic talent' DAILY EXPRESSAlex Reeve was...
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Straight Shooter
Stephen A. SmithAN NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEEAmerica’s most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this “raw, deeply authentic, and immensely entertaining” (Bob Iger, #1 New York Times ...
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The Kept
James Scott“Dark and mysterious. . . . A novel whose daring is found in its bleakness. . . . The plot unfolds with a weighty languor reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy. . . sparse, elegant. . . h...
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To Risks Unknown
Douglas ReemanMultimillion copy bestselling author Douglas Reeman is the master of naval fiction and this actionpacked, highoctane WW2 historical adventure is no exception. Jampacked with tensio...
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Six Degrees of Paris Hilton
Mark EbnerIn the burgeoning Hollywood club scene, where ecstasy dealers dine alongside celebrities, and illicit money bubbles up from below like the La Brea Tar Pits, a handsome doublemurder...
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The Promise
Robert CraisElvis Cole and Joe Pike are joined by Suspect heroes LAPD K9 Officer Scott James and his German shepherd, Maggie, in this heartstopping thriller from #1 New York Tim...
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The Girl with Seven Names
Hyeonseo LeeNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn extraordinary insight into life under one of the world’s most ruthless and secretive dictatorships – and the story of one woman’s terrifying struggle to...
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Of Irish Blood
Mary Pat KellyIt's 1903. Nora Kelly, twentyfour, is talented, outspoken, progressive, and climbing the ladder of opportunity, until she falls for an attractive but dangerous man who sends her ru...
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The Lazarus Vault
Tom HarperFrom the pen of prizewinning author Tom Harper, this is a highoctane adventure thriller in the bestselling tradition of The Da Vinci Code. With a lingering sense of tension and une...
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The Isis Covenant
James DouglasJamie Saintclair embarks on another actionpacked historical adventure, guaranteed to have you gripped from page one! Perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Chris Kuzneski and Scott Mariani...
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The Big Sleep
Raymond ChandlerThe renowned novel from the crime fiction master, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe. Featuring the iconic character that inspired the...
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My Name Is Nobody
Matthew Richardson'PROOF THAT THE SPY GENRE IS FLOURISHING IN THE 21ST CENTURY' Guardian'I know for certain that there is a mole somewhere within the intelligence services . . . His codename is Nobo...
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Sacrifice
Will JordanLet bestselling author Will Jordan take you on a breakneck speed ride with CIA agent Ryan Drake in this compelling and unmissable thriller. Fans of Lee Child, Vince Flynn and David...
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The Troop
Nick CutterWINNER OF THE JAMES HERBERT AWARD FOR HORROR WRITING“The Troop scared the hell out of me, and I couldn’t put it down. This is oldschool horror at its best.” Stephen KingOnce every ...
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Allegiance
Kermit RooseveltA sophisticated legal thriller that plunges readers into the debate within the US government surrounding the imprisonment of thousands of JapaneseAmericans during World War II.When...
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A Moveable Feast
Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway’s classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, now available in a restored edition, includes the original manuscript along with insightful recollections and unfinished sk...
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Last Mission to Tokyo
Michel ParadisMichel Paradis’s Last Mission to Tokyo, a “superb” (The Wall Street Journal) and “engrossing...richly researched” (The New York Times Book Review) account of a key but underreporte...
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Hank and Jim
Scott Eyman“[A] remarkably absorbing, supremely entertaining joint biography” (The New York Times) from bestselling author Scott Eyman about the remarkable friendship of Henry Fonda and James...
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Redemption
Will JordanIntroducing Ryan Drake think Jason Bourne meets Jack Reacher...If you like Lee Child, Vince Flynn and David Baldacci, you will love this riveting and unputdownable thriller from b...
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Red Sky Mourning
Jack CarrWith the walls closing in, Navy SEAL sniper James Reece is on a race to dismantle a conspiracy that has forced America to her knees in the latest highoctane pageturner that seems r...
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The Last Castle
Denise KiernanA New York Times bestseller with an "engaging narrative and array of detail” (The Wall Street Journal), the “intimate and sweeping” (Raleigh News & Observer) untold, true story...
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The Torrents of Spring
Ernest HemingwayAn early gem of satire and humor from the greatest American writer of the twentieth century.First published in 1926, The Torrents of Spring is a hilarious parody of the Chicago sch...
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Betrayal
Will JordanIf you are looking for an adrenalinfuelled, bloodpumping, breakneck speed thriller then look no further than Will Jordan's third novel featuring British CIA agent Ryan Drake. Compe...
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The Excalibur Codex
James DouglasJamie Saintclair embarks on another actionpacked historical adventure, guaranteed to have you gripped from page one! A must read for fans of Dan Brown, Chris Kuzneski and Scott Mar...
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Jack Carr Boxed Set
Jack CarrA whiteknuckled boxed set featuring the first three “absolutely awesome” (Brad Thor, #1 New York Times bestselling author) thrillers in the instant #1 New York Times bestselling Te...
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Secrets of the Dead
Tom HarperFans of Dan Brown, Clive Cussler and Scott Mariani will love this highoctane, edgeofyourseat international thriller from the pen of prizewinning author Tom Harper. It has everythin...
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The Season
Charlotte BinghamAn immensely readable drama of period society that you WILL NOT be able to put down. Authored by the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author Charlotte Bingham, perfect for...
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Suspect
Robert CraisFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series comes a thrilling novel featuring LAPD K9 Officer Scott James and his German shepherd, Magg...
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Remembering Peasants
Patrick JoyceA New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceA landmark new history of the peasant experience, exploring a now neglected way of life that once encompassed most of humanity but is va...
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Aliens vs Predator Omnibus
Steve Perry, Stephani Danelle Perry & David BischoffMachiko Noguchi accepted the supervision of the ranching colony of Ryushi as a challenge. Little did she know that she would defend it with her life. For the entire unarmed human s...