Tuesday, April 3, 2012

13 is a Very Lucky Number

by April Henry


Today is the publication day of my 13th book, Eyes of Justice (co-written with Lis Wiehl). Thirteen actually feels like a very lucky number. 

This is the fourth in the Triple Threat series, but in this book something happens that’s so big it turns the series upside down. It seems to have worked. Publishers Weekly  says the book is .shocking, fast-paced, and a sure bet.  

As a mystery writer, I steal and kill all the time. I take inspiration from my own life, as well as headlines, dreams, photos, even bits of memory.  And I've killed dozens of people - but only on paper.  

There’s a new character in the book who has Aspbergers, although it’s never labelled that.  My nephew has Aspbergers.  

A bank robbery serves as a major turning point in the book. My co-author, Lis, worked a lot of bank robberies when she was a federal prosecutor.  She knows bank clerks who had been robbed and who afterward were never able to go into a Home Depot because the sight of duct tape gave them flashbacks.  

And at the end of this book, there is a big showdown at Portland's Oaks Amusement Park - a great old-time amusement park. (It even has a roller skating rink with a wooden floor that floats if the nearby Willamette River floods.)  We were having a hard time of thinking of an iconic place for the finale to occur, so I actually ended up turning to folks on Facebook.  And somebody’s 11 year old daughter was the first one to come up with the idea of Oaks Park.  


5 comments:

  1. Happy book launch day April! and many many more:). My husband was in a bank just minutes before it was robbed. Someday I have to remember to use his reactions--eery...

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  2. As writers, I think everything is fair game. A friend of mine, another writer, was given a terminal diagnosis last year (and died eight weeks later). I picked her up from the hospital, but not before a lot of bizarre stuff happened. She told me she was taking mental notes and hoping to use it. That's how I would be, too. (or maybe I should say will be)

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  3. Happy birthday to your book, April!

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