All posts tagged: Heather Gudenkauf

Inspired by the evils that lurk on social media, Heather Gudenkauf talks about her newest book, BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND, tween aggression, mental health, and more

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By Leslie Lindsay  Gripping small town thriller about three young girls, a horrific accident, social media and social aggression in Heather Gudenkauf’s newest, BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND.  I’ve been a fan of Heather Gudenkauf’s work since THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE (2008), and always, always look forward to her new releases. I love that she continually writes about Iowa, a gentle reminder that the Midwest has so much to offer–and so much can happen in these small, seemingly ‘boring’ towns–the communities are close-knit and geographically gorgeous with craggy cliffs overlooking river bends, winter wheat fields, and steel-gray sky. Maybe because I’m a Midwesterner at heart, too. BEFORE SHE WAS FOUND (Park Row/HarperCollins, April 16 2019) features three girls, all aged 12.  Violet: She’s new to town, having recently relocated to Pitch, Iowa from Arizona with her single mother and other brother, Max. She’s eager to fit in and make friends. Jordyn: The ‘bad egg.’ Jordyn lives with her grandparents, Thomas and Tess because her parents abandoned her when she was young. Thomas and Tess own a local bar and are doing the best they can …

WeekEND Reading: Heather Gudenkauf on her most personal thriller yet, who her favorite character is, why nurses aren’t boring, grit, determination, oh–and a dead body–in her new book, NOT A SOUND

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By Leslie Lindsay  New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf churns out her most personal, and powerful story yet with NOT A SOUND, rife with medical mysteries and a murder, too.  When a tragic accident leaves ER nurse Amelia Winn deaf, she spirals into a depression that ultimately causes her to lose anything she ever cared about: her career, her husband, and her 7-year old stepdaughter, Nora. It’s two years after that fateful night in which Amelia loses her hearing when she stumbles across a dead body in the dense brush by the river where she likes to paddleboard–someone she knows. I don’t want to give away too much, but it goes without saying that she gets wrapped up in the murder case. Clues seem so familiar to her own, earlier accident which caused her deafness. Could the two be related? Told entirely from Amelia’s first-person POV, the writing in NOT A SOUND is taut, emotional, fast-paced, and Gudenkauf’s research clearly shows. Amelia Winn is strong, capable and I was definitely rooting for …

Write On, Wednesday: Meet THE GOOD GIRL Author Mary Kubica

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By Leslie Lindsay With about a million accolades already brewing for this dark, gripping psychological thriller set alternately in Chicagoland and rural Minnesota, Mary Kubica is here to chat with us about her debut, THE GOOD GIRL (to be released July 29th, 2014). It’s the most perfect summertime thriller. Read it at the pool, the beach, on the plane. You won’t want to put it down. Leslie Lindsay: Mary, I am in the midst of reading THE GOOD GIRL and I must say…I love it! It’s raw, it’s authentic, and highly engaging. Can you explain how you came up with the premise of the book? Mary Kubica: Absolutely. But first let me say what an honor it is to be here with you today at Write On, Wednesday. Thank you so much for having me, Leslie! I’d love to say that there was some big, defining moment or event that sparked the ideas behind THE GOOD GIRL, but the truth of the matter is that it was a very conscious effort. When I began writing, …