The Color of Night

A Young Mother, A Missing Child and
A Cold-Blooded Killer

by L.C. Timmerman and John H. Timmerman

On a hot August night, beautiful nineteen-year-old Rachel Helena Timmerman was brutally beaten and raped five times by a savage criminal. Her rapist was eventually caught and arrested, but made bond just as quickly and was able to walk the streets a free man until his court date.

However, two days before she was to testify against her attacker in court, Rachel received a phone call inviting her and her baby daughter Shannon out for dinner. She was picked up at her father’s house and never returned.

A month later, Rachel’s body was discovered in the swampland of Oxford Lake in Michigan. Her baby daughter was never found. Her head was wrapped in duct tape with only the nostrils of her nose exposed and she was chained to a sixty pound cement block.

The FBI quickly mounted a nationwide search for the killer. Soon a trail of more bodies emerged. Was a serial killer at large? Could it be the same man who had attacked Rachel?

Written by John H. Timmerman, Rachel’s uncle, along with her father L.C. Timmerman, The Color of Night: A Young Mother, A Missing Child and A Cold-Blooded Killer tells the shocking tale of these macabre happenings, including the events leading up to the grisly murder, the capture of the killer by the FBI in New York and how the assailant’s highly publicized trial pushed the boundaries of the Federal Death Penalty Act. It is a story filled with drama, suspense and outrage.

"...harrowing story...true crime and law aficionados will take great interest in her case."
— Library Journal, December 2010

L.C. Timmerman is an electrician and a graduate of Jordan College. After Rachel's murder and the disappearance of Shannon, he and his wife Lyn, became deeply committed to giving unconditional love to foster children. They actively support Parents of Murdered Children Inc., and Fight Crime: Invest in Kids. They reside near the small town of Cedar Springs, Michigan.

John H.Timmerman is Professor of Creative Writing and American Literature at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has published twenty-two books, four of them fantasy novels. He has also published over twenty short stories in several leading literary periodicals. He and his wife live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they have both been active in community projects.

Nonfiction, 6 x 9, 320 pages
8 page photo insert
LC #2010928515, world rights
ISBN13: 978-0-88282-322-5 (hc), $24.95