Check out Caitlin Rother's interview, the author of "Hooked."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
My two protagonists — surfing detective Ken Goode and investigative reporter Katrina Chopin — are nostalgic callbacks to the old days when police and reporters operated with integrity and ethics; When they were respected for telling the truth and for exposing gaslighting, not attacked verbally and physically for it. These characters go out of their way to do the right thing — which is hard to find in both real life and in book characters these days — as they fight to expose and bring down corruption by wealthy elites who try to control things from behind the scenes with their money and influence. Something else we are seeing too much of these days — in plain sight.
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
I haven’t heard the term, but I would say that people should be proud of reading books — all different kinds of books — not banning or censoring them based on ideological or political beliefs that divide readers. But now that I look up the term, I see it refers more specifically to promoting LGBT diversity and voices in literature, which I support.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
I make an effort to include diversity in my choice of characters, even so far as to point out past discriminatory practices in housing and social interaction. People want to see themselves in the books they read, and we need to expose and fight bigotry when we see it.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
Katrina and Goode are drawn to each other romantically as soon as they meet, a sexual tension that runs throughout the book as the two investigators compete to solve the mystery of the suspicious deaths of two biotech executives in the beautiful coastal community of La Jolla, California. The investigators discover that these deaths are tied to a group of wealthy elites who want to “facilitate” FDA approval of a new sexual enhancement drug in which many of these elites hope will make them even richer and prolong their virility. Although I’m switching genres from a career of writing true crime, this, like many of my previous books, feature rich characters behaving badly, because money does not, in fact, satisfy everyone or make them happy. Especially those driven by greed and avarice. I find it fun to create characters that take over the story and run with it in unexpected ways. Like my detective, I grew up in La Jolla, and I also worked for many years as an investigative reporter and true crime author, so both of these characters have aspects of me in them.
What can fans expect from your book?
Some good suspense, romantic tension, and investigative momentum, leading to a surprising and fulfilling climax that will leave readers eagerly wanting to read the next books in the “Katrina & Goode” series!
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
I’ve got several books written in this series. The next one, "Staged", comes out in June 2026, which I hope readers will enjoy so that I can continue publishing this series. I’ve also started writing a new series, also set in La Jolla and Coronado, California, but this time with a female homicide detective.
