My daughter walked by and said, “Mom, you can sit down.”įollow us on Facebook or Twitter Amy Sutherland is the author, most recently, of “ Rescuing Penny Jane ” and she can be reached at. I did that with Riley Sager’s “ Final Girls.” I liked the packaging, opened it, and started reading the book standing up. I’ve been known to open up books in the entryway, and two hours later I’m still reading in the mudroom. When I was 16 this was my biggest fantasy. But I’m very lucky that publishers send me lots of new books. That was the best way to discover new authors and books. GARDNER: I really miss writers’ conferences. Her novel makes it very human.īOOKS: How has COVID changed your reading? My favorite is “ Winter Garden,” which is set during the siege of Stalingrad. I’m hoarding her “ The Four Winds” for when I have 48 hours to be left alone with it.

Kristin Hannah is hands-down my hero-worship author. The main character is a psychopath who is in a university program for psychopaths.īOOKS: What other kinds of books do you read? GARDNER: I read an absolutely fabulous debut book called ' Never Saw Me Coming” by Vera Kurian. I like true crime with the narrative drive of a novel.īOOKS: Who is a thriller writer that you wish was better known? GARDNER: “ If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bonds of Sisterhood” by Gregg Olsen, one of my favorite authors. I got the news for that.īOOKS: What was the last true crime book that you liked? If it’s “life sucks and then it sucks more,” I don’t need that. A great thriller novel is about empowerment and heroism.

If you include those kinds of scenes there has to be a lot of payoff to make it worth that kind of emotional distress. GARDNER: Like a lot of readers I don’t like violence towards animals or children. He’s like a Jason Bourne but he’s also trying to find his humanity.īOOKS: What would make you put a book down? That’s also why I love Gregg Hurwitz’s “ Orphan X” series because of the character Orphan X. How his liability becomes his strength is intriguing. One of the reasons I love Karin Slaughter so much is for the character Will Trent, who is a dyslexic detective. I care less about the genre than I do about the character.

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