A Time to Thrill - Conversations with AIME AUSTIN Crime Fiction Author

This month, Marilee Albert is on the podcast; she’s a native Angeleno! I have to admit Marilee’s title pulled me in. Her new book is He’s Gotta Go. It’s a domestic thriller about marriage, money, and the fantasies we nurture just to survive another school pickup line. We chat about what it’s like to write collaboratively, solo, and whether none of that matters as AI comes for us all.

Let’s chat. I have *so* many questions.

Authors & Books in the podcast:

The Tutor (Rare Bird Books, 2019)

Books and writers Marilee cites as influences:

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

Other authors mentioned: Patricia Highsmith, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben, and Iris Murdoch.

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She was fifteen. She thought she had a boyfriend. What she had was a trafficker. And by the time she understood the difference, her life had changed forever. In this episode of Politics of Justice, we’re diving into Chapters 3–6 of Caged, my Casey Cort legal thriller, and examining how a teenage girl becomes a victim of sex trafficking. Grooming doesn’t always begin with threats or violence. Sometimes it begins with attention. Affection. Someone making a vulnerable girl feel wanted. That’s what makes it so insidious. We’re talking about the manipulation, the exploitation, and the adults who see a child as an opportunity to make money.

And we’re confronting a question that runs throughout Caged: Why are we so quick to judge exploited girls and so slow to hold the people exploiting them accountable?

📖 Caged by Aime Austin | Chapters 3–6

🎙️ Politics of Justice — Where crime fiction meets the realities of the American justice system.

Content warning: This episode discusses the grooming and sex trafficking of a minor.

📚 Caged is available on major ebook platforms, including Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. http://ebooks.buzz/caged

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Caged: When Telling the Truth Changes Everything | Chapters 1 & 2

A question for you:

Why do you think people sometimes find it easier to reject an uncomfortable truth than to confront someone they love?

📚 Caged is available on major ebook platforms, including Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. http://ebooks.buzz/caged

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What if the entire thriller genre is built on one thing: the violence of men against women?

I had a revelation this week while reading Ask for Andrea by Noelle W. Ihli. One chapter in, I put the book down, took a shower, and found myself asking a question I couldn’t shake:

Would we even have thrillers if we didn’t have men?

Think about it. There’s an entire genre dedicated to women being victimized by men. Women trying to escape them, survive them, investigate them, recover from them, or bring them to justice.

And somehow, our terror has become our entertainment.

As a thriller author, I decided to examine my own work. Of my 15 novels, 13 feature women suffering at the hands of men. Predatory judges. Sex traffickers. Abusive husbands. Corrupt police officers. Powerful clergy. Wealthy men whose promising futures apparently matter more than the women they’ve harmed.

Different stories. Different villains. Same underlying violence.

And it’s not just my books. From Tana French and Michael Connelly to Dervla McTiernan and Julia Spencer-Fleming, I keep encountering the same pattern.

In this five-minute video, I’m exploring a question that’s fundamentally changed how I think about the books I write and read.

Is the thriller genre really about suspense and danger—or is it about the ways women navigate a world made dangerous by men?

And perhaps the more uncomfortable question: Why do we find these stories so entertaining?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

📚 Books mentioned:

* Ask for Andrea — Noelle W. Ihli

📖 Explore my legal and psychological thrillers:

Home

🎙️ More conversations about books, writing, and the thriller genre on my podcast.

**Spoiler warning: This video discusses plot elements and perpetrators in several thriller novels.**

There are two memories of Carol Ericson that stand out over the years. The first is her coming to Los Angeles Romance Author meetings with a Sam Browne belt. The second is Carol showing off her latest Harlequin Intrigue. (Of which I now know there were at least 65!) After a sort of retirement, Carol is back writing romantic comedy! We talk about all the years of writing as well as the shift from suspense to humor.

Let’s chat. I have *so* many questions.

Authors & Books in the podcast:

Author Victoria Holt

Daughters of England by Philippa Carr

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I loved getting the chance to talk with Shirley Hailstock, who has spent decades writing and championing Black romance. She was there when Black romance was still fighting for space on bookstore shelves—and later became an early indie author, long before independent publishing became the industry it is today.

And it all started with a dare.

On this month’s A Time to Thrill, Shirley and I talk about writing that first book, navigating a changing publishing industry, and building a long career around something deceptively simple: the belief that strong women deserve love stories, too.

Let’s chat. I have *so* many questions.

White Diamonds

Authors & Books in the podcast:

Rosamund du Jardin

Sandra Brown

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In this final episode of the Ransomed deep dive on Politics of Justice, we close out Chapters 35–41, where the case against Judge Eamon Brody reaches a jury, and every character has to reckon with what a federal prosecution can and cannot deliver.

The story widens beyond one judge. When evidence surfaces outside the courtroom, we see how long a family can hold a line — a county prosecutor who declined to charge, a hand-picked successor who declined again, a transfer from probate to juvenile that relocated the problem instead of solving it, and a state attorney general who passed on the case twice. We discuss what happens when the people charged with oversight are the same people being protected, and why a special prosecutor is so often the last available remedy rather than the first.

Casey finally makes her choice. Her engagement to Tom was never only about love. It was about legitimacy, class, and a seat at a table she’d been locked out of since childhood. Walking away costs her the dream she’d built her whole adult life around, and she negotiates the terms of her own exit like the lawyer she is. Claire, meanwhile, faces a different reckoning: what she owed the women who tried to warn her, and what she’s willing to risk for her son.

Join me as we finish Ransomed — the verdict, the aftermath, the cost of testifying, and a final scene that opens a door onto the next book. Thank you for reading this one with me.

📚 Ransomed is available on major ebook platforms, including Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. http://ebooks.buzz/ransomed

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Music by John Bartmann https://youtube.com/johnbartmannmusic CC0

In this episode of Politics of Justice, we dive into Chapters 32–34 of Ransomed, where the pursuit of justice enters its most public—and most personal—phase.

As Judge Eamon Brody’s federal trial gets underway, we examine the extraordinary challenge of prosecuting abuses of power. These chapters shine a light on what it takes for vulnerable victims to testify against a powerful public official, and why coercion can be one of the most difficult crimes to prove in a courtroom.

At the same time, Casey finds herself navigating an increasingly impossible conflict between her professional responsibilities and her personal relationships. As the trial unfolds, her engagement to Tom Brody and her renewed partnership with Miles force her to confront difficult questions about loyalty, ethics, and whether justice can ever be truly impartial when those closest to us are caught in the middle.

Join me as we unpack the legal strategy, courtroom dynamics, and political realities woven throughout Chapters 32–34, and discuss how these chapters transform Ransomed from an investigation into a searching examination of power, accountability, and the human cost of pursuing the truth.

📚 Ransomed is available on major ebook platforms, including Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. http://ebooks.buzz/ransomed

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Music by John Bartmann https://youtube.com/johnbartmannmusic CC0

In this episode of Politics of Justice, we dive into Chapters 26–31 of Ransomed, where private suspicions evolve into a federal investigation, forcing every character to confront the cost of loyalty, ambition, and justice.

As Casey begins to connect troubling pieces of the puzzle surrounding Judge Eamon Brody, we explore the difficult position lawyers face when they suspect corruption within the very institutions they’re sworn to serve. When personal relationships intersect with professional ethics, how much evidence is enough before action becomes a moral obligation?

Meanwhile, Miles takes decisive steps in the federal investigation, raising broader questions about the role of the United States Attorney’s Office in policing public corruption. We discuss why federal civil rights prosecutions can become the only avenue for accountability when local systems are too intertwined to investigate themselves.

The personal stakes rise just as quickly. Casey finds herself caught between her growing future with Tom and the uncomfortable reality that the Brody family’s legal and political influence may be shielding something far darker. As public appearances, private loyalties, and questions of justice collide, these chapters bring the novel to a pivotal turning point.

Join me as we unpack the legal strategy, political realities, and ethical dilemmas woven throughout Chapters 26–31, and discuss how the pursuit of justice often demands the greatest sacrifices from those closest to the truth.

📚 Ransomed is available on major ebook platforms, including Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. http://ebooks.buzz/ransomed

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In this episode of Politics of Justice, we dive into Chapters 23–25 of Ransomed, where the hidden costs of power become impossible to ignore. View this on YouTube!

Claire’s custody case reaches a dangerous turning point as Judge Eamon Brody’s influence extends well beyond the courtroom. What initially appears to be an ordinary family court dispute begins to expose the extraordinary leverage a judge can wield over vulnerable litigants—and the devastating consequences when that authority is abused.

At the same time, Casey finds herself caught between personal happiness and professional responsibility. As troubling pieces begin to fall into place, we examine the ethical dilemma faced by lawyers who suspect wrongdoing by members of the legal establishment: when does self-preservation become complicity?

We also discuss the role of institutional loyalty, why corruption is often protected by reputation rather than evidence, and how these chapters lay the groundwork for one of the novel’s central questions: what does it truly cost to pursue justice when the people standing in its way are the very ones entrusted to uphold it?

Join me as we unpack the legal, political, and moral questions woven throughout these chapters—and explore how power can become its own form of coercion.

⚖️ In this episode:

* Chapter-by-chapter analysis of Chapters 23–25

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This video contains spoilers for Chapters 23–25 of Politics of Justice.

📚 Ransomed is available on major ebook platforms, including Apple Books, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. http://ebooks.buzz/ransomed

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About Aime Austin:

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Music by John Bartmann https://youtube.com/johnbartmannmusic CC0