I’ve lived a life of emotions and suspense; things are either life and death or they’re just an inconvenience. I’ve been writing fiction and non-fiction books (over 50 and counting) for quite a while. I’m an eclectic reader, enjoying all genres and creating my own works in most of them: young adult, adult, suspense, dystopian, time travel, sci-fi, fantasy, coming of age, romance, you name it. Two things I want in everything I read and write are emotional engagement (make me feel something strongly) and suspense (give me a page-turner!).
I wanted to write a novel with teen characters that would still appeal to adult readers. In A Fault of Graves, I focused on the kids and their problems but included teachers, a principal, and parents. I layered in emotional things like hope, troubles, falling for someone, losing and finding faith, and growing in the midst of a disaster. As a former high school teacher, I know that all kids have problems, some more than others, but every one of them is struggling in some way and just looking for acceptance.
In this novel I took away their safety, their comfort, their known world and plunged them into the dark with people they didn’t know and didn’t like (emotions) and put a bunch of obstacles (suspense) in their way. Whose character traits, previously ignored or mocked, will help save them all?
This novel is partly fictional, but also based on the author’s life and traumatic first marriage. There’s suspense for sure and a range of feelings. I cried hard in some parts, smiled in others, and felt sorry, relieved, and even joyful in other sections. I had no idea what would happen next. The story played out like a movie in my head, full of my two favorite things: emotional engagement and nervous fear for the main character. This is a thriller that follows a woman on a daunting personal journey that will pluck at your heartstrings.
SHE THOUGHT SHE WAS MARRYING THE PERFECT GUY, BUT THAT WAS A PERFECT LIE.
Alyssa Burdick spends her days teaching middle-school and her nights battling the psychological oppression of a misogynist husband. He was her knight in shining armor from the day she met him up until the end of their wedding reception. Now all he does is humiliate her and turn her into a doormat. At least at school she can be herself.
And after school, behind her closed classroom door ... well, she's humbled, confused, hopeful even, as her department head, Connor, mentors her. Slowly, very slowly, she…
Where the Crawdads Sing is a heartbreaking coming of age story with a twist. It was hard to turn pages as I was wringing my hands throughout. The main character is a child whose situation gripped my heart and squeezed and squeezed. The poor thing only yearns to be loved and I wanted to reach into the pages, pull her out, and hug her until it hurt. Delia Owens has a way with suspense too and startles the reader with unexpected events. This is a moving story about survival in a way I hope no one has to endure.
OVER 12 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE A NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be…
I’d heard about the emotional impact of this book, but wasn’t prepared for the theme of teen suicide to be so absorbing. I read the whole thing in shock and suspense and a whole lot of hope – hope that when I got to the end the main character wouldn’t have done the unthinkable. There are so many different emotions in this novel that any reader will be able to connect one way or another. We’ve all been teens facing bullying, rejection, first love, misunderstandings, and all that other “stuff” that tears you apart or makes you stronger.
THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
Featuring cover art from the Netflix original series, with exclusive interviews and photos inside! "Eerie, beautiful, and devastating." --Chicago Tribune "A stealthy hit with staying power. . . . thriller-like pacing." --The New York Times "Thirteen Reasons Why will leave you with chills long after you have finished reading." --Amber Gibson, NPR's "All Things Considered"
You can't stop the future. You can't rewind the past. The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play. Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his…
Whoa! Unreliable narrator or unbelievable plot twist? This is an edge-of-your-seat read and, of course, the book is better than the movie. I dove into this one with no expectations and the emotions swept over me and pulled me deeper into the deception. This is an ingenious thriller, hence much suspense. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. These are flawed characters who do despicable things, but oh, the suspense, the passionate reactions, the emotional sensations; all these things keep you reading and feed those insatiable demands for more literary thrills.
THE ADDICTIVE No.1 BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE THE BOOK THAT DEFINES PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
Who are you? What have we done to each other?
These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they weren't made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on…
I picked this one to round out the five books about emotions and suspense partly because I like the title which has a double meaning (like mine: A Fault of Graves). Talk about emotional overload, whew, this one grips your heart. If you’re a softy like me, you’ll cry for these fictional characters who are dealt a low blow at a young age. Death is imminent. In my very first year teaching I had a student die and that sorrow has never left me. The suspense in this book is a steady groan, unlike the more striking bursts in the previous recommendations, but the steady nervous apprehension is sustained with ups and downs in the emotional department. As usual, the book is far better than the movie.
The beloved, #1 global bestseller by John Green, author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and Turtles All the Way Down
"John Green is one of the best writers alive." -E. Lockhart, #1 bestselling author of We Were Liars
"The greatest romance story of this decade." -Entertainment Weekly
#1 New York Times Bestseller * #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller * #1 USA Today Bestseller * #1 International Bestseller
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters…
When Miranda’s fiancé, Russ, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke that Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. In fact, the real threat emerges when Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping seven years earlier—an arrest she’d never bothered to tell Russ about.
Miranda tries to explain that she was only helping her best friend, in the midst of a nasty custody battle, take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. As Miranda struggles to prove that she’s not a criminal, she stumbles into other secrets that will challenge what she thought she knew about her own family, her friend, Russ—and herself.
When Miranda’s fiancé, Russ, is being vetted for his dream job in the U.S. attorney’s office, the couple joke that Miranda’s parents’ history as antiwar activists in the Sixties might jeopardize Russ’s security clearance. In fact, the real threat emerges when Russ’s future employer discovers that Miranda was arrested for felony kidnapping seven years earlier—an arrest she’d never bothered to tell Russ about.
Miranda tries to explain that she was only helping her best friend, in the midst of a nasty custody battle, take her daughter to visit her parents in Israel. As Miranda struggles to prove that she’s not…
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