Shasta Groene McClain spoke with KREM 2 about her trauma and what she hopes readers take away from the book

Books aren’t the only sight customers saw at The Well Read Moose bookstore Friday night. 

Coeur d’Alene native, Shasta Groene McClain, greeted them with a smile at the signing of her new book. 

It’s a warm feeling that came to her as a surprise. 

I guess I didn’t realize I had so much support backing me up with this book,” said McClain.

The book, titled, ‘Out of the Woods,’ recounts the brutal killings of McClain’s mother, her mother’s fiance, and brother. 

Serial killer Joseph Duncan murdered the Idaho family in 2005. 

McClain was only 8 years old. 

Duncan kidnapped and abused McClain and her 9-year-old brother, Dylan, for weeks in the Idaho wilderness. 

Duncan later killed Dylan. 

Law enforcement rescued McClain 47 days later when someone spotter her and Duncan in public. 

The person recognized her from media coverage as a missing child. 

Duncan died in 2021 from terminal brain cancer. 

“I think everybody in this area, if you were living here at this time, you remember that moment,” said Gregg Olsen, the author of Out of the Woods. 

He said unlike most true crime books he’s written, this one tells a story beyond the crime. 

“We don’t know what really happens after something like that. There’s no chronical of that. There’s nobody that’s really told the impact of long-term trauma.”

He said Shasta’s account of what happened and overcoming her traumatic experiences will come to light. 

She said there’s no other way to tell it. 

It’s me, you know. It’s real, it’s raw and I think that’s what matters most. 

The two of them are traveling across Idaho to sign more copies of ‘Out of the Woods’. 

I think it’ll let the readers be able to connect their emotions to things they have been through when it’s coming from someone whose lived and survived something like that. 

While the book is finished, McClain says she’s not done telling her story and connecting with other survivors of abuse. 

“I just want them to know that they’re not alone,” said McClain. 

 “Somewhere out there, someone knows what it’s like to go through something.”

Together, they’ll share Shasta’s story one signing at a time. 

More book signings are happening all across Idaho this weekend. You can find that information here.