Hank Phillippi Ryan’s latest thriller, HER PERFECT LIFE, Lily Atwood, is an award-winning on-air television reporter with a seemingly perfect life. A job she loves that earns her incredible celebrity status, a seven-year-old loving daughter, Rowen, who goes to a posh private school; and the perfect beautiful home in a safe neighborhood. But not everything is as perfect as it seems. Lily has several dark secrets—including the fact that her older sister disappeared when Lily was Rowen’s age.

This chilling psychological standalone has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, which called it "A superlative thriller." It has also garnered a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and is now nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Novel, and the iconic Mary Higgins Clark Award.

Like protagonist Lily, Hank is also a television news reporter. She and I discuss how the idea of this plot came to her; what about Lily’s on-air career mirrors her own; and how she overcomes the doubt every author faces: writing that next novel.

Hank Phillippi Ryan - HER PERFECT LIFE

In Yasmin Angoe contemporary debut thriller, HER NAME IS KNIGHT, an elite assassin heroine on a mission to topple a human trafficking ring and avenge her family.

Stolen from her Ghanaian village as a child, Nena Knight has plenty of motives to kill. Now an elite assassin for a powerful business syndicate called the Tribe, she gets plenty of chances.

But while on assignment in Miami, Nena ends up saving a life, not taking one. She emerges from the experience a changed woman, finally hopeful for a life beyond rage and revenge. Tasked with killing a man she’s come to respect, Nena struggles to reconcile her loyalty to the Tribe with her new purpose.

Meanwhile, she learns a new Tribe council member is the same man who razed her village, murdered her family, and sold her into captivity. Nena can’t resist the temptation of vengeance—and she doesn’t want to. Before she can reclaim her life, she must leverage everything she was and everything she is to take him down and end the cycle of bloodshed for good.

Yasmin and I discuss how and when the premise came to her; how family is embedded deeply in the story—both in its plot and as inspiration for the concept—and why women as assassin protagonists are finally enjoying acceptance: from publishing editors and readers.

Yasmin Angoe - HER NAME IS KNIGHT

In USA Today best-selling author Kaira Rouda's latest domestic suspense novel, SOMEBODY'S HOME, the sale of house ﻿isn't a fresh start, but the beginning of a nightmare.﻿﻿ 

Julie Jones has left her suffocating marriage. Although it’s on the wrong side of the tracks in Oceanside, California, she's hoping that her new house is the first step toward a new life with her teenage daughter, Jess. 

However, the previous owners have left something—or rather someone—behind…

Tom Dean has a seething hatred for the father who considers him a lost cause. He’s now extended his malice to the woman who has purchased the only home he’s ever known. She thinks he’ll be gone in three days, but Tom has the perfect plan for this single mother and her daughter.

Before the weekend is over, somebody is going to get exactly what they deserve.

Kaira and I discuss where she gets her novel premises, her process for bringing her everyday characters to life, how young adults become disenfranchised from the rest of the world and cajoled into domestic terrorism, and why it’s important to lift the curtain on the dark side of our everyday lives.

Kaira Rouda - SOMEBODY’S HOME

Rea Frey’s latest novel, the compelling family saga, SECRETS OF OUR HOUSE tells the story of Desi,  a wife and mother who thrives for perfection: both at work and at home—

But then real life gets in the way.

This story of two intertwined families—tested by a terminal illness, Mother Nature, and the deep dark secret that Desi has held onto through her marriage—is what gives the characters in SECRETS OF OUR HOUSE its bittersweet resonance—and it’s explosive ending.

I talk to Rea Frey about how this plot came to her; The research she did on surviving the harshest forces of nature—something her characters must do; Why it’s important to allow our children to follow their own paths; And why revealing the secrets and lies we feel may destroy us may in fact set us free.

REA FREY INTERVIEW - SECRETS OF OUR HOUSE

In best-selling author Lisa Barr’s latest thrill, WOMAN ON FIRE, rising young journalist, Jules Roth, is given an unusual—and very secret—assignment: locate a painting stolen by the Nazis more than 75 years earlier: It is the final request of World-renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum, who has a special relationship with the painting and knows his time on Earth in short.

But a cunning art gallery owner is also  searching for the painting. Heir to her art collector family’s millions, Margaux de Laurent is renowned for getting everything she wants—and the only thing standing in her way is Jules. Helping Jules is Adam Baum, Ellis’s grandson. A recovering addict and brilliant artist in his own right, Adam was once in Margaux’s clutches. He knows how ruthless she is, and he’ll do anything to help Jules locate the painting before Margaux gets to it first.

A thrilling tale of secrets, love, and sacrifice that illuminates the destructive cruelty of war and greed and the triumphant power of beauty and love, Woman on Fire tells the story of an exquisite work of art that burns bright, moving through hands, hearts, and history.

Lisa Barr - WOMAN ON FIRE

From USA TODAY and #1 national bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey comes this tense psychological thriller about a mother who must keep watch at all times if she wants to keep her family safe.

Sarah Goldman, mother to six-year-old Jacob, is relieved to move across the country. She has a lot she wants to leave behind, especially Holly Monroe, the pretty twenty-two-year-old babysitter she and her husband, Daniel, hired to take care of their young son last summer. It started out as a perfect arrangement—Sarah had a child-minder her son adored, and Holly found the mother figure she’d always wanted. But Sarah’s never been one to trust very easily—and one day, she saw something so shocking that all she could do was flee.

This spine-tingling, page-turning novel is psychological suspense at its very best—a chilling look at trust, voyeurism, and obsession in the modern age, and how far we will go to watch out for those we love.

Samantha and I discuss her journey to getting publishing, how the plot came to her, and her process in keeping readers turning the pages.

WATCH OUT FOR HER is in bookstores now.

Samantha M. Bailey - WATCH OUT FOR HER

Wouldn’t it be great if real life was just like television? 

In debut romcom novelist Meredith Schorr’s AS SEEN ON TV, her main character, Adina Geller, takes that concept to the online magazine editor she’s trying to impress. He tells her to run with it. 

She’s hell-bent to do just that in the hope that the fee from the article will not only allow her to pay the rent she shares with her loving single mother, Valerie but lead to a full-time job. 

But there’s only one way which town she’s chosen, Pleasant Hollow, is anything Hallmark TV episode: Adina has a meet-cute with the charming guy in town: Finn Adams. Wait—not so fast: since Finn leads the developer’s project that will change everything about Pleasant Hollow, he’s also the one person standing in the way of making her article a reality. But there’s more to Finn—and Pleasant Hollow—that meets the eye.

Meredith and I discuss her process in concepting this romantic comedy. Why romcom plots need some darkness in between the humor, and why persistence is the key to an aspiring writer—or for that matter, an author’s—longevity in creating books. What she says will resonate with those who write—and read—about happily ever afters.

Meredith Schorr - AS SEEN ON TV

In the Movieland — the fourth book in the  Eve Ronin thriller series — bestselling author Lee Goldberg’s plot, parallels  a true and recent ongoing investigation that concerns a shooter whose stalking ground is a national park in and around Malibu Canyon. As always, Lee peppers the plot with several possible suspects, dirty politics, investigative shenanigans, and plenty of great detective work by Sherrif Detective Eve Ronin and her soon-to-be retiring partner, Duncan Pavone.

And, as always, you’ll be at the edge of your seat until the very last plot twist.

Lee and I discuss the depth of his research, his always great dialogue; his spot-on pacing; and how the tension that exists between Eve and her family and her department is the driving force to making her the best investigator she can be.  He also brings great insights on ageism in Hollywood (it’s not just against actors); And, should your book get optioned for TV or Film, the best answers to give producers as to how much you’d like to be involved. What he says may surprise you.

Lee Goldberg - MOVIELAND

In Rhys Bowen’s latest historical novel, WHERE THE SKY BEGINS, London during WWII is seen through the eyes of Josie — GOD, I LOVE THAT NAME! —Banks, and East Ender, a plain-spoken East Ender end a bad marriage with no job and one talent: making a decent cuppa. Evacuated to the English countryside, Josie ends up at the estate of the aristocratic: Miss Harcourt, a reluctant host to the survivors of the Blitz. 
Awed as she is by the magnificent landscape, Josie sees an opportunity. Josie convinces Miss Harcourt to let her open a humble tea shop on the estate, seeing it as a chance for everyone to begin again. When Josie meets Mike Johnson, a handsome Canadian pilot stationed at a neighboring bomber base, a growing intimacy brings her an inner peace she’s never felt before. Now a threat looms larger than anyone imagined. And a dangerous secret is about to upend Josie’s life again. Her newfound courage will be tested if she is to emerge, like a survivor, triumphant.

Rhys and I discuss how and when this story came to her, the research that took her into one of England’s most devastating wars, and why she loves to pivot in and out of writing mysteries—all great stuff from this prolific writer.

RHYS BOWEN INTERVIEW - FINAL 081022

Thirty-two novels of Josie's now in print and in the hands of over a million readers. She has been ranked #1 on both Amazon and iBooks on numerous occasions.

To thank them, Josie gives them a free book when they sign up for her eletter. It only goes out when she launches a new book, run a contest, or whenever a novel goes free for a limited time.

Want to reach Josie? Here's how: AuthorProvocateur@gmail.com
You can also follow Josie's Amazon Author Page, Twitter (@JosieBrownCA), Facebook, Instagram (JosieBrownNovels) or The Big Thrill to get updates on her new releases.

Hank Phillippi Ryan - HER PERFECT LIFE

Josie Brown

Related tracks