Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann announced total sales for their award-winning book The Girls Are Gone have passed 30,000 copies across all platforms.
The best-selling true-crime book provides new details about the disappearance of Samantha and Gianna Rucki and the adults – including their mother Sandra Grazzini-Rucki – who conspired to keep the missing sisters and the truth hidden.
“As an author, knowing your words are traveling far and wide is truly incredible,” said Mann. “The Girls Are Gone is a powerful story – it is clear in the numbers that readers are connecting with this story,” added Mann.
The book examines the events which led to Sandra Grazzini-Rucki abducting her daughters on April 19, 2013, during a custody dispute with her ex-husband, David Rucki. On November 18, 2015 – 944 days after they disappeared – the girls were found living on a ranch in northern Minnesota by law enforcement, headed by the Lakeville Police Department.
Brodkorb and Mann analyzed court documents, reviewed investigative files, and conducted numerous interviews to provide a completed story about how and why two children vanished from their family and friends for 944 days. The Girls Are Gone includes interviews with members of the Rucki family, including exclusive interviews with Samantha and Gianna Rucki.
Criminal charges were filed against four people, including the girls’ mother, for their role in the disappearance of the Rucki sisters. The Girls Are Gone chronicles key events during the criminal trials of the people who were later convicted or pleaded guilty for their involvement in this heinous crime. The book examines the other adults who aided in the conspiracy to hide the truth and the Rucki sisters.
The book also discusses the connection between Michelle MacDonald, who was a candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2020, and two people convicted for their roles in the disappearance of the Rucki sisters: Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and Dede Evavold. MacDonald was labeled a “person of interest” by the Lakeville Police Department in the disappearance of Samantha and Gianna Rucki but did not cooperate in the investigation.
“One of our goals in writing The Girls Are Gone was to raise public awareness of the danger of children being abducted by family members,” said Brodkorb. “By methodically explaining how a deranged parent worked with strangers to hide her children from their family and friends, we hope to reduce the number of children that go missing each year,” added Brodkorb.
Since being released in October 2018, The Girls Are Gone has been a commercial and critical success, with seven printings being ordered. In April 2019, Brodkorb and Allison Mann were awarded a 2019 Independent Publisher Book Award. The Kindle Edition of The Girls Are Gone has appeared on multiple “best seller” lists by Amazon. The Girls Are Gone is published by Wise Ink Creative Publishing.
In October 2019, Brodkorb and Mann released an audiobook of The Girls Are Gone, which was produced at Studio Americana. The Girls Are Gone is available for sale through numerous retailers in audiobook, paperback, and ebook.
