Bookwild

This week, I talk with Pip Drysdale about her new Hollywood thriller The Close Up!  We dive into her inspiration for the book, how she made LA come to life, and writing a book within a book.

The Close Up Synopsis

When Zoe Ann Weiss moves to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, her whole future is wide open. But then Zach, the bartender and aspiring actor she’s falling for, ghosts her. Her debut novel, a thriller, fails. And she has writer’s block worse than ever before. Now, three years later, Zach is famous and Zoe is... not.

She’s facing her thirtieth birthday, a dead-end job at a flower shop, and a demanding agent, terrified she’ll never get her life back on track. But when she goes to make a flower delivery and Zach is at the address, it’s like no time has passed at all. They start casually dating in secret, her writer’s block disappears, and Zoe begins to feel Zach inspired her first novel, so why can’t he inspire her second? But then the inevitable happens and photos are leaked, landing Zoe in the press. Her first novel goes viral, and now everyone seems to know her name. Except the problem with everyone knowing your name is that everyone knows your name—including the mysterious stalker obsessed with Zach. A stalker who begins reenacting violent events from Zoe’s book, step by step, against her...

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This week, I talk with Victor Methos about his chilling new legal thriller The Silent Watcher.  We dive into how Batman inspired the story, how Victor's work as a lawyer has informed his writing, and how he writes multiple books a year.

The Silent Watcher Synopsis

Far from the neon glare of the Vegas strip, attorney Piper Danes walks away from a hotshot law firm to work as a guardian ad litem (GAL). Piper was once a vulnerable youth herself, and a GAL gave her hope when she needed it most. Now she’s committed to paying it forward.

Her first case is unlike any fifteen-year-old Sophie Grace is the sole survivor of a gruesome family murder. Teaming up with the formidable Judge Hope Dawson and enigmatic Detective Lazarus Holloway, Piper delves into a world more sinister than she could have imagined.

Their hunt for the truth leads to a serial killer known only as “The Creeper,” a predator who hides in the shadows. But as the team inches closer to unveiling the murderer, they find themselves in the crosshairs. Trapped in a web of lies, Piper will do anything to protect Sophie and stop the killer…before she becomes his next victim.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

I just finished reading We Used to Live Here, and it was truly one of my favorite reading experiences ever! I was annotating and highlighting like a mad woman, and just had to make some content diving into as many of the intricacies as I could. This entire video is FULL OF SPOILERS, so if you haven't read it yet, this isn't the video for you. If you have read it, I'd love to hear any of your theories or questions in the comments! Links mentioned in the book:

http://rare-toy-forums.net/

http://rare-toy-forums.net/watching.html

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Gare, Steph and I are talking about thrillers we are excited to read that will be released between December 2024-February 2025!

Books We Talked About

Death of the Author

Trust Issues

Beautiful Ugly

This Violent Heart

Cross My Heart

The Favorites

Tell Me What You Did

A Gorgeous Excitement

No Place Left to Hide

The Lost House

A Killing Cold

The Mirror House Girls

A Girl Like Us

The Three Live of Kate Cay

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with Emma Dues about her stunningly creepy debut thriller Return to Midnight! We dive into the inspo for the book, how teaching affects her writing, and the mystery inherent to Victorian mansions.

Return to Midnight Synopsis

Nearly ten years ago, five Ohio university students were murdered in an off-campus Victorian home. The media dubbed it the Midnight House Massacre. Ever since, survivor and novelist Margot Davis has wanted to forget it, and never again utter the killer’s name. Until she’s compelled to write her side of the story. To do that, she’s returning to Midnight House.

It’ll be a chance for Margot to reconnect with other survivors, heal the trauma, and dispel the ugly conspiracy theories of obsessed true crime fanatics. But when news of Margot’s book gets out, she receives a threatening note that demands she stop lying. Or else. It chills Margot’s blood. Because she hasn’t been telling the whole truth.

As the threats continue, each more sinister than the last, a journalist comes to Margot with new suspicions about that brutal October night. Now, to save her own life, Margot must reveal her well-guarded secrets—ones that, for good reason, she’s been too terrified to share.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Halley and I once again commit to one subject, and end up covering multiple. On top of some great female rage thriller recommendations, we dive into the film Heretic, talk about religions' obsessions with rules and workarounds, and get into a brief rant about twists verses reveals (more on that in future episodes).

Books with Female Rage

This GIrl’s a Killer

In Defense of Witches

The Lion Women of Tehran

They Never Learn

Their Vicious Games

House Woman

Her Name is Knight

Smile and Look Pretty

Hurt for Me

A Certain Hunger

Lay Your Body Down

Out

Eleven Percent

The Lady Upstairs

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I got to talk with Jan Gangsei about her salacious new thriller Dead Below Deck! We dive into how the idea came to her, how she chose to structure it, and what drew her to YA.

Dead Below Deck Synopsis

It was supposed to be the best-ever girls’ trip: five days, four friends, one luxury yacht, no parents. But on the final night, as the yacht cruised the deep and dark waters between Florida and Grand Cayman, eighteen-year-old heiress Giselle vanished. She’s nowhere to be found the next morning even after a frantic search, until security footage surfaces . . . showing Maggie pushing her overboard.

But Maggie has no memory of what happened. All she knows is that she woke up with a throbbing headache, thousands of dollars in cash in her safe, a passport that isn’t hers, and Giselle’s diary. And while Maggie had her own reasons to want Giselle dead, so did everyone else on board: jealous Viv, calculating Emi, even some members of the staff.

What really went down on the top deck that night? Maggie will have to work her way backward to uncover the secrets that everyone—even Giselle—kept below deck or she’s dead in the water.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week Vanessa Lillie and Gare “Bleak” Billings share recommendations from Indigenous authors for Native American Heritage Month, and I think I might be reading fast paced, paranormal horror for the rest of the year!  
 

Check out these great recommendations:

The Berry Pickers

Blood Sisters

Never Whistle at Night

The Only Good Indians

Bad Cree

The Haunting of Room 904

Shutter

Winter Counts

Where They Last Saw Her

The Highway of Tears

Never Name the Dead

On the Savage Side

And Then She Fell

Venco

Indian Burial Ground

Sisters of the Lost Nation

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I got to talk with Emma C. Wells about her stunning debut serial killer thriller This Girl's a Killer! We dive into her inspiration for the book, how Cordelia was unavoidable for her, and the way women have to consider violence in ways men don't.

This Girl's a Killer Synopsis

Ask Cordelia Black why she did it. The answer will always be: He had it coming.

Cordelia Black loves exactly three things: Her chosen family, her hairdresser (worth every penny plus tip), and killing bad men.

By day she's an ambitious pharma rep with a flawless reputation and designer wardrobe. By night, she culls South Louisiana of unscrupulous men―monsters who think they've evaded justice, until they meet her. Sure, the evening news may have started throwing around phrases like "serial killer," but Cordelia knows that's absurd. She's not a killer, she is simply karma. And being karma requires complete and utter control.

But when Cordelia discovers a flaw in her perfectly designed system for eliminating monsters, pressure heightens. And it only intensifies when her best friend starts dating a man Cordelia isn't sure is a good person. Someone who might just unravel everything she has worked for.

Soon enough Cordelia has to come face to face with the choices she's made. The good, the bad, and the murderous. Both her family, and her freedom, depend on it.

Check out Bitter Southerner where Emma got her Hell Hath No Fury shirt

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, Gare, Steph and I share backlist books we really want to read.  We also manage to sneak in two that aren't even really backlist, but we still want to read them too!

Comfort Shows

English Teacher

Insecure

Top Chef

How to Die Alone

Law & Order: SVU

Books We Talked About

Godshot

The Year of the Witching

The Lake of Lost Girls

The Lighthouse Witches

Beautiful People

Playing Dead

Black Sheep

The Memory Police

Return to Midnight

Her Pretty Face

The Bright Lands

Eleven

American Psycho

The Cipher

The Final Act 

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor