Showing posts with label 5 Things You Should Know. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 5 Things You Should Know. Show all posts

5 Things You Should Know About Body Parts by Caitlin Rother #5Things

February 18, 2025 0 Comments

 


We are so excited to have as our guest today, Caitlin Rother, author of Body Parts. She is here to tell us five things you should know about her book!







 5 Things You Should Know About Body Parts

By Caitlin Rother

 

1) BODY PARTS by New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother is the story of serial killer Wayne Adam Ford, who killed four women and dismembered two of them, leaving them in aqueducts and other bodies of water up and down California. After doing the rare deed of turning himself in, he tried to help authorities identify his first victim, whom he dismembered, by showing them where he buried her body parts. Twenty-five years later, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department's new cold case unit used genetic genealogy to identify that first victim as Kerry Anne Cummings. If a serial killer book can have a happy ending, this is it, because Kerry now has her name back and her family has closure, finally learning what happened to their missing loved one who disappeared all those years ago.

 

2)  BODY PARTS originally came out as a mass market paperback in 2009. This edition is a re-issue in trade paperback with 32 pages of new developments about how the Humboldt cold case team ID'd Kerry Anne Cummings. It includes personal details gained from the author's interviews with Kerry's cousin Jeff, who sent in his DNA profile to GEDmatch with the hope of ID'ing his missing cousin, and also with Kerry's sister, Kathie, with whom she was always very close. Rother made a special effort to pay a tribute to Ford's first victim, and to show who Kerry Anne Cummings was--a talented artist, a traveler, and an independent but troubled young woman--before she became a murder victim.   

 

3) Wayne Adam Ford was a handsome young man who joined the U.S. Marines when he was a teenager, and was stationed at the El Toro base in Orange County, where he sung karaoke, drove a school bus, and got married. While he was in the Marines, he learned first aid, and tried to help a car accident victim on the freeway who was bleeding at the neck. Ford put his hand on the man's carotid artery to stop the blood flow, when a drunk driver hit him and knocked him 40 feet down the embankment. Ford was in the ICU for nine days with a severe head injury that his family said changed his personality. But they still never suspected the polite young man, who sung a mean Elvis tune, could ever hurt anyone.

 

4) Ford suffered a mental breakdown while in the Marines, requiring doctors to sedate him with Haldol. Although he later sought mental help while he was working as a long-haul trucker, he never got the treatment he needed. He developed paraphilias, one of which involved a fixation on women's breasts, which explains why he had his last victim's breast in his jacket pocket when he turned himself in at the sheriff's station in Eureka.

 

5) BODY PARTS is Rother's second best-selling book after her very first book, POISONED LOVE, about the Kristin Rossum murder case. Rossum poisoned her husband with fentanyl, then staged a suicide scene by sprinkling red roses petals over her body. BODY PARTS was originally Rother's third title. Her 15th book, about the McStay family murders, will be released in June 2025 and is available for pre-order now!    

 

 

 ~ Book Description ~


BODY PARTS takes a deep psychological look at serial killer Wayne Adam Ford. A long-haul trucker, Ford confessed to picking up dozens of prostitutes and troubled women along California roads. He tortured and repeatedly choked them during sex, revived them with CPR, then did it again. Only four of them didn’t survive, he said, claiming that was an accident. After dismembering two of his victims, he dumped their bodies in the California Aqueduct and other waterways in Humboldt, Kern, San Joaquin, and San Bernardino Counties. Ford’s complex death penalty case made national news because he is one of the only serial killers to turn himself in and help authorities identify his victims. He was recently transferred from death row at San Quentin to a state prison in San Luis Obispo.  

 

Originally released in March 2009, this new edition of BODY PARTS has been updated with 32 pages of new developments about the identification of Kerry Anne Cummings, Ford’s first victim, whom he dismembered and who went unidentified for 25 years. If there is such a thing as a happy ending to a book about a serial killer, this is it. The new material takes the reader through the investigative process involved in solving a cold case like this one so many years after the fact. Kerry now has her name back and her family has closure after so many years of not knowing what happened to her, after being prevented from reporting her missing to police because she was using drugs. Rother is the first to interview the Cummings family about Kerry and her troubled life before she went missing in late 1997. 

 

Overall, the book is based on exclusive information Rother uncovered during her extensive research and exclusive interviews with Ford’s father and brother. She also interviewed, the prosecutor, sheriff’s detectives from all four counties, the defense’s sole investigator, and a woman who survived after being raped and tortured by Ford.  By obtaining a court order to release sealed court files and digging through boxes of evidence and investigators’ reports, Rother was able to paint comprehensive and compelling portraits of Ford, his family and his victims. Rother’s book shows readers how Ford’s family dynamics, his severe head injury, his bouts of mental illness, and his compulsive sexual perversions led to his tragic killing spree, tearful confessions, and dramatic trial.

 

This is a re-release with 32 pages of new developments about the recent identification of Ford's first victim, Kerry Anne Cummings, through genetic genealogy 25 years after her murder. So, now she has her name back and her family has closure.


BODY PARTS is available at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Body-Parts-Serial-Killers-Compulsions/dp/0806543914.



~ Author Bio ~






New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored 15 books, ranging from narrative non-fiction crime to thrillers and memoir. Among her recent titles is an updated edition of BODY PARTS with 32 pages of new developments about the Wayne Adam Ford case, and DEATH ON OCEAN BOULEVARD, the story of the Rebecca Zahau death case. Coming out in June is DOWN TO THE BONE, about the McStay family murders, and in 2026, DOPAMINE FIX, the first in a two-book deal for a new crime fiction series with Thomas & Mercer. An award-winning investigative reporter for 19 years, Rother’s stories have been published in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The San Diego Union Tribune, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and The Daily Beast. Her more than 250 TV, radio and podcast appearances include 20/20, People Magazine Investigates, Crime Watch Daily, Australia’s World News, and numerous shows on Netflix, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, HLN and REELZ. A popular public speaker, she also works as a writing-research coach-consultant and website designer. For fun, she binges on limited series, swims, and plays keyboards and sings in a jazzy bluesy trio called In the Lounge with her partner. Rother earned a bachelor’s in psychology from UC Berkeley and a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. 

Website & Social Media:

Website https://caitlinrother.com  

Twitter https://twitter.com/caitlinrother 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/caitlinrother/  

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the_real_caitlin_rother 

BlueSky @caitlinrother.bsky.social 


5 Things You Should Know About Dragged Down Deep by Michael Okon #5Things

January 28, 2025 0 Comments

 



We are so excited to have as our guest today, Michael Okon, author of Dragged Down Deep. He is here to tell us five things you should know about his book!







 5 Things You Should Know About Dragged Down Deep

By Michael Okon

 

1. I got the idea of Dragged Down Deep by watching Creature From the Black Lagoon and questioning, why hasn’t there been an updated retelling of this fanstastic story.

2. I started writing Dragged Down Deep as a screenplay first and then fleshed it out into a novel.

3. Dragged Down Deep takes place in the Hamptons, but not in the white party, big house Hamptons. This is the Hamptons where people live 365 days a year and don’t attend the rich parties.

4. I have been wanting to write a book about cryptozoology for the longest time.

5. I have four other stories planned out in the Dragged Down Deep universe with other amazing cryptids in the works.

 

 

 ~ Book Description ~



Logan Osborne has spent his life chasing the shadows of the past.

As a child, he watched helplessly as his father was snatched from a fishing boat by what he swore was a mermaid. No one believed him then. No one believes him now.

Determined to prove that mythical creatures exist, Logan is drawn back to the small coastal town where his nightmares began after another mysterious disappearance stirs the waters.

Teaming up with his pragmatic colleague Elliot Sheppard and his fiercely loyal friend Penny Swanson, Logan dives headfirst into an adventure packed with danger and deception. As they dig deeper, the trio faces resistance at every turn—a secretive agency with its own agenda, a suspiciously unhelpful police force, and Logan’s old flame, who may know more than she’s letting on.

What they uncover is far darker and more terrifying than Logan ever imagined: the truth about his father, the secrets of Minatuck, and the horrifying reality of the Mermaid of the Hamptons.

Will Logan and his friends expose the lies that have haunted him for years, or will they be Dragged Down Deep into the swampy, secretive underbelly of a town that guards its mysteries with deadly intent?

Dragged Down Deep is available at Amazon.



~ Author Bio ~






Michael Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres, including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure, and self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in English and then later received his MBA in business and finance. Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling in his DNA. Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life. From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of entertaining people through unforgettable characters.

Michael is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with his wife and children.

Website & Social Media:

Website www.michaelokon.com

Twitter https://www.x.com/IAmMichaelOkon

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/IAmMichaelOkon

 


5 Things You Should Know About Ring of Rosin by Nancy Golden #5Things

January 22, 2025 0 Comments

 



We are so excited to have as our guest today, Nancy Golden, author of Ring of Rosin. She is here to tell us five things you should know about her book!
 






 5 Things You Should Know About Ring of Rosin

By Nancy Golden

  1. The Ring of Rosin, one of three symbols of office for the rightful king of Elayas, is stolen. In its place is found a mysterious scroll, written in an ancient language. When translated, it reads, “Many, many years ago, a wondrous bird flew into the mountains of Tolan. In its claws, it bore a giant stone, a stone of fire. The bird dropped the stone somewhere in the mountains, where it shattered. The one who finds its fragments shall have power beyond belief.”
  2. King Rugal goes on a quest to recover the ring, forged from the stone of fire mentioned in the scroll. A mysterious companion joins him on a perilous journey. Rugal’s shadowy ally leads him to the nomadic Kargoliths, who are locked in an ongoing dispute with the neighboring kingdom of Tolan. As destinies intertwine amidst the clashing cultures, the fates of Elayas, Tolan, and the Kargoliths hang in the balance.
  3. A dragon named Argothal, a flutebird named Treble, and the three horses, Raksh, Tag, and Flash, are all part of the adventure.
  4. Ring of Rosin has a lot of fun unexpected character reveals.
  5. When I sat down to write Ring of Rosin, I didn’t know what was going to happen. My motivation to write each day was to find out! It’s like reading a book I couldn’t put down, except I was writing it

 

 ~ Book Description ~

Many, many years ago, a wondrous bird flew into the mountains of Tolan. In its claws, it bore a giant stone, a stone of fire. The bird dropped the stone somewhere in the mountains, where it shattered. The one who finds its fragments shall have power beyond belief.

The Ring of Rosin has unexpectedly disappeared. Join King Rugal on his quest to recover the ring symbolizing his right to rule, forged from the stone of fire. A mysterious companion joins the young monarch on a perilous journey. Rugal’s shadowy ally leads him to the nomadic Kargoliths, who are locked in an ongoing dispute with the neighboring kingdom of Tolan. As destinies intertwine amidst the clashing cultures, the fates of Elayas, Tolan, and the Kargoliths hang in the balance.

Will the Ring of Rosin’s power on the Day of Questioning help Rugal defeat the foreign threat to Elayas, or will it be used to destroy him?

Follow King Rugal as he faces the greatest threat to his reign since his coronation. An exciting adventure of valor and unlikely friendships the whole family can enjoy!

Ring of Rosin is available at Amazon.



~ Author Bio ~






Nancy Golden wears a lot of different hats – She is a wife and mom, author, engineer, professor, horsewoman, and small business owner. She is also the founder of a writing group – the Carrollton League of Writers. Nancy lives in a suburb of Dallas, Texas and she loves to ride bicycles and horses. She is a member of the National Space Society, and she has been a Trekkie for as long as she can remember. Nancy Golden Books provides a great reader experience with well-crafted writing that will brighten your day.

Website nancygoldenbooks.com

Twitter https://www.twitter.com/ncgolden1  

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564426002283 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ncgolden1 

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/216235312-ring-of-rosin 

 

 

 

 

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