Exclusive: New Titus & Ryan book will be out. You can order it at www.craigtituskellyryan.com
Well - it is official. We can now confirm that Stephens Press is in production on the first book on the Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan murder investigation. The book will be called "Fire in the Desert: The True Story of the Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan murder investigation." It will be published and available in early December 2006, perhaps as soon as November. Anyone interested will be able to purchase the book at stephenspress.com later this year and there will also be a national distribution release shortly afterwards.
The book will be a fair, independent look at the evidence gathered by police against Craig and Kelly. The author, Glen Puit, will make no judgments on whether they will be guilty or innocent. That will be up to a jury. The book will also avoid unnecessary sensationalism.
In addition, "Fire in the Desert" will be objective and very respectful to the bodybuilding and fitness communities. As talking with Glen, he has a great deal of respect for the athletes in both fields.
The lure of the book will be the documentation of the volume of evidence gathered by police -- namely, through Glen's investigative reporting, Glen has received 22 witness statements that have never before been released publicly. The book will be sort of evidentiary handbook for those who want to follow the case as it proceeds to trial. The book will also include an in-depth legal analysis of what Craig and Kelly's biggest legal obstacles are and also where they have the best chance at acquittal.
Here is some background on the author:
Glenn Puit, 36, is a senior journalist and true crime author at the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He has covered violent crime and the criminal justice system in Las Vegas for more than a decade. In 1995, Puit was the first reporter in the nation to reveal the identity of John Doe #2 in the Oklahoma City bombing while a reporter at the Florence, South Carolina, Morning News newspaper. He is also the author of the national true crime release, "Witch: The True Story of Las Vegas's Most Notorious Female Killer," which was published nationally by Berkley Books in December 2005. The book, which documented the case of a Las Vegas woman who killed her mother and stored her in a storage shed, received rave reviews and was featured on the literary section front of the San Jose Mercury News.
Regarding the Titus and Ryan case: "It's a fascinating criminal case -- the type of caper that has captured the public's attention, and in my work at the Review-Journal, I've come across a lot of information that has yet to be released publicly," Puit said. "I feel that the best format to offer this to the public is in a book, and I intend to give to the reader an objective, independent look at just what Craig and Kelly are up against when it comes to their legal proceedings. I think it's going to be a real page-turner." Puit also praised Ron Avidan at Getbig.com for what he said was the most comprehensive reporting on the case to date. "Ron at Getbig.com has done the best job so far on this as far as news coverage is concerned and he's proven to be a very valuable resource for me in my research on the book," Puit said.
