Local authors, Donna M. Kshir and Lee Cougardawn Roberts, recently released their first true-crime book, “Fallen Star: Author, Activist, Murderer” which centers around a homicide investigation. PHOTO PROVIDED

RENOVO — What happens when the person at the center of a murder case is someone you once trusted — someone you once called a friend?

In a gripping and deeply personal new true-crime memoir, “Fallen Star: Author, Activist, Murderer,” authors Donna M. Kshir and Lee Cougardawn Roberts take readers inside a story that is as unsettling as it is unforgettable.

This is not just another crime story.

This is the story of Star Myers — a woman Kshir and Roberts knew personally long before she became the center of a homicide investigation and was ultimately sentenced to 22 years in prison for the killing of her husband, Rick Bork.

Before the headlines.

Before the courtroom.

Before the crime, she was a friend.

“She was someone we trusted,” Roberts said. “That’s what makes this story so difficult — and so important to tell.”

Part memoir and part true crime, Fallen Star offers a rare and chilling perspective. Through firsthand insight and documented events, the authors trace the warning signs, destructive choices and behavior, and emotional turmoil that led to a single, irreversible moment.

A gunshot.

One life lost forever.

And in the moments that followed, a series of decisions that would transform a tragedy into something even more devastating.

Rather than seeking help, actions were taken after the crime that deepened the betrayal — turning a moment of chaos into a calculated effort to conceal the truth and erase her husband’s existence.

Fallen Star is more than a story about what happened. It is a powerful exploration of how untreated trauma, unchecked addiction and uncontrolled anger can erupt into irreversible consequences — and how those consequences ripple through families, friendships, and entire communities.

“This book started as a way for me to process the unimaginable,” Kshir said. “But it became something more — a warning. Because the truth is, every choice matters.”

Adding a deeply personal element to the project, the book’s front cover with Myers on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle was designed by Kshir’s pre-teen grandson, Kian, offering a meaningful reminder that even in the midst of tragedy, there is still connection, legacy and hope.

“I could not be prouder of Kian,” Kshir said. “This isn’t just a book cover, it’s a piece of my grandson. His talent. His hard work, and it means more to me than he could ever realize.”

Fallen Star: Author, Activist, Murderer is available in paperback, ebook and audiobook formats, and at Barnes & Noble.

Kshir is also the author of For 30 Minutes: An Advocacy Narrative, The Space on My Bed, and A Story of Survival. In addition to her writing, she is best known for actively being involved in advocacy efforts, including work related to Conner’s Law KY, a proposed public child abuse registry with PA State Rep Aaron Bernstine, and initiatives supporting protections for born-alive abortion survivors.

Roberts has been assisting Kshir on the public child abuse registry, but she also assists with animal rescue, the Deaf Community, the homeless and Missing and Unidentified Persons.