Tired of working undercover narcotics, police detective Ken Goode wants a transfer to homicide. After the Camus-reading surfer finds the body of a beautiful woman in an alley, he is assigned to head a team of relief detectives with the hopes of proving he is homicide-worthy. As Goode explores the underbelly of the affluent coastal enclave of La Jolla, California, and its hipster neighbor, Pacific Beach, he clashes with the patrons and employees of a neighborhood bar: real estate agents and beauty school students who have possible ties to an escort service and a drug ring - and keep turning up dead. The untimely disappearance of Goode's sister proves a worrisome distraction as he chases suspects and a dogged cub reporter chases him. In this intricately-layered plot, Rother's characters use substances or other people to try to fill the empty spaces within themselves, with addictions ranging from sex, alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes to Goode's own, caffeine and damaged women.
From the book: "Goode's eyes followed the ivory feet up a pair of long legs to see it was not a mannequin, but the crumpled body of a raven-haired young woman, stunning even in death. Goode kneeled down to take a closer look. She was wearing a man's shirt, white with red pinstripes. And nothing else. Her lower abdomen was marked with purple blotches, as if two hands had grabbed her and squeezed. Her neck was bruised and patches of skin were ripped away, as if she'd been strangled. The red fingernails on one hand were ragged at the ends, like they'd been broken off during a struggle. The kid suddenly reached out to touch the girl's shirt, but Goode grabbed his wrist before he could make contact. 'Don't touch anything, ' Goode said. 'This is a crime scene now...'"
From the author: While I was still a full-time working journalist, I can't tell you how much I dreamed of getting a book published. It became an obsession. I wrote and rewrote and resubmitted until it finally came true. And then after all that hard work, the book went out of print all too quickly. So you can imagine how excited I am to be able to share my baby with you once more, the very first book that I ever wrote, which encompasses many of the same themes in the true crime cases I have written about since: sex, addiction, mental illness, and murder. One day, with your encouragement and support, I may even finish the sequel.
Author Biography:
New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored 10 books, including THEN NO ONE CAN HAVE HER, I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU, NAKED ADDICTION, LOST GIRLS, POISONED LOVE, DEAD RECKONING, DEADLY DEVOTION, BODY PARTS, TWISTED TRIANGLE, and MY LIFE, DELETED. She also has released three Kindle shorts of crime collections in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, titled, A COMPLICATED WOMAN, DEAD ON DELIVERY and KILL HIM SOME MORE. These three shorts are also now available as a box set collection, titled, LOVE GONE WRONG. In September 2016, DEAD RECKONING will be re-released with 20 new pages of case updates about notorious killer Skylar Deleon, who was sent to death row at San Quentin as a man, and is now living there as a woman in the psychiatric unit. Now that California has a controversial policy allowing transgender inmates to apply for state-subsidized gender reassignment surgery, she is still hoping to get the operation that was a motive for murdering Tom and Jackie Hawks (she needed money to pay for the operation), but it is no sure thing by any means. Her latest book release, THEN NO ONE CAN HAVE HER (Kensington/Pinnacle, 2015), is a story of blood money, sex addiction, manipulation and murder in a small mountain town in Arizona, and a roller coaster ride to justice. This complex legal tale involves a deep love gone wrong between Carol Kennedy--a peaceful, loving mother of two, artist and therapist--and her soulmate ex-husband Steve DeMocker, an investment broker. DeMocker's family believes he was wrongly convicted for Carol's murder, which occurred just 35 days after their divorce was finalized. (Kensington/Pinnacle). Rother's debut crime novel, NAKED ADDICTION (WildBlue Press, 2014), unveils a lethal confluence of sex, drugs and the murder of young-beauty school entrepreneurs that oozes into the wealthy beach community of La Jolla. Undercover narcotics detective Ken Goode confronts his own demons as he investigates these homicides, which are complicated by a drug ring, an escort service, a seductive witness, and fears that his missing sister could be the next murder victim. UPDATE: An audio book of this title was just released in October 2015. I'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU is the true story behind the cold case murder of multimillionaire entrepreneur Bill McLaughlin in Newport Beach, Calif., by his femme fatale fiancee, Nanette Johnston Packard, and her NFL-linebacker lover, Eric Naposki. (Kensington, 2014) BODY PARTS is the true story of Wayne Adam Ford, a serial killer who killed four troubled women, then did the rare deed of turning himself in before he could kill again. (Re-released by Kensington, 2013) Rother's most controversial true crime book is LOST GIRLS, a behind-the-scenes account of the rape and murder of San Diego area teenagers Chelsea King and Amber Dubois by sexual predator John Gardner (Kensington, 2012). Her NYT bestseller MY LIFE, DELETED, is the inspirational memoir of former NFL player Scott Bolzan, who rebuilds his life after suffering a brain injury and losing his entire long-term memory. She co-authored the book with Scott and his wife Joan. (HarperOne, 2011) The updated POISONED LOVE (Kensington, 2011) adds 20 pages of new developments in the Kristin Rossum case, in which the beautiful San Diego toxicologist was convicted of poisoning her husband with powerful narcotics she stole from her lab at the county Medical Examiner's Office, then staging a suicide scene by sprinkling red rose petals over her husband's body. Before writing books full-time, Rother worked for 19 years as an investigative reporter for daily newspapers, covering issues ranging from addiction, suicide, mental illness and murder to politics and corruption at City Hall and in Congress. She now writes books full-time, teaches writing and works as a book doctor, writing/research/promotions coach, publishing consultant, speaker and event planner.
