Charlie Donlea's Blog - Posts Tagged "mystery"

Charlie Donlea: A Rising Suspense Writer Who Delivers What Your Favorite Podcasts Can’t



REVIEW: LibraryJournal

Were you obsessed with Serial? How about Making A Murderer?

If so, you are not alone. Twenty-million people were hooked, including USA Today bestselling author—and rising suspense star—Charlie Donlea. The addictive true crime docu-dramas were the catalyst to crafting his third novel,Don't Believe It.

But unlike those series, Donlea made it his mission to finally provide the satisfaction millions missed from those docu-dramas—and he is just the writer to do it.

Charlie Donlea is a writer on a meteoric rise.




It takes years for writers to achieve the level of acclaim he is experiencing. Most suspense and thriller authors must publish for years until they gain enough traction to hit a bestseller list; Donlea landed on the IndieBound bestseller list with his debut novel, Summit Lake (2016) and hit the USA Today bestseller list with his second, The Girl Who Was Taken(2017).

Donlea’s first two books established him as an author who delivers high-concept suspense with timely premises, and his novels always deliver shocking plot-twists and explosive endings.

In addition, he creates strong female leads—not the typical detective or main protagonist usually found in a book about murder investigations.

His latest novel Don't Believe It is no exception. The female protagonist, Sidney Ryan, is a no-nonsense TV producer of the hit true crime docu-series “The Girl of Sugar Beach”—which has become the most-watched documentary in television history.

The show is a riveting, true-life mystery that asks the fascinating question: Did Grace Sebold murder her boyfriend while on vacation, or is she merely a victim of poor police work, circumstantial evidence, and ultimately, failed justice?

Unlike your favorite murder podcast, in Don’t Believe It, you will get an answer.

Donlea says, “My biggest complaint about these shows is the endings rarely satisfy, they tend to raise more questions than they answer. So I decided that a story about a documentarian who’s investigating and making one of those shows not only provided a great premise for a timely novel, but also gave me the ability to create as wild an ending as my imagination could conceive.”

Reading like a juicy behind-the-scenes exposé of the crime shows or podcasts millions of us binge upon, Don’t Believe It is sure to appeal to fans of true crime docu-dramas, along with readers of Mary Kubica or Shari Lapena.

It certainly does not hurt that the murder is set in an exotic location that much like the main character, you will want to return to again and again. Even Donlea found himself lured by the pull of the Caribbean Sea.

He said, “The setting is a tropical resort in St. Lucia called Sugar Beach Resort my wife and I discovered on Spring Break vacation with our kids. I thought it would make the perfect location for my novel. So much so that my wife and I returned to Sugar Beach the following year to celebrate our anniversary and do some much-needed research.”

Merging high-concept suspense with all the binge-worthy intrigue of true crime docu-dramas, Don’t Believe It is a timely thriller that builds into a shocking conclusion you will never see coming, plus it comes with a satisfying ending most of us only wish we could get from true crime TV and podcasts.

In the hands of other suspense writers, this might be a tall order, but with whip-smart writing and strong female leads, acclaimed author Charlie Donlea has proven he lives up to the hype… that you can believe.

Read More

—Visit
Charlie Donlea's Blog

Interview with Author Charlie Donlea





1) Some authors like to make an argument or address an issue when they write. Is there an issue that you're addressing with your book? If so, what is it?

My novels are meant for pure escapism reading, so I don’t see them as tackling social issues in any grand form. However, a common theme between all three of my novels is society’s obsession with missing person cases and unsolved murders.

Pop-culture magazines frequently feature on their covers missing girls, some of whom have been found after being missing for years. The common questions include how they were taken, why they didn’t escape sooner, and how they are readjusting to freedom.

My first novel, Summit Lake, dealt with a father’s attempt to keep his murdered daughter out of the tabloids as a tenacious investigative reporter arrives in the small town where the murder took place to look for answers.

The Girl Who Was Taken tells the story of two abducted girls, one who returns and another who does not. The girl who makes it home goes on to write a bestselling memoir that thrusts her into the public’s eye and draws attention to parts of her story she wants to keep secret.

My latest novel, Don't Believe It, taps into the public’s obsession with true crime documentaries and tells the story of a filmmaker creating a weekly-serialized documentary that delves into the grisly details of a decade-old murder that took place in the Caribbean, and which explores the enigmatic woman who has been convicted of the crime.

A common thread among all three stories is the public’s unquenchable thirst for the morbid details of disturbing stories.







2) What gave you the idea for your book?

I’m a true crime junkie. The podcast Serial hooked me and Making a Murderer gave me an affliction. Since then, I’ve binge-watched just about every true crime documentary on Netflix. My biggest complaint about these films is that they tend to raise more questions than they answer. So I decided the story of a documentary filmmaker uncovering the secrets of ten-year-old murder not only provided a great premise for a timely novel but also gave me the ability to create as wild an ending as my imagination could conceive.

I hope readers feel that the finish of Don’t Believe It not only ties up loose ends in a way real documentaries seldom do but also provides a shocking ending that will have them ripping back through the pages to see how they missed it.



3) What are the most important things about you that you would want prospective readers to know?


I am a true believer that in order for a novel to be successful, it has to call a reader back to it after they put it down. If a book is easy to put down and hard to pick up, most readers (including myself) will give up on it. I’m hyper-aware of this fact when I write. I know there is fierce competition out there from other books, television, movies, and more. So, I try to make it hard for readers to put my books down. And I make damn sure to include in the pages enough reasons for readers to pick them up again after they do.



4) Are there other things you'd like readers to know about you or your book?


The setting of Don’t Believe It is a tropical resort in St. Lucia called Sugar Beach Resort. It’s a resort on the Jalousie Plantation that Matt Damon commandeered to renew his wedding vows. My wife and I discovered the resort while visiting the island on Spring Break with our kids. I thought it would make the perfect location for my novel. So much so that my wife and I returned to Sugar Beach the following year to celebrate our anniversary and do some much-needed research to boot.


My Matt Damon connection comes from a St. Lucian guide who worked for Sugar Beach. I hired him to take my wife and me on a tour of the island for my research. We asked if he drove Matt Damon or any celebrities around the island. No, he told us. But he did transport Damon’s photographer back to the airport after the vow renewal. Close enough.



5) What’s the craziest/funniest/most enjoyable thing you’ve ever done in the name of research?


My most enjoyable bit of research was visiting Sugar Beach Resort for Don’t Believe It. My craziest was visiting a morgue to view an autopsy for The Girl Who Was Taken. Let’s just say that noodled legs and a fuzzy head made the experience less than stellar.
​

Read More Chalie Donlea Blog

Dangerous Disappearing Acts, With Killers in Pursuit. New York Times Book Review CRIME. Roundups of crime novels by Marilyn Stasio in The New York Times Book Review.

A version of this article appears in print on June 10, 2018, on Page 9 of the Sunday Book Review with the headline: No Safe Haven

You can’t blame Charlie Donlea if the ending of his novel makes your jaw drop.



The title alone — Don't Believe It (Kensington, $26) — is fair warning that his characters are no more to be trusted than are our initial impressions of them.

This much we do know:

In 2007, a vacationing medical student named Julian Crist was pushed to his death from the top of Gros Piton on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. Julian’s girlfriend, Grace Sebold, has spent 10 years in prison for the murder when Sidney Ryan gets the green light to make a TV series about her called “The Girl of Sugar Beach.”

Now here comes the twist:

Sidney’s documentary will follow in real time her personal investigation of the murder and will end, she hopes, in Grace’s exoneration. But by the eighth installment of the show, which has been wildly successful, Sidney is beginning to suspect she’s been deceived, and that her great coup was actually a con job. On the one hand, her career could be mud; on the other hand, you can’t argue with those ratings.

Learn more about Charlie Donlea's DON'T BELIEVE IT. Available NOW in Hardcover, Paperback, and audio format. US and AU editions. Website

Other Books Included: John Connolly The Woman in the Woods, Charlton Pettus Exit Strategy, and Pamela Wechsler The Fens.

Read More

Add Don't Believe It to Your Goodreads List.

—Charlie Donlea
June 10, 2018

Charlie Donlea on Writing the Fictional, Literary Answer to True Crime Docu-Dramas with BookTrib

Over the past few years, podcasts and television shows like Serial and Netflix’s Making A Murderer have taken over the country, if not the world. Thousands of people tune in every day to find out what happened next in these real-life cases where the question of did they or didn’t they pervades throughout the entire trial and beyond.



Now, in a thriller unlike any other out there, Charlie Donlea has provided us with the book we didn’t even know we could have.

Don't Believe It is basically the literary answer to those true crime dramas: Sidney Ryan is a filmmaker, whose ongoing docu-drama The Girl of Sugar Beach has taken over the country. Ten years previous in St. Lucia, Grace Sebold was arrested and convicted for the murder of her boyfriend Julian while on Spring Break vacation. But for Sidney, all she wants to know is whether Grace really is a cold-blooded murderer, or just the victim of bad police work, and a sloppy investigation. Each week, people sit down to watch the next episode in the series, which Sidney is putting together as her investigation is going on, giving her audience an almost real-time look into her investigation. But as the investigation moves to a close and the series goes into its final episodes, Sidney receives a letter saying that she’s got it all wrong… really wrong.

BookTrib got to talk with Charlie Donlea about our mutual love of true crime podcasts, the key to writing a good thriller, and what it was like trying to write a real-time investigation and television show at the same time.


BookTrib: This book is a very different take on the amateur sleuth/investigative journalist genre, as the investigator is actually a TV producer making a crime docu-series. What was it like writing in this format? Did you run into any difficulties with planning?

Charlie: Because I love True Crime documentaries, I had a great time creating the protagonist in Don’t Believe It.

But, yes, I ran into many snags as I was writing! In the book, Sidney Ryan is an up and coming filmmaker who signs on to create a real-time television documentary (Serial-style) about a grisly, decade-old murder that took place in the Caribbean. The difficulties I ran into with plotting the novel were the same difficulties Sidney ran into creating the series, specifically with the timing. I knew what was going to happen, who the killer was, what they used as the murder weapon, etc. Sidney was trying to figure it all out, and she was chronicling her discoveries week to week in each new episode of her serialized documentary. Trying to pace the discoveries correctly to keep Sidney (and the reader) hooked, was a challenge. But when everything fell into place, it was beautiful!

BookTrib How did you first get the idea to write this book?

Charlie:I’ve become a cultish fan of True Crime series like Serial, Making A Murderer, and S-Town.

I love the “did-he-or-didn’t-he” themes that run through these documentaries. After watching enough of these stories, I came up with the idea of a haunting murder on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, a medical student accused of the crime, and the documentary filmmaker looking for answers ten years later.

The documentary series she produces, which plays out week-to-week, captures the attention of the country the way Serial did. Millions tune in each week to see what new evidence our protagonist has discovered and whether it will point to the accused is guilty or innocent. A lot of twists and startling revelations each week keep the audience hooked, and a shocking ending should have readers flipping back through the pages to see how they missed it.

BookTrib: What books would you say really inspired you as a writer?

Charlie:I never read books as a child, and never had any aspirations to write. I actually made it through my entire academic career without reading an assigned novel (lots of Cliff’s Notes).

It wasn’t until college when I read John Grisham’s The Firm, which immediately hooked me and caused me to skip classes while I raced through the story, that the idea of writing my own novel planted itself in my mind. For a guy like me—with no creative writing experience and no life-ling love for reading—who thought that maybe I could write a book someday, John Grisham provided a lot of inspiration. He, too, never dreamed of writing, had no formal training, and only accidentally decided to write his first novel after witnessing a harrowing story in the courtroom.

The writing community is saturated with woe-is-me stories about how hard it is to break in, how difficult it is to earn out, and what a battle it is to find an audience. Everything about those stories is true, but I always tell aspiring writers not to listen to those stories. Don’t read about them. Don’t pay attention to them. Don’t dwell on them. Instead, pick a successful author whose career you admire, and learn everything you can about their story. For me, that author is John Grisham. He never dreamed of writing, and once stood in a bookstore staring at the packed shelves wondering how his stories would ever get noticed. Since that day in the bookstore, his books have sold hundreds of millions of copies.

Booktrib: Instead of spending the book trying to prove that someone committed a crime, Sidney Ryan spends the book trying to prove that someone didn’t commit the crime they’ve been in prison for. As an author who has written several thriller novels, what was it like changing up this narrative?

Charlie: It’s always fun to find a way to put a unique spin on your story.

This structure was especially exciting because the cards are so badly stacked against Sidney. Just like an actual true crime documentary, every single finding seems to point to the accused guilt, and it is up to Sidney to figure out the truth. The problem, of course, comes when the truth she finds isn’t exactly what she was expecting.

BookTrib: Not only is Sidney Ryan, the protagonist of the book, one of the greatest characters ever created, but so is Grace Sebold. How do you find your characters? Do you base them off of anyone?

Charlie" CD: Sidney and Grace make this story.

They are, in different ways, the heart and soul of Don’t Believe It. Sidney is a tenacious filmmaker looking for answers. She’s the antithesis of a damsel in distress. Quite frankly, she gets sh*% done and doesn’t allow anything or anyone to get in her way, including network suits who have a different vision of her documentary that she has. Grace, who is the focus of the series, was once a promising fourth-year medical student with her whole life in front of her. Now, she’s reduced to a woman approaching middle age whose only hope for freedom rests on Sidney’s ability to find new evidence that will exonerate her. Grace’s character is shrouded in mystery—dare I use the now-cliché term “unreliable narrator”?

Sidney and Grace are very different from one another but have just enough in common to link them to a common goal of winning Grace’s freedom. Both women will do anything to this end, which becomes one of many problems as the documentary gets further along in production.

BookTrib: This is one of the most gripping books I’ve read in a long time – what do you think the secret is to writing this kind of realistic, impossible-to-put-down thriller?

Charlie: CD: The secret to a great thriller is building anticipation.

A great opening hook is important, and an explosive, the surprise ending is key. But to keep readers engaged through the middle and stop them from putting the book down, you need to make them anticipate what might happen next.

If a reader is constantly guessing what will happen in the next chapter, predicting where the story might go, and wondering about the fate of the characters, then when they put the book down to attend to life, the story will continue to run in their mind. If a reader thinks about the book all day, then they’ll anxiously pick it up again as soon as they get home. And there’s nothing better than a book you can’t wait to get back to.

I’m very proud that so many readers have told me they couldn’t put Don’t Believe It down. And when they had to, they couldn’t wait to pick it up again!

BookTrib: You end this book on a huge cliffhanger! Do you have plans to continue this as a series, or are you happy with leaving us all in suspense?

Charlie: I love leaving you all in suspense! I also love causing you to throw the book across the room after you turn the last page! In a good way, of course

Every time I publish a novel, I hear from readers who ask the same question: Will this story continue? Will we see these characters again? Is this the beginning of a series?

I love that readers connect with my characters enough to want to see their stories continued. It means, on some level, I’ve done my job well.

But my answer to whether a storyline will continue, or if a character will show up again in a future book, has always been that we’ll all (myself included) have to wait and see. I write one story at a time. When I’m done, I take a nice long break and then start thinking of a new one. I’m sure one of these days a character from a previous book will start yelling at me from the shadowed corners of my mind, I’ll listen, and they’ll tell me about a new grand adventure they want to go on. When that happens, I’ll bring them back in another novel. So far, none of my characters have yelled loudly enough for me to hear… the gang from Don’t Believe It included.

DON'T BELIEVE IT is now available for purchase.


Read More

—Charlie Donlea

Dear Readers,

As 2018 comes to a close, I wanted to say Thank You for making it such an exciting twelve months. Your dedication to my novels not only sent me on an international book tour but gave me the thrill of seeing my books on many bestsellers lists—including the surreal week when my audiobook elbowed past my writing idol, John Grisham, to take the #1 spot. Much, much appreciated!



Looking to 2019, the paperback of Don't Believe It with its new cover.

It will hit shelves on March 26th —just in time for Spring Break. Available for Pre-Order Now.


And my new novel, Some Choose Darkness, (US) edition

Available on May 28th. It’s dark and moody, and I hope you love it! Available for Pre-Order Now.


(AU) Edition: The Woman in Darkness coming April 2nd.

For those readers in AU (same book as Some Choose Darkness).
Available for Pre-Order Now.


Links above. Read more details here: Dec. Blog Post That's A Wrap

Or if you missed my Dec Newsletter— Sign up to receive the latest News and Inspiration behind Some Choose Darkness. Many more details and events to come in the new year.

Happy 2019 New Year!


—Charlie Donlea



Some Choose Darkness

Book Summary:

A modern master of suspense, critically acclaimed author Charlie Donlea returns with a taut, gripping novel about the deadly secrets hiding in plain sight . . .

The truth is easy to miss, even when it’s right in front of us. As a forensic reconstructionist, Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together crime scene details others fail to see. Cleaning out her late father’s law office a week after his burial, she receives a call that plunges her into a decades-old case come to life once more.

In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing. The predator, nicknamed The Thief, left no bodies and no clues behind—until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, whose unorthodox investigation skills appear to have led to his identity. But before they could question her, Angela disappeared. Forty years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela’s murder—the only crime the DA could pin on him. But the cryptic file Rory finds in her father’s law office suggests there is more to the case, and Angela Mitchell, than what was fed to the public, the details of which have been buried for four decades.

Rory’s talents are tested as she begins reconstructing Angela’s last days. Making one startling discovery after another, Rory becomes helplessly entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell and what happened to her. Drawing connections between the past and present, Rory uncovers dark truths about the reclusive victim, her father, and the man called The Thief that sends her down a twisting trail where things may not be as they appear. As she continues to dig, even Rory can’t be prepared for the full, terrifying truth that is emerging . . .

"Inspiration Behind Some Choose Darkness"



I grew up in Chicago, and like many in my generation, I did things as a kid that are unfathomable today.

My friends and I walked everywhere. And if we didn’t walk, we rode our bikes for miles to reach our destination. In the city, these miles took us across busy streets, over dangerous bridges, and through questionable underpasses. We did all of this unsupervised and without cell phones.

Our mothers simply assumed we made it to our intended endpoint; there was no checking in once we arrived. The greatest tab my mother kept on me was expecting me home “when the street lights came on.” It was part of growing up in the city. I knew no other way of life.

I played baseball in the street. Our main intersection offered a perfect combination of four sewers as bases, and a fifth manhole coved in the middle of the street as a pitcher’s mound. Playing in the street kept us off lawns and was welcomed by the neighbors who lived next door.

We put a Slip n’ Slide on the sidewalk, and used a swimming pool cover for padding. Why? Because there was not a strip of grass large enough to handle the twenty feet of slippery plastic.

The above ground pool in my postage stamp backyard was filled each year by fire hoses borrowed from the local firehouse and attached to the corner hydrant. The hydrant was opened with a huge monkey wrench the firemen gave us when they handed over the hoses. Since the power of the water was tremendous, the stream would topple the side of the pool if sprayed directly at it.

To avoid this catastrophe, three volunteers would climb into the empty pool with a card table that they’d use as a shield and break the force of water shot from the fire hose, which rested across the shoulders of three other volunteers as they aimed the rush of water into the pool and held on for dear life. This routine worked every year, and if any adults supervised the process, I don’t remember them. Alas, I survived the miles of bike travel, the street ball, and my swimming pool.

Things are much different today. Technology and hyper-parenting (of which I’m guilty beyond a reasonable doubt) have allowed us all to keep much greater tabs on our own kids. Is this good?

I’m not so sure. But one thing is for certain: my kids are living a different existence in the suburbs today than I led at their age.

This became startlingly obvious to me when I took my kids on a tour of my Chicago neighborhood—something my friends and I call the “old neighborhood.”

Everyone who grew up in the city has an “old neighborhood.”

Many of my childhood friends still live there. As we drove through the neighborhood, my kids asked some interesting questions:

“Why are the houses so close together?”

“Because they’re bungalows. Long, narrow homes with barely enough room to ride your bike between them. They make up many Chicago neighborhoods. And if you’re lucky enough to live next door to your best friend, simply opening the window at midnight gave you instant access to each other.”

“Why are the front yards so small?”

“Because they’re in front of bungalows, I just explained this. And you don’t need a big yard when you have a perfectly good street to play ball in.”

“What happened when a car drove down the street while you were playing baseball?”

“You played around it, and sometimes caught the Wiffle Ball when it ricocheted off a windshield. It still counted as an out as long as it never hit the ground.”

“Did the drivers get mad?”

“Sometimes, but not usually. They’d blow their horn a lot, but were usually gone before the next pitch was thrown.”

I fielded these questions with great delight as I showed my kids where I grew up. But when I drove up to my childhood house, my kids asked a bizarre question that caught me off guard. They pointed to the alley behind the house.

“Why is there a little road behind the house?”

Dear God, I thought. My children don’t know what an alley is.

“It’s an alley,” I answered in a dejected voice.

I didn't know how to explain that it was a little road, but it was so much more, too.

Alleys were the quintessential part of my upbringing.

They were where my friends and I hung out. They were where we hid during games of tag (chase, as it was called in the old neighborhood). Alleys were shortcuts and hiding spots and escape routes. Alleys were where our garage doors opened to, and where our father’s hung out on Saturday mornings completing projects that were perpetually unfinished and occupying the garage. And alleys were where we kept our garbage cans, and where kids had to venture at night (always at night!) to deposit black plastic bags filled with trash.

I suddenly realized my kids had a lot to learn about the place where I grew up. It occurred to me then that I needed to set a novel in Chicago.

Rory Moore
So, to kick off the launch of Some Choose Darkness, and a new character named Rory Moore—a forensic reconstructionist who specializes in cold cases—I thought I’d describe a few of the landmarks that made it into the book.

Maybe my kids will read it when they’re old enough and decide that the dark, dangerous city isn’t so bad after all. Actually, this is a thriller and parts of it are creepy as hell, so my idea of this book turning my kids on to the city will likely backfire.

Alley
As opposed to eastern cities, Chicago is organized in a grid pattern of city blocks. These blocks are divided by narrow lanes called alleys. In New York, garbage is piled on street corners, in Chicago, it is placed in the alley. In Some Choose Darkness, Rory Moore looks for clues in the alley where a character disappeared forty years earlier and starts down a road of no return.

Bungalow
A common architectural design of many Chicago homes in the Bungalow Belt neighborhoods. These homes are long, narrow, and spaced close together. They were constructed this way to house the ballooning middle class that was expanding the Chicago population.

Rory Moore lives in one of these Chicago bungalows, and it is in her home office where she pins photos of victims of the cold cases she investigates. It’s also where she keeps her antique china doll collection—broken dolls that she restores to perfection and keeps flawlessly lined on shelves. It’s a creepy hobby, but keeps Rory balanced and suits her perfectly.

Grant Park
Grant Park encompasses more than 300 acres and is located in the Loop. The park's centerpiece is Buckingham Fountain, where park-goers can sit and enjoy breathtaking lakefront views. The Park is also home to baseball diamonds, tennis courts, and acres of gardens. It is in one of these gardens, hidden in a shadowed corner of Grant Park, where a body is found. The mystery surrounding the death sends Rory Moore on the hardest case of her career.

Starved Rock
Starved Rock State Park is a wilderness area on the Illinois River about an hour or so outside of Chicago. Sandstone canyons provide the backdrop for beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails. One of these trails leads to Lover’s Leap Overlook, with views of the river and Starved Rock Dam. In Some Choose Darkness, another one of these trails leads to a creepy cabin isolated in the woods. I mean, come on, what would one of my thrillers be without a creepy cabin in the woods?

3 Floyds Brewing Co.
3 Floyds Brewery is actually located in Munster, Indiana, but their beer is a popular adult beverage for many Chicagoans.
Some of their lagers and ales have produced a cultish following. Rory Moore’s favorite is Dark Lord, an imperial stout that weighs in at 15% alcohol and can knock even a seasoned beer drinker on their butts.

Rory drinks it often. It helps her think, especially when she’s staring at the face of a victim whose case is as cold as a Chicago winter night.

I hope you love Some Choose Darkness, and the city in which it is set. It’s a thriller that’s dark and moody, like the beer Rory drinks, the hobby that balances her life, and the haunting cold cases she takes on.

—Charlie Donlea



Read More Blog Post

Some Choose Darkness Available NOW!

View Book Trailer

Ten Facts About Some Choose Darkness
—From the Author, Charlie Donlea

1. Two covers, two titles. Same book



Australian Edition
SOME CHOOSE DARKNESS (5/28/19 US) has a different cover and title than the Australian version. In Australia, the book was released as THE WOMAN IN DARKNESS (4/2/19 AU). It’s the same book for those of you inquiring, and many of you have, hoping that I had put out yet another book in 2019. I wish I could write that fast but my last name is Donlea, not Patterson.

In the publishing world, different countries (and different publishers) warrant different titles and cover art to fit with their buyer audience. “Woman” in titles is still very popular in Australia, and so...a title change.


2. Two different covers for SOME CHOOSE DARKNESS

First Draft
When a book is in development and a publishing house is starting its promotion, one of the first steps is to introduce the novel to booksellers to get their opinion on the synopsis, the logline, and the cover.

Especially the cover! The artwork that drapes the cover of a novel is a carefully plotted storyline all to itself. The cover is what draws a reader’s attention. It’s what gets a reader to grab the book off the shelf and read the cover flap. So, the cover has to be perfect. It has to be eye-catching. It has to match the trends of the season. Or, better yet, it has to lead the charge.



Final Cover
The art department at my US publishing house had designed a fabulous cover for Some Choose Darkness before they nixed it after receiving negative feedback from booksellers.
For the record, I couldn’t be happier with the final cover. The booksellers love it, and so do I. More on that below...


3. Chicago, IL

Some Choose Darkness is my first book set in Chicago, the city where I grew up. I had no plans to set the story in Chicago until I took a trip to my childhood neighborhood with my kids to show them the house where I was raised. They were completely puzzled by the “small road” behind my childhood house and wanted to know all about this curious bit of urban architecture.

Alley

The small road was an alley, and when I realized my kids had no idea what they were or that they even existed, I knew I was going to set my next novel in the city of my youth (and give alleys a starring role). More about this epiphany and my trip to the city in this blog post.


4. Starved Rock, IL

Starved Rock, Illinois is a State Park located 2 hours southwest of Chicago. It was voted the #1 attraction in the state of Illinois. With its towering trees, majestic waterfalls, and miles of hiking trails along the Illinois River, it’s a world apart from the urban setting of Chicago. It plays a major role in Some Choose Darkness, and the two contrasting settings create a great atmosphere for the book. (blog post link)


Ripple

In fact, the tranquil but chilling backdrop of Starved Rock plays such a significant role in the story that the amazing and clever cover design offers a snippet of the things that take place there. Like a pebble dropped in a pond, the events that transpire in Starved Rock will create ripples that go on forever and ever...


Peoria, IL

Peoria is a city 2.5 hours southwest of Chicago. It's perched on the Illinois River and in addition to it's famous Grandview Drive in the heart of the bustling downtown area that looks out over the river valley, the surrounding county is also known for its rolling meadows, miles of cornfields, and farmhouses. Beautiful and majestic farmhouses.

The Illinois River links Peoria to Starved Rock, and both of these rural settings are perfect contradictions to the urban setting of Chicago that makes up most of the book.


5. Art Imitating Life (Imitating Art)

In Some Choose Darkness, a serial killer who stalked the streets of Chicago in 1979 is released from jail after spending forty years at Stateville Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison in Crest Hill, Illinois, not far from Chicago.

Because of public outcry (and outrage), the judge grants this “reformed” killer some leniency so that his whereabouts will not be made public upon his release.

After a friend read an early copy of Some Choose Darkness, he sent me a text alerting me to an eerily similar situation that was currently playing out in the Chicago media. Apparently, a serial killer who terrorized Chicago in the early 1980s was being released from Stateville Correction Center after spending nearly forty years in jail.

The exact whereabouts of his living arrangements had not been made public at the time of me writing this. The public is outraged. Here is a link to the story.


I had no idea about this story before I started writing Some Choose Darkness. I actually spent a considerable amount of time talking with two lawyer friends to make sure it was possible for a convicted serial killer to find his way out of prison. Apparently, it is. Sometimes coincidences are just too creepy to think about.


6. Forensic Reconstruction

Rory Moore is a forensic reconstructionist. She reconstructs cold case homicides until she finds answers that the best detectives have missed. To the best of my knowledge, this occupation doesn’t exist. But man, it fits Rory and her uncanny abilities perfectly.


Kestner Dolls

Her occupation goes hand-in-hand with her hobby of restoring damaged porcelain China dolls. Both demand attention to detail, a bit of obsession and redundancy, and a mind that sees answers where everyone else sees questions.


7. Mental Illness

Autism plays a major role in the novel. In the 1970s, autism was poorly understood. It was often confused with schizophrenia and mental retardation. This misconception weaves its way into the narrative and forces a main character to overcome stereotypes that have held her back her entire life.


8. Dark Lord Stout
3 Floyds.com

Rory Moore’s vice is a Russian-style Imperial Stout called Dark Lord. It’s impossible to find craft beer produced by 3 Floyds Brewing Company in Munster, Indiana.

In real life, Dark Lord is available only one day a year — on Dark Lord Day — when 3 Floyds holds a ticketed tasting event at the brewery. Tickets sell out in minutes, and are scalped for hundreds of dollars. Rory Moore, of course, has other means of obtaining the beer she loves. They involve the creepy China dolls she restores and some bartering.


9. Murder Accountability Project
MurderData.org

In Some Choose Darkness, Rory Moore is part of the Murder Accountability Project—a company that uses a computer algorithm to track down serial killers. By looking for trends in homicides from around the country, the algorithm finds similarities in homicides in order to identify a pattern of killing.

There is a real-life Murder Accountability Project that is responsible for identifying serial killers, including some that have been tracked down, tried, and convicted. One famous case was from Gary, Indiana, just south of Chicago. Recently, the algorithm has picked up on similarities in killings around Chicago, too, and it is suspected that there may be a serial killer on the loose. Here is the link to the article.

Thomas Hargrove is the founder and CEO of the Murder Accountability Project, and I’m grateful that he took my calls when I was researching this book, and donated his time to explain what he does. He made it into the acknowledgments.


10. Great Aunt, Old Lady, Friend

Some Choose Darkness is dedicated to my great-aunt, Cecilia A. Donat. Aunt Ceil had ten great-nieces and nephews who loved her dearly. I was proud to be one of them and to have gained her wisdom (and sass) during my youth.

If a more independent woman existed on this planet, I never met her. Aunt Ceil lived until she was ninety-seven years old. I called her “old lady” every time we had a visit, and she loved it. Rory Moore calls her great aunt the same thing.





Charlie Donlea is the USA Today and International bestselling author of Summit Lake, The Girl Who Was Taken and Don't Believe It. His fourth novel, Some Choose Darkness to be released May 28, 2019. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages across fifteen countries. He resides in Chicago with his wife and two young children. More about Charlie

On Sale Now! Buy the Book

To view photos and read the entire Blog Post

—Charlie Donlea

Originally posted as part of Q&A with Charlie Donlea 6/19 For other interviews like this visit: JudithDCollins.com

View My May Newsletter

Dear Friends,

I hope you are staying safe and healthy during this quarantine. Many of us, myself included, are suffering a bit of cabin fever as we work from home and shelter in place. But better times are ahead, and we will hopefully soon be enjoying warmer weather and outdoor activities that will help break this cycle. Perhaps, even, we will start getting back to normal.

During this time of isolation, entertainment is at a premium. Readers have asked about my next thriller and when it will be available. The Suicide House House is slated for an August release, so we still have about three months until pub day.

But fret not! My publishing house has teamed up with Goodreads to give away 100 digital copies. The giveaway is open now and lasts until May 10, so head over to Goodreads to ENTER. Good luck!

If you don’t have a Kindle or e-reader, there will be future giveaways of the physical copy. To be the first to learn about these giveaways, and for more information about the book, I invite everyone to visit TheSuicideHouse.com where you can sign up to become an INSIDER. You will receive all the latest updates on the book as we get closer to publication.

That’s all for now. Stay safe!


—Charlie Donlea
@CharlieDonlea

Add to your Goodreads The Suicide House


Interested in learning more about the "Inspiration" behind my novels? Read More

About The Suicide House
A chilling murder in a prestigious prep school is at the heart of this riveting new novel from acclaimed author Charlie Donlea, featuring forensic reconstructionist Rory Moore and her psychologist partner, Lane Phillips.

Inside the walls of Indiana’s elite Westmont Preparatory High School, expectations run high and rules are strictly enforced. But in the woods beyond the manicured campus and playing fields sits an abandoned boarding house that is infamous among Westmont’s students as a late-night hangout. Here, only one rule applies: don’t let your candle go out—unless you want the Man in the Mirror to find you. . . .

One year ago, two students were killed there in a grisly slaughter. The case has since become the focus of a hit podcast, The Suicide House. Though a teacher was convicted of the murders, mysteries and questions remain. The most urgent among them is why so many students who survived that horrific night have returned to the boarding house—to kill themselves.

Rory, an expert in reconstructing cold cases, is working on The Suicide House podcast with Lane, recreating the night of the killings in order to find answers that have eluded the school, the town, and the police. But the more they learn about the troubled students, the chillingly stoic culprit, and a dangerous game gone tragically wrong, the more convinced they become that something sinister is still happening. Inside Westmont Prep, the game hasn’t ended. It thrives on secrecy and silence. And for its players, there may be no way to win—or to survive. . . .

Pre-Order Now



Coming July 28, 2020
US Edition



Coming Aug 4, 2020
Australian Edition


Check out THE SUICIDE HOUSE PODCAST and read an excerpt