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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Scorched Earth by John Gilstrap

Book Description

Disgraced U.S. President Darmond has been ousted from office, but his minions have taken aim at everyone they perceive to be enemies. Off-the-record contractors on a secret list are being eliminated, one by one.

Jonathan Grave and his Security Solutions team manage to turn the tables when the assassins come for them. But the ultimate attack will strike deep at the heart of what’s best about American values.

High-tech weapons, terror-driven fanatics, and top-level betrayal shred the peace of a peaceful gathering in the rolling hills of rural North Carolina. In this showdown, the winner will take all.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Scorched Earth by John Gilstrap highlights, as with all his books, political corruption. It should remind readers of the late Vince Flynn’s book, Term Limits. Now that Vince is no longer writing books, fans of his might want to turn to John Gilstrap who has picked up the torch in a brilliant way.

This novel has vengeance, murder, greed, and political corruption. It picks up where the previous Graves novel, Zero Sum, left off.

Disgraced U.S. President Darmond has been ousted from office, by former FBI Director Irene Rivers. But not all the collaborators were taken out and now some of Darmond’s partners are attempting to kill off-the-record contractors that Rivers used when she didn’t know who to trust within the FBI.

Jonathan Graves and his Security Solutions team are one of those off-the-record contractors that had an attempt on their lives. After managing to survive the killer who came after them, they decide to seek justice by finding out why and who was responsible. He and the team will do what they do best, bringing justice to victims of evil.

The first chapter grabs readers’ attention and the action does not let up. Readers will be turning the pages at a frantic pace. Gilstrap writes a suspenseful and engrossing plot with gripping scenes. People will root for the good guys while also rooting for the bad guys to get their due justice.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

John Gilstrap: The idea comes from the fact of how a terrorist realizes that Americans watch the news and see pictures of dead children and not appear terribly upset about it. In this story the bad guys are terrorists that have specific plans to kill a lot of children, the American Jihad.

EC: What was it like to write a Graves book without Irene Rivers as a player?

JG: Although she is no longer director of the FBI, she had used while director, off the record contractors like Jonathan Graves to get things done. Irene has longed believed that her FBI agents are out for their own careers. They will do whatever the President wants. I painted Irene to be the last honest person in Washington. She hired these contractors because she could not trust the system to get things done. Now that she is gone people are trying to kill these contractors to get retribution. Irene can never be involved in a Jonathan book, and he can never be involved in an Irene book. As a practical matter it would be difficult to decide who does what in a scene if both Jonathan and Irene were present.

EC: Is it hard to write a story without Irene?

JG: Yes, it is hard to write a story without her, a challenge. It is like having broken in shoes and having to wear new shoes. He no longer has her to protect him. In this book it was not necessary for a work around for Jonathan, but I must think about things for future books.

EC: What do you want to say about the Senator, Maxine Bridges?

JG: She realized that while director, Irene has been investigating her for back pocket stuff. Irene had bits and pieces on her. The Senator is killing the contractors that have any information that can hurt her. She is trying to protect herself. She is also doing bad things to justify the actions of her son. She is also a pedophile, using sex from young men who want to be appointed to the military academies.

EC: What about the other bad guys?

JG: I imagined them to be former military who got paid basically nothing. Now they are offered a lot of money and have talked themselves into believing there is no difference in killing, a life is a life.

EC: Can you explain the quote you have about politicians and the media?

JG: You are talking about this one, “When the swamp rats are angry, they destroy their enemies through stories real and fake, leaked to the media.” I am cynical about politicians and so is Jonathan. The media destroyed Irene because it is about clicks, taking sides, and making sure their narrative is forwarded. They shaped facts to support the narrative they wanted to about Irene. Half the country thought Irene was wrong to bring down the US President and half the country thinks she is a hero.

EC: The airborne attack using paragliders reminded me of what Hamas did on October 7^th. Am I correct?

JG: Yes, it is based on October 7^th.

EC: Next book?

JG: It will be an Irene book, no title yet. It will be published in December 2026. She has accepted the sheriff position. The one daughter, Ashley, who did not go to West Virginia with Irene will go there now. I might have her have a romantic relationship with Billy Stubblefield who was in Burned Bridges.

The Jonathan book will come out nine months after the Irene book.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Blade by Wendy Walker

Book Description

Ana Robbins was an Olympic star in the making—until tragedy forced her to leave that world behind. At the age of sixteen, she gave up her dream and never looked back. Fourteen years later, she’s a successful defense attorney, revered for her work with minors. But when her former coach turns up dead, Ana lands right back where it all began, and abruptly ended: The Palace, a world-renowned skating facility nestled high in the mountains of Colorado.

Ana returns to The Palace to defend the young skater accused of the brutal crime—Grace Montgomery. Despite her claims of innocence, all evidence points squarely at Grace’s guilt, and she’s days away from facing charges of first-degree murder.

But Ana’s investigation dredges up childhood memories of her own, triggering the fear that permeates this place where she once lived and trained far from home as an “Orphan.” With a blizzard raging outside, and time running out for Grace, Ana is determined to uncover the truth—even if it means exposing her own secrets that she buried here long ago.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Blade by Wendy Walker takes readers into the world of figure skating intertwined with a murder mystery. Drawing on her own experience as a teenage figure skater, Wendy Walker vividly brings the rink to life showing readers how the figure skating competitions are toxic with the pursuit of perfection.

The plot has former Olympic figure skating hopeful Ana Robbins, now a successful defense attorney, returning to the Palace, an elite skater’s facility. She becomes the defense attorney for Grace Montgomery, who is accused of murdering the assistant coach, Emile Dresiér. Despite her claims of innocence, all evidence points squarely at Grace’s guilt, and she’s days away from facing charges of first-degree murder.

The chapters alternate between the past, Ana’s time as a skater at The Palace, and the present as a defense attorney. Ana’s investigation dredges up childhood memories of her own, triggering the fear that permeates this place where she once lived and trained under coach Dawn Sumner. She and three others became known as “The Orphans,” because they didn’t have parental support to help with Dawn’s sometimes cruel fear training. Ana and the other “Orphans” were each driven to the breaking point in pursuit of being the best and earning the praise of their coach, Dawn. This is a relevant read since next month the winter Olympics begin. Readers who watch the Olympics will be able to understand what goes on behind the scenes. In this story, what evolves is a dark web of suspense, exploitation, abuse, and shock.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?

Wendy Walker: Years ago, I was a competitive figure skater. I tried to craft a thriller with this sport. The plot is completely fictional. There is a forward story and backward story of 14 years ago. The focus of the story is not skaters attacking other skating but the pressure of the competition and how coaches misused the girls.

EC: What is true in the story about figure skating?

WW: There are four girls who are orphans living in a dormitory. There is also the rink, the competitions, some aspects of the skater mother’s, the Bleacher Bees, the way it feels to do the jumps, the Triple Axel, the take offs and landings, and how much they train. I did do research and speak with those more current in the figure skating world because my experience was forty years ago.

EC: What about the Orphans?

WW: They have this shared experience, so they forged close friendships. There were also other relationships and other people who are not trustworthy and are super competitive a la the Tanya Harding story from years ago. They developed this family structure, similar to the story The Outsiders, because they were missing parents. Joleen is the advisor, the more nurturing maternal figure. Kayla is the tough one, the stronger parent. Indy is the older sibling to Ana and the one who can best succeed. Ana is the lonely one, the youngest, and the most naïve.

EC: The setting of The Palace?

WW: There are a lot of people coming and going that can be an isolating experience as it was for me. I trained for three years, when I was 13 to 16 years old. I lived in a dormitory and only went home for the holidays and a week for the summer. The weather became an issue for me since I rode my bike to school. I felt so helpless because I was too young to have a car and did not have the emotional maturity to navigate that world. It was a free for all for me.

EC: Are the Bleacher Bees stage moms?

WW: Yes. My parents were not like the Bleacher Bees but there were some that were definitely there. Some moms were moms who were helpful and kind to me and others who did not have a family there. I think Indy’s mom was a real stage mom obsessed with making nationals and the Olympics. Indy’s mom lived vicariously through Indy. She went to the Olympics but never won a medal. She put everything into their child’s skating. They start to have the dream of their child.

EC: How would you describe the coach, Dawn?

WW: She wanted the ice skaters to be fearful of her and to have them strive for her acceptance. Winning becomes the entire self-identity of the skater, although it was not my training. Dawn has the philosophy that the skaters need to worship the coach and to please the coach. The fear of displeasing her is the greatest fear they have, more than falling or getting hurt. She was like an abusive spouse who gives love and affection at times while other times abuse.

EC: The philosophy was fear turns into rage, rage turns into action, and they should fight instead of fleeing or freezing. Did you get this from Yoda’s philosophy of fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering?

WW: No. I wanted to have a psychological phrase for the book. I thought about how much fear is involved in competitive skating where someone’s performance on that day is all that matters. If their brain is seized by the fear the jumps are hard to complete. They have to hurl themselves high into the air, pulling their legs in to get as many rotations as possible, and usually they will fall the first time they try. The fall hurts and skaters have to overcome that when practicing. They had to conquer the fear. There were girls that had huge bruises as Indy had in the story.

EC: How would you describe Grace, the one accused of killing?

WW: She can be impulsive, disturbed, rageful, with anti-social behavior. She has a high IQ. She is an enigma throughout most of the story.

EC: The victim Emile, can be described as?

WW: He is damaged, manipulative, a betrayer, a tattle-teller, and enjoys making the girls feel worthless. There is something sociopathic about him. He operates in the shadows. He suffered a knee injury as a skater because of Dawn’s training and became bitter. He has no empathy for these girls and finds enjoyment by interfering in their lives.

EC: Next book?

WW: It is set in wealthy suburbia. There is a love triangle that goes between the present and the past that involves a murder. The girl is part of a wealthy community and the boy is from the other side of the tracks. A little of West Side Story like. No title yet, and it will probably come out in 2027.

I am also writing another audible first novel next year. It is stand alone. It has a unique format, similar to The Room Next Door. It is a full-length novel with sound effects, music, and seamless narration with a full cast of characters that has a performer saying the lines.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Strangers in the Car by C.M. Ewan

Book Description

Late at night…

Abi and Ben are driving home down foggy country roads, arguing about having had to cut short their weekend away when they take a wrong turn. Abi’s driving, but her eyes leave the road for a moment as she says something to Ben – just as he gasps. A man is in front of the car, waving a torch. Abi swerves to avoid him.

You see a family stranded…

Ben tells her they should stop and go back, but Abi refuses. It’s dark, the roads are isolated and they don’t know this stranger. But, as Abi continues on, they see a broken-down car. Every instinct is still telling Abi to drive by, but then she notices the woman holding a car seat with a baby in it.

Would you stop?

For a moment, Abi hesitates, but they can’t leave a mother and baby on the side of the road. Agreeing to give the family a lift, they set off again. But now these strangers are inside their car and it might be the worst mistake they have ever made…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228646255-strangers-in-the-car?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=2Hrt3LXQo1&rank=1

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Elise’s Thoughts

Strangers in the Car by C. M. Ewan will take readers on a roller coaster ride.

The plot has Abi Foster and her boyfriend Ben Simmons driving home, having cut their weekend vacation in Cornwall short due to a crisis at Ben’s law firm. They are arguing about cutting the weekend short when Abi misses a turn in the foggy country roads. They spot a stranded family with a young baby whose car has stalled. They learn the father is Paul, the mother is Samantha, and the baby is Lila. They offer the family a ride to Bristol but offering them a ride takes Abi and Ben down a treacherous road. It seems Paul has a lot of gambling debts and is trying to avoid the bad guys. At this point the story is told from three different perspectives with dual timelines. The author weaves in flashbacks from Samantha and Paul’s events from prior in the day.

This is a story where readers will think of the idiom, no good deed goes unpunished. The story is intense from beginning to end and people will be on the edge of their seats.

***

Author Interview

EC: How would describe Abi’s boyfriend, Ben?

CME: He insists on doing the right thing. He is responsible, law-abiding, a middle of the road guy. He is also innately selfish. Ben is tested throughout the story where he wakes up to realize Abi’s priorities must be his priorities. He was a complacent character living in his own world inoculating himself from the trauma Abi has been going through. This entire situation forces him to grow up, mature, and confront these things.

EC: Why write the timelines in the style of going backwards when the time is given and the current situation when there is no time?

CME: The Abi and Ben’s story is the essence of the plot and is played out in real time fashion. The excerpts with the time are from earlier in the day until the car breaks down. In the book there is a point where both timelines come together. It did not occur to me to put time markers in the main thread, which is what is happening now. The Abi and Ben timeline is a real compressed timeframe, while the hitchhikers backstory of Samantha and Paul is spread over many more hours during the day.

EC: How would you describe one of the hitchhikers, Samantha?

CME: She was an accessory to the crime of what Paul was doing and complacent. She is Paul’s wife who is troubled. She is a cowed wife to Paul who is a very dominant figure. She is a mystery.

EC: What about Paul?

CME: He is mean, complicit, jealous of Samantha’s family’s money, frustrated, terrorizing, violent, unstable, dangerous, antsy, unpredictable, and frustrated. He was a bully and not that smart. He is very self-serving.

EC: How would you describe the bad person, Collette?

CME: She is a psychopath, ruthless, uncaring, money hungry, violent, a planner who is deceitful, a liar, dangerous, and evil. She is an expert criminal.

EC: What was the role of baby Lila?

CME: She is a baby to be protected. Lila is the reason Abi does everything she does because she wants to protect all children. This is also true of Samantha. The theme of most of my books is how far would someone go to protect those they love, especially children. Lila is needed for everything to make sense and is the driver for Abi to become the heroine she does not know that she is.

EC: Next book?

CME: It is titled Eye Spy. It is a contained thriller set on the Eurostar high speed train from Paris to London. A father travels home to his wife with his four-year-old daughter and his teenage stepdaughter. His younger daughter says she spied a bad man on the train with the family. It will be out in March 2026 on Amazon.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Last Seen and The Wolves Come Out at Night by J.T. Ellison

Both books are riveting and gripping novels. The twists and turns will keep readers guessing to the very end.

Book Description

Come here. Come closer.

Halley James knows her marriage is over. But she’s not prepared for the rest of her life to fall apart too.

No one can hear you. No one can help you.

She just lost her job at the forensics lab. Her dad needs emergency surgery. But the biggest blow comes back home in Marchburg, Virginia, where she discovers her mother didn’t actually die in a car crash. Her mom was murdered—and her father lied about it all these years.

I have nothing to hide from you. Are you hiding something from me?

Since she was six years old, it’s been Halley and her dad. Now, she doesn’t know what to believe. Desperate for the truth, Halley chases down a lead in Brockville, Tennessee. But all there is not as it seems. Brockville’s utopian charm hides a chilling darkness. And Halley’s search for answers threatens to expose an unspeakable reality.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Last Seen by J. T. Ellison is a standalone novel. Her protagonist, Halley James, is not having a good year. She is getting divorced, has lost her job at the forensics lab, and her dad needs emergency surgery after a fall. But the biggest blow is when she discovers her mother died, not in a car accident, but was murdered by her sister. Since she was six years old her dad had lied to her, refusing to tell her the truth about her mother’s death. Halley is now looking for answers and knows she must find her missing sister to get to the bottom of what happened to her mom. Luckily, her soon to be ex-husband is willing to help her and protect her.

***

Book Description

A detective on the brink.
An assassin out for revenge.
A desperate mother racing against the clock.

While the high-profile murder of a young country singer turns Nashville inside out, danger lurks in the woods beyond the city’s border. There was a witness to the terrible crime, a college student who stumbled onto the scene. When the girl goes missing, the police don’t know if she’s run for cover or been taken…or if something more sinister is happening.

The truth will shatter Taylor’s career and bring her face to face with a deadly assassin who wants nothing more than to finish what they started.

Taylor Jackson is back. And you’ve never seen her quite like this.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Wolves Come at Night has two storylines that come together at the end. It may at first seem like each storyline is not related but they turn out to be connected in the end. One story has the murder of a country music singer by a supposed serial killer. The other story has Taylor making some big changes plus must team up with assassin Angelie Delacroiz. Taylor, now a Captain, is frustrated at having basically a desk job and during an impulsive moment she quits over a disagreement on how to pursue another case assigned to her, the disappearance of a murder witness.

It seems that Carson, the witness to the murder of country singer Georgia Wray, has disappeared. Worse, her mom, Dr. Avery Conway receives a ransom note. Through the course of the investigation, it is discovered that the same people who kidnapped Carson, also killed, her dad, Richard. Taylor suspects that the murder of Georgia Wray relate to Carson Conway’s disappearance. Along with Angelie’s help they pursue the kidnappers before they have a chance to do harm to Carson.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story in Last Seen?

J. T. Ellison: I dreamed this one. It happens sometimes. I had this wild dream about a romance in this town. I found a way to darken it up. I decided to use the same town of Brockville. I was with my sweet little cat Jamison. It was her last night, and we knew we would have to put her down the next day because she was sick. This was the original title for this story, ‘Her Last Night.’ She sat in my lap while I wrote the story. I swear she gave me the story. The main character, Halley James, finds out everything she knew about her life is a lie including the death of her mother by her sister.

EC: How would you describe Halley?

JT: I moved the entire story up ten years, so she is now 34. She is a trained forensic scientist. Her whole life is falling apart with a failed job, a failed marriage, not having a child she desires, her mother dead, her dad is in the hospital because of a fall, and her sister disappeared. She is still having grief. I wrote the book from a place of bereavement, having lost one of my furry muses. I was so sad and unhappy that I channeled that grief into the story. Halley is curious, suspicious, has a moral compass, and is damaged. She had a head injury and continues to have memory issues, blackouts, that make her feel panicky, fearful, and anxious.

EC: How would you describe Cat, the sister?

JT: She is a highly functioning well adjusted sociopath. She is jealous, mean, cruel, smart, stubborn, aggressive, has an impulse disorder, and is full of rage. Although things might not be as they seem.

EC: What is the relationship between Halley and Cat?

JT: Halley is obsessed with finding her because she wanted to know why she killed her mother. They have a very complicated relationship. Cat exists and functions in the darkness that is represented by Ian, while Halley is lightness. Cat is Ian’s servant.

EC: How would you describe the antagonist, Ian?

JT: He is a monster. He is evil. He is immoral. One of the darkest characters I have ever written.

EC: How would you describe Halley’s estranged husband Theo?

JT: He loves her deeply. He has his own demons. Theo supports her. He is gentle, concerned, caring, but stubborn. He is willing to lose his marriage instead of compromising his morals. Because he sees such horrible things in his job, he does not want to raise a child in this world.

EC: What role does the dad play in the story?

JT: He is Halley’s mentor. He is her savior and protector. The dad brought Halley up after her mother died and kept her safe. He had a big miscalculation in judgement in that trying to keep her safe he lied to her. He broke her heart and trust.

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for Whiteout and The Wolves Come at Night?

J. T. Ellison: It is part of an anthology I wrote, and the theme was having a white-out blizzard that crisscrossed a large portion of the county, to create isolation. The anthology written with Erica Spindler and Alex Kava features all our main characters in separate stories. Whiteout is a novella, the opening for the book, The Wolves Come at Night. Whiteout is a closed circle mystery, while Wolves is a bang-out thriller.

EC: What is the battle between the “two wolves?

JTE: It is the duality of the heroes. Both Angelie and Taylor struggle with doing immoral things for moral reasons. They both must kill, face evil, and must decide if they choose the good or choose the evil.

EC: How would you describe Angelie?

JTE: I wanted to explore how her backstory affected her and how this formative moment made her the person she is. Angelie Delacroix’s backstory is based on a real crime in France where a little girl watched her parents executed in front of her. Angelie is fearless, a predator, has a temper, can be reckless, has a darkness, unstable, ruthless, but has a sense of humor, and is a rogue assassin. I do not think she is a sociopath because she was made into someone who she is and was not born that way. She is doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

EC: How would you describe Detective Taylor Jackson?

JTE: She is an idealist, instinctive, loyal, can read people, not a rule follower, sarcastic, wants to rid the world of those who do harm, and seeks justice. She is in a place she does not want to be. In the previous books she was traumatized. She was shot in So Close the Hand of Death, and in the book Where All the Dead Lie, she could not speak, incredibly traumatized. In this story, it appears she has lost a step. The Nashville Metro Police Department did not want to lose her, so they promoted her, because they did not want her in the field due to her unpredictability. She does not want to ride a desk but wants to be on the streets with her team.

EC: Do both characters have similarities?

JTE: Yes. In many ways they are a lot alike, but also completely opposite. Taylor always wanted to be a protector. Angelie would have gone down that road, had she not experienced such trauma. She idolizes Taylor and is obsessed with her and fascinated with her. Angelie looks in the mirror and sees a very dark version of Taylor. Yet, Taylor looks in the mirror and sees her own darkness. Taylor gets annoyed by her but respects her as an intelligent operative. Taylor learns from her. Both butted heads because they do not like how each questions the others authority. Taylor is old-fashioned, more predictable, while Angelie does not worry about legality and morality. This is why Taylor is a detective and not an assassin.

EC: What role did the Macallan Group play in the story?

JTE: It is an off-book organization that works for the government. It is a private powerful organization.

EC: Next books?

JTE: Taylor Jackson will be back in some capacity as a Lieutenant or a Private Investigator, based out of Nashville.

The next book is a standalone titled You Know Why. It should be out this time next year. It is the story of two women. One woman is going on a vacation with her husband and while on a plane another woman sees the murderer of her sister. When the married couple are heading for a connecting flight, the husband disappears. It all collides.

THANK YOU!!

***

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Watch Your Back by Terri Parlato

Book Description

Accidents happen, no matter how careful or well-intentioned you are. Psychiatrist Eve Thayer frequently reassures her patients of that fact. There are even times when accidents have good consequences—like when Eve met her now-husband, Nathan, at his collision shop after another car ran her off the road.

After a whirlwind courtship, Nathan and Eve have settled into domestic life. They have a lovely home on a quiet street, a beautiful baby girl, and even the perfect babysitter to care for her. And yet, something isn’t quite right.

The stress in Eva’s life is mounting, both professionally and personally. Though the clinic where she works has been remodeled since its notorious days as an institution for the criminally insane, she feels increasingly uneasy there. And in her own neighborhood, a break-in at a nearby empty house hasn’t helped, either.

Detective Rita Myers hasn’t yet figured out whether Eve is a target or a suspect, but every disturbing discovery in this usually peaceful neighborhood seems to revolve around her. Only as a deadly ice storm crashes through does it become clear just how far from perfect Eve and Nathan’s lives really are. And as the cracks in the surface come to light, so do the sinister secrets that lie beneath.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Watch Your Back by Terri Parlato intertwines suspense, romance, retribution, and redemption in a compelling measure. It realistically shows how young couples handle stress and trying to make ends meet, which can affect their relationship. The main characters’ professions and personal lives play a significant role in the unfolding of the plot.

The two main characters, Nathan Liddle and Eve Thayer, have settled into domestic life after a whirlwind romance. Shortly thereafter they become the parents of a baby girl, Rosewyn. Due to the stresses of her job, they do not have much time together for their marriage with Nathan spending a lot of time taking care of the baby. As a psychiatrist, Eve Thayer has been tapped to lead the medical staff at a new psychiatric center in the Boston suburb of Graybridge, leaving her little time to help her husband with their infant daughter. He decides to seek companionship elsewhere by having an extramarital affair. The cracks in their relationship become huge after their baby girl is kidnapped from the babysitter’s home and their secrets are revealed. There is a multitude of suspects including Eve, her best friend Rachel, some of Eve’s psychiatric patients, and the babysitter. The detective on the case, Rita Myers, must unravel the secrets and find out who is responsible.

The narrative is told in multiple points of view of Eve, Nathan, and Rita. This helps to make the plot fast paced and intense as well as weaving together the family’s turmoil, the detective’s ability to connect the clues, and the hunt for the culprit.

This plot will have readers guessing all the way through. The prologue starts the story out with a bang, and it does not let up from there. The author writes very multidimensional characters, and the effective red herrings add to the twisty plotline.

***

Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?

Terri Parlato: I often start out with writing the characters. I thought of my children and the young adults who seem to be working very hard with long hours. They have a hard time balancing home, career, and family. This gave me the idea for Eve and Nathan. Because I write thrillers, I had terrible things happen beyond the difficulties of life. The villain is out for vengeance.

EC: How would you describe Eve?

TP: She is a psychiatrist who feels overwhelmed. She is steely, workaholic, quiet, introspective, and wants to control her emotions and keeps them in check. Growing up she did not get a lot of warmth and nurturing, especially with her father cheating.

EC: How would you describe Nathan?

TP: Protective, attentive, down to earth, personable, and puts his child ahead of his own desires.

EC: Do you think the relationship between Eve and Nathan has gone downhill?

TP: After Eve finds out Nathan cheated on her she becomes very distant, and he takes to drinking and smoking. He feels very guilty, and she withdraws, becoming angry. Nathan was seeking companionship because he felt so ignored by Eve. I wanted readers to think about this moral dilemma. Both had a responsibility to talk it out but neither did, but because of having parents MIA, communicating was harder for them. Being from the social media generation they were not good communicators.

EC: What kind of parents are they to their young daughter, especially after the child went missing?

TP: Nathan is very indulgent. For Eve, she loves her daughter but is not sure how to be a mother. She struggles with ‘Am I doing this correctly?’ Then when the child goes missing both worry that the kidnapper has evil intentions. Once the child went missing it magnified the type of parents they had become. Plus, having a child kidnapped is one of the worst things a parent can go through. It brings out their doubts as a parent and tests them to their limits.

EC: What about Eve’s best friend Rachel?

TP: I wanted her to exemplify how the relationship shifted between Rachel who was single and Eve who is now married. Eve is not as dependent on her. Relationships are difficult and tricky. They used to have good old times as single women.

EC: Was Rita, the police detective, also in other books?

TP: She is in all three books set in this fictional town. Rita is the common thread with her own narrative arc. She is growing as a character and has her own demons that shows from book 1 to this book, 3. In this novel, Rita’s drawing plays a role in solving the crime. The first book explained why she draws. In elementary school, the teacher had her draw something to distract her. This really worked and helped her to handle her life. Being the youngest of nine children she lost her brother to leukemia and an older brother to the Vietnam War. Drawing taught her to deal with her feelings. Now it works with her profession because as a detective she can see clues visually. It is a coping mechanism that turned into a tool for her detective work.

EC: Is Rita a lot like Eve?

TP: Yes. Both are lonely, workaholics, and tenacious. I wanted Eve to be a different female lead than in the first two books. She parallels Rita’s personality in that both have demons and are not sure how to handle them.

EC: Next book?
TP: It will be out March 2026 and is a domestic thriller. Rita will not be in it. There will be family drama with a villain who will be causing havoc as well as a murder.

THANK YOU!!

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Son’s Secret by Daryl Wood Gerber

Book Description

Maggie Lawson is the smart, capable dean of a boutique college, but even the most confident mother has a weakness – her child. When Maggie can’t reach her college senior son, Aiden, to tell him that his father has been shot, she starts to panic. She texts. She calls.

Is Aiden ghosting her, or have the dangerous stories Aiden’s father, her investigative journalist ex-husband, pursues finally brought trouble to her door? Maggie is sure that something is very wrong, but no one believes her. As dark events unfold, she must rely on her own investigative instincts to find Aiden. But when Maggie uncovers a devastating secret, she faces a race against time to save him.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Son’s Secret by Daryl Wood Gerber is not the type of story her readers are used to. Instead of gardens, tea shops, and fairies flying around she has ventured into suspense and mystery. This story explores the complex mother-adult son dynamic. Parents will relate to the main character understanding the fine line between being hovering to being supportive and caring. Plus, the anxiety that every parent goes through when their children do not answer their texts.

This story has Maggie Larson, now the Dean of a college, trying to notify her son, Aiden, that his father has been shot and is in the hospital. When Aiden does not respond she begins to panic. Since they were close, she finds it difficult to believe he would ghost her, disappearing and disregarding her texts.

She eventually gets her ex-husband, Josh, to believe her and together they investigate what could have happened to their son. As they pursue the disappearance, evidence and then threats pile up, convincing them that something seriously has happened.

This story can be considered a domestic and psychological thriller. Readers will be put on a rollercoaster ride. There is tension and intrigue that will have people taking the journey with Maggie.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why this genre?

Daryl Wood Gerber: When I first became a writer, I wrote suspense, but they did not get published. Finally with the cozy mystery genre I found my voice. Yet, I still wanted to write suspense. So, I took a couple of the suspense I first had written and re-wrote them. I wrote outside the norm of the cozy. I had an English publisher put this story out.

EC: Idea for this book?

DWG: This story had been sticking in my head for a long time. It came to me when my son was clerking for a judge in New Orleans. I thought ‘what would happen if he disappeared, and I could not get a hold of him.’ This is a mother’s worse nightmare.

EC: Do you think part of the key to this story is the non-response of adult children?

DWG: Yes! The adult children do not answer their phones, and many times do not answer their texts. It drives me crazy, and I put it in the story. I would write to my son asking if he had seen my three previous texts and to please respond. He answered, ‘sorry mom I got busy, and I thought I did.’ Really, he could see if he did. My first fear is that something was wrong because he was not responding. I do not think I overreact.

EC: How would you describe Maggie?

DWG: A nurturer, hovers, caring, sometimes smothering. She wonders if she is a helicopter mom. When her friend and daughter-in-law tells her she is too much she wonders if she is over-reacting to her son not responding or is she right to worry. She is a complex character because this is a contradiction to her being a dean of a college, and previously an investigative reporter. After her brother committed suicide, her mother checked out. Maggie promised herself she was not going to be that type of mother and would be dialed in. Her attitude comes from myself who is a mom who does not want to hover but wants to guide because I am older and wiser.

EC: How would you describe her son Aiden?

DWG: He is artistic, creative, and at times emotionally overwhelmed. He is sometimes very tough on himself. After he lost his fiancé, he has become emotionally ripped open for two years. Now a woman comes into his life who he falls in love with. He can be temperamental.

EC: What is the role of Maggie’s divorce?

DWG: Her ex-husband is an investigative reporter. After he had a couple of affairs they got divorced. I had him shot and in the hospital to show that Aiden does not respond to the dad also, never reaches out, even though they are close. Maggie must repair the bridge with her ex so they can work together to find Aiden. He helps to keep her grounded. They become a wonderful team if the emotional baggage is taken away.

EC: What about the role of suicide?

DWG: Maggie had to deal with it twice in her life. Once, when her brother committed suicide, and when she had a student commit suicide. Now she worries if Aiden has committed suicide. This drives the story.

EC: Next book?

DWG: It comes out in October, the first in a new series, “The Literary Dining Mysteries.” It is titled Murder on The Page. It is a cozy mystery involving food and books. A caterer lives in North Carolina in the Blue Ridge mountains who was close to the local bookstore owner. After she were killed, she is determined to find out who did it. Each book in the series will focus on some classic novel. This one will have Pride and Prejudice. The community will have book clubs with food, reading, and dress up.

THANK YOU!!

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