Hi Kate! To get started, can you tell your readers a little bit about you?

I’m the New York Times bestselling author of 19 mysteries and psychological thrillers, the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, the married mother of two kids, a nature lover, and an avid traveler (and bird watcher!), who lives in New York City but spends each winter in Uruguay with my husband.

What was the first book you read that made you realize you wanted to be an author?

I loved to read when I was young and remember being mesmerized by the Nancy Drew series, like so many girls my age, and blown away by books like A Wrinkle in Time by Madelein L’Engle’s. But I think I wanted to be an author before I even read a real book, unless you count See Jane Run. I had written a  little story in second grade that the teacher had me read to the class, and the thrill of that experience set me on my course. I think I just loved story telling (perhaps influenced by all the storis my grandfather told me).

Do you have any writing rituals?

Well, even after writing lots of suspense novels and five non-fiction books on career success, I’m embarrassed to say it’s still easy for me to get distracted. So, I use the Pomodoro technique, which involves working for twenty-five-minute stretches (with the help of a timer) and then taking five-minute breaks in between. I reward myself every hour with a cup of tea, and I usually have a scented candle going to make my office more inviting. And mostly I need to work in total silence (though I wrote a book a number of years ago listening to Carmina Burana, the famous cantata by Carl Orff, over and over again—not sure why but that really did the trick for me).

Your upcoming novel I Came Back for You  is set in upstate New York. How important was this setting to you and did you have to do any research while writing?

I Came Back for You is the story about a woman named Bree Winter who learns that the serial killer who is thought to have murdered her college-aged daughter has given a deathbed confession saying that yes, he did kill four women, but her daughter wasn’t one of them. Bree feels she has no choice but to go back to the college town where it happened and try to determine whether he’s lying or whether the real killer is still at large.

So the town and the campus were very, very important to me—and yet I initially had no idea what to base them on. And then I was asked to give the commencement speech at my college in upstate New York, Union College. It’s a fantastic school, one of the first colleges in the country, and I was in the first coed educational class in almost two hundred years. When I was there giving the speech, I suddenly realized, “Oh wow this would be a perfect place to set the book.” It’s beautiful but kind of spooky at night with all the trees and old buildings (The Way We Were was shot there). I was too busy that weekend trying not to die from stage fright to take any notes, but I went back another time and took a lot of pictures and made notes. And that’s where the idea of Carter College in Cartersville New York came from.

If you only had five words to describe I Came Back for You, what words would you choose?

Gripping, unputdownable, a killer twist. (Ha, thanks for letting me brag a bit because I’m really happy with how this book turned out.)

Where did the inspiration for I Came Back for You come from?

I’m not exactly sure. I do get a fair number of book ideas from news headlines or from reading research about real crimes, but this idea just kind of came to me one day in a couple of sentences—I pictured a mother going back somewhere to figure out who had really murdered her daughter years before. I have no idea of the origin point. Once I had those sentences, I just kept using that technique a lot of authors use, which is asking, “What if…?” again and again.

What are you most excited for your readers when they dive into the story?

I want readers to be invested in Bree’s intense search for answers but I also want them to enjoy the whodunit aspect of the book, knowing that the killer might be hiding in plain sight.

What’s next for you?

I just completed my next psychological thriller, Gone Silent, and it will be out in 2027.

Will you be picking up I Came Back For You? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Kate White, Author of ‘I Came Back For You’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

I Don’t Forgive You by Aggie Blum Thompson
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It all starts at a neighborhood party when a local dad corners Allie and calls her by an old, forgotten nickname from her dark past. The next day, he is found dead. 

The Fiancée by Kate White
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The New York Times bestselling author returns with an unsettling but riveting psychological thriller about a captivating woman who joins a family and threatens to upend their picture-perfect lives. 

Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams
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The New York Times bestselling author of Her Last Flight returns with a gripping and profoundly human story of Cold War espionage and family devotion.

Hostage by Clare Mackintosh
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A claustrophobic thriller set over twenty hours on one airplane flight, with the heart-stopping tension of The Last Flight and the wrenching emotional intensity of Room, Hostage takes us on board the inaugural nonstop flight from London to Sydney.

The North Face of the Heart by Dolores Redondo
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In a propulsive thriller by the #1 internationally bestselling author of The Baztán Trilogy, a female detective follows a sadistic killer into the eye of a storm.

Seven Days In June by Tia Williams
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Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget and seven days to get it all back again… From the author of The Perfect Find, this is a witty, romantic, and sexy-as-hell new novel of two writers and their second chance at love.

Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams
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From the author of the “full-throttle thriller” (A. J. Finn) No Exit—a riveting new psychological page-turner featuring a fierce and unforgettable heroine.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession, that further cements “Michaelides as a major player in the field” (Publishers Weekly).

Survive The Night by Riley Sager
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It’s November 1991. Nirvana’s in the tape deck, George H. W. Bush is in the White House, and movie-obsessed college student Charlie Jordan is in a car with a man who might be a serial killer.

The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman
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A British actress discovers the dark side of Hollywood when she is the only witness to the sudden disappearance of a woman she meets at an audition in this psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water and Mr. Nobody.

Dream Girl by Laura Lippman
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Following up on her acclaimed and wildly successful New York Times bestseller Lady in the Lake, Laura Lippman returns with a dark, complex tale of psychological suspense with echoes of Misery involving a novelist, incapacitated by injury, who is plagued by mysterious phone calls.

Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy
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Orphan Black meets Margaret Atwood in this twisty supernatural thriller about female power and the bonds of sisterhood

What June releases will you be picking up? Tell us in the comments below!

The post June 2021 Fiction Book Releases appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

We first meet Gabe who, with his second wife Summer and his son Henry, from his first marriage, are headed to Gabe’s parents’ estate in rural Pennsylvania for their annual week-long vacation away from the hectic daily life of Manhattan. Gabe has three brothers, two of which are married and one will be bringing his new girlfriend, as they all make this annual trip and vacation together.

While meeting so many new characters just as a novel is opening could spell disaster, White skilfully manages it in a masterful way. Though the reader is quickly introduced to multiple members of Gabe’s family, White immediately gives each character their own clear, unique personality making this early exposition flow smoothly. The reader stays with Summer’s point of view throughout the novel, but as she interacts with each of the different individuals and couples, we get a real feel for each of these family members.

Gabe’s brother Nick brings his new girlfriend Hannah, who becomes the main source of contention for Summer, as well as for other family members. Summer catches Hannah in several lies almost immediately, but not wanting to cause a scene, Summer says nothing at first. As her suspicions grow that something nefarious may be going on with Hannah, Summer confides some of her suspicions in some of the other family members—only to end up more confused and uncertain about what is really going on.

When an untimely death occurs, Summer is even more sure that Nick does not know the “real” Hannah, but Gabe is unwilling to even consider Summer’s suspicions about his brother’s new love. Because Hannah and Summer are both actresses, most of Summer’s concerns are brushed off as jealousy among rivals, but Summer knows that is not the issue. She seems to genuinely struggle with balancing her desire to keep the peace in the family with her need to warn or protect her family if it is truly needed.

The family drama is non-stop as alliances constantly shift over Hannah, over money, over business deals, and over the various secrets that family members are keeping from each other. But this is still, at heart, a family that sits down in the evenings for elaborate dinners on the patio where (at least for the most part) they enjoy each other’s company. The unsettling things that Summer starts picking up on stand out in sharp contrast against the backdrop of this imperfect, but loving, family and the constant threatening feeling in the air propels this psychological thriller to a truly surprising climax.

The Fiancée is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up The Fiancée? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

The New York Times bestselling author returns with an unsettling but riveting psychological thriller about a captivating woman who joins a family and threatens to upend their picture-perfect lives. 

They had everything they needed for a perfect family vacation: close-knit relatives, a bucolic setting . . . and a murderer in their midst?

Summer’s looking forward to a break from hustling for acting work in Manhattan when she, her husband Gabe, and Gabe’s nine-year-old son arrive at the annual family get-together at her in-laws’ sprawling estate. On the agenda are leisurely gourmet meals, tennis matches, and plenty of relaxation by the pool.

But this year, Gabe’s brother Nick has invited his new flame Hannah, whom Summer immediately recognizes from a few years before. Oddly, her brother-in-law’s girlfriend claims not to know her. Yet she charms the other family members, and after Nick announces that he’s proposed to Hannah, Summer doesn’t have much choice but to grin and bear it.

Then the reunion is rocked by tragedy when a family member is found dead. Though the doctors attribute the loss to natural causes, a grieving Summer fears that the too-good-to-be-true Hannah is involved, even as Gabe dismisses her suspicions.

How far will Summer go to expose the truth? As she investigates just what Nick’s fiancée might have done to keep her perfect image intact, she begins to fear that the first death might only be the beginning…

The post Review: The Fiancée by Kate White appeared first on The Nerd Daily.