Bookwild

This week, Gare, Steph and I talk about new-to-us authors we discovered and love!

Books We Talked About

The Book of Accidents

The Babysitter Lives

The Killer on the Road

Unlikely Animals

History Lessons

What Lies Between Us

Behind Every Good Man

Love You to Death

Deeper Than the Dead

This Violent Heart

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Gare and I talk with Clèmence Michallon about her new thriller Our Last Resort. We dive into her inspiration for the book, her fresh take on a locked room thriller, and how she crafted a believable cult.

Our Last Resort Synopsis

Innocence doesn't bail you out; it just makes you easier to trap.

Frida and Gabriel arrive seeking a fresh start at the stunning Ara Hotel in the secluded desert of Escalante, Utah. Once so close they were able to finish each other’s sentences, they’ve grown apart in recent years after a sudden, unspeakable tragedy. Now, at the luxe resort, they are ready to reconnect between dips in the pool and hikes on spectacular desert trails. It all feels like paradise—until the dead body of a beautiful young woman who was vacationing at the Ara with her powerful, much older husband is discovered.

When the local police arrive and suspicion quickly falls on Gabriel, Frida is forced to revisit memories from their upbringing in a cloistered cult in upstate New York, their dramatic escape, and the scandal that followed. Frida’s belief in Gabriel’s innocence never wavered at the time, but now even she can’t ignore the evidence mounting against him.

Alternating between past and present timelines, Our Last Resort builds toward a shattering climax that uncovers the fate of the murdered Ara guest and poses the question: how well do we ever really know those we love? Multi-layered, gripping, and intense, Clémence Michallon’s latest suspense novel is a nail-biter until the last page, cementing her status as a major new talent in the genre.

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Halley Sutton and I chat with Melanie Anagnos about her new noir Nightswimming. We dive into her love for 70s culture, how reading noir shaped Nightswimming, and the future for the trilogy.

Nightswimming Synopsis

Paterson, New Jersey, 1979: Jamie Palmieri is an up-and-coming patrol officer, three years out of the academy and frustrated with his slow rise to detective. That all changes one frigid night in January, when a double homicide at a local bar leaves the owner and a young woman dead. In the wake of the Rubin "Hurricane" Carter proceedings and the city's lingering distrust for the police, Jamie is told to expect a "no one saw a thing" investigation. But as Jamie traces a series of small leads, he's sent on a path where the tables turn suddenly - with the still-unknown killer now stalking Jamie and the people he's closest to.

A classic police procedural charged with the social turbulence of the 1970s.

Check out Melanie's Substack here

All the Bookwild Links:

Check Out the Bookwild Substack

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Check Out Author Social Media Packages

Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with Christina Dotson about her voice-y thriller loosely inspired by Thelma & Louise. She shares how she created Kayla and Zorie's friendship, why she set the story in the south, and what she loves about writing "unlikeable" characters.

Love You to Death Synopsis

When two best friends' hobby of crashing weddings takes a deadly turn, they’re forced to embark on a road trip of survival in this addictive thriller.

How well do we really know our friends?

As the only Black women at an antebellum-themed wedding, Kayla and Zorie should’ve known this heist was doomed from the start. They should never have come, but when their financial situation became dire, they agreed to hit one last wedding.

Jaded and cynical Kayla has spent the last decade trying to fix her life since an angsty teen prank led to her arrest. Now, with her housekeeping job at a subpar hotel and her disappointing, Cinderella-esque relationship with her dad and obnoxious stepsister, she hates the life she’s built. Her only bright spots are her best friend, Zorie, and their favorite weekend pastime of crashing weddings to steal the money and pawn the gifts. But what started as a lark has evolved into a greedy obsession, making each wedding haul riskier than the last.

While trying to avoid the angry bride and groom, Kayla and Zorie's getaway takes a gruesome turn and suddenly the “Wedding Crash Killers” are national news. The best friends are forced to hit the road to dodge the authorities, but their escape plan leaves behind a bloody trail of destruction from Georgia all the way to the bayou. As past grudges resurface, Kayla realizes that the best friend she thought she knew is more dangerous than she could ever have realized.

Sharp, unpredictable, and madcap from start to finish, Love You to Death is the most fun—and deadly—road trip you’ll ever take.

All the Bookwild Links:

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Halley Sutton and I catch up about where we are with our writing processes (spoiler: I am focusing more on building Bookwild than writing).

Halley shares a new approach to writing that has worked for her that she found on TikTok.

Halley also shares some insights into the traditional publishing industry and we discuss the appeal of self publishing.

All the Bookwild Links:

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I got to talk with Cebo Campbell and MacKenzie Green about Cebo's speculative novel Sky Full of Elephants. We dive into his inspiration for the story, how he chose Charlie and Sidney as the characters to lead the story, and get a few details into the production of the Sky Full of Elephants movie!

Sky Full of Elephants Synopsis

n this exquisite speculative novel set in a world where white people no longer exist, college professor Charlie Brunton receives a call from his estranged daughter Sidney, setting off a chain of events as they journey across a truly "post-racial" America in search of answers. One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charles Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he's now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn't even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old who watched her white mother and step-family drown themselves in the lake behind their house. 

Traumatized by the event, and terrified of the outside world, Sidney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin. Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she has always resented. Sidney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across America headed for Alabama, where Sidney believes she may still have some family left. But neither Sidney or Charlie is prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it. 

When they enter the Kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sidney thought they knew about themselves, and the world, will be turned upside down. Brimming with heart and humor, Cebo Campbell's astonishing debut novel is about the power of community and connection, about healing and self-actualization, and a reckoning with what it means to be Black in America, in both their world and ours.

Follow Cebo here

Follow MacKenzie here

All the Bookwild Links:

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Steph and I talk about some our favorite books outside the thriller genre, since we've both been expanding our genres a little.

Books We Talked About

Project Hail Mary

The Road to Tender Hearts

Sky Full of Elephants

PS You’re the Worst

The Three Lives of Cate Kay

The Seven O’Clock Club

An Academy for Liars

Shy Girl

Things Don’t Break On Their Own

The Book Club for Troublesome Women

All the Bookwild Links:

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with M.M. Deluca about her new thriller The Divorce Party! We dive into why she wanted to write a thriller with some humor, how her trip to Vegas inspired the story, and the way well developed characters with complete character arcs improve thrillers.

The Divorce Party Synopsis

Savannah, Daisy, and Zoe haven’t spoken in almost twenty years, since the night that changed everything. But when an unexpected invitation arrives from Evie, the ruthless queen bee of their college clique, they have no choice but to reunite in Las Vegas for her lavish divorce party.

Savannah, now a glamorous Vegas dancer, has spent years running from a past that refuses to stay buried. Daisy, a burned-out substitute teacher drowning in debt, is desperate for a second shot at the excitement she missed. Zoe, a respected paediatrician, has built a life of perfection. But perfection comes at a cost, and the cracks are starting to show.

As the drinks flow and old resentments resurface, it becomes clear that Evie’s invitation isn’t just about celebrating her freedom. And when the weekend takes a deadly turn, the friends must confront their past to survive the present…

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

Last year, Sabrina Thatcher (aka Olivia Day Wallce) and Lori Brand shared their experiences at ThrillerFest, and this year, since I got to go for the first time, we all get back together to discuss Thrillerfest 2025!

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talked with Kaira Rouda about her new thriller Jill Is Not Happy. We dive into how her own road trip inspired the story, what Kaira loves about writing domestic thrillers, and the likeable unlikeability of Jill.

Jill is Not Happy Synopsis

Some secrets keep a couple together.

If you ask Jill Tingley, she’ll tell you she and her husband Jack are college sweethearts living the dream in Southern California. Wealthy, popular and genetically blessed, theirs is an enviable life, though they’ve grown distant in recent years. Newly empty nesting with their daughter Maggie away at college, Jill suggests a road trip to reconnect.

Jack would rather do anything else than drive to Utah with his wife. He’s only stayed in this marriage because of a shared secret, a tragedy in the past he wanted to keep buried. And for his daughter’s sake. But Jack is finished with the charade of his marriage. He’s filing for divorce as soon as they return, no matter what.

But he doesn’t realize what else Jill is hiding.

So begins a cat-and-mouse road trip as a cunning wife—think Ripley in yoga pants—and a reluctant husband match wits and drive each other to the edge. But everything will be fine. Jill still loves Jack and believes he’s the only one for her. She’ll do anything to keep him. Anything. She always has.

All the Bookwild Links:

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Follow Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor