Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2019 Profiling a Killer Summer: NATALIE WALTERS Dissecting the Villain Domestic Suspense: More than a Game WENDY WALKER ELLEN LaCORTE HILARY DAVIDSON Researching the Dark Side LORI ROY PATRICIA BRADLEY DAVID BELL Your Shrinks Might DIANE FANNING Need to be Shrunk JEFF MARKOWITZ DENNIS PALUMBO LINDA FAIRSTEIN Have You Heard? MAX ALLAN COLLINS Author Income Trends & Meet Debut Author ALAN JACOBSON LAYNE FARGO From the Editor In the world of publishing and book selling, one thing is known for sure: it can and will change in an instant. I’ve spoken CREDITS about this topic several times on the radio John Raab show, but I’ve never written a “Letter from President & Chairman the Editor” based on the subject, so I think Shannon Raab it’s time. Creative Director The largest brick-and-mortar bookstore chain is Barnes & Noble. Romaine Reeves What you may not have noticed as of yet, CFO however, is that Barnes & Noble is up for Amy Lignor sale. Now…what does that mean for the Editor book business? Well, that depends on if the news is true or not. The new “buyers” are looking to close more stores and make other Jim Thomsen stores smaller; more boutique. When B&N brought in Starbucks, you knew they were Copy Editor trying their best to keep people in the store. But when everything is up for sale—yes, that Contributors table in the front; the display rack; the new release shelf; the summer reads table, all of it Mark P. Sadler is up for sale—if you aren’t a big publisher, you can’t afford it. Susan Santangelo So now, smaller publishers and self-published authors will have less space to compete. Kaye George If you are a big author that relies on the sales from B&N in order to make the New York Weldon Burge Ashley Wintters Times Bestseller List (because Amazon numbers are not reported to the Bestseller List, D.P. Lyle M.D. but that’s a whole new conversation), you will be affected as well. Either way, if you’re an Andrew MacRae author used to selling 100,000 copies through B&N, that path will be gone. (But the big J.M. LeDuc Holly Price authors will always get their share.) Who this hurts the most are mid-list authors that sell Kari Wainwright maybe 10,000 copies through B&N. Those sales will fall, and could fall by up to fifty or David Ingram sixty percent. Susan May Anthony J. Franze If the B&N news is correct, Amazon will probably gain more market share, as they Barry Lancet are the largest seller of print books. But for the consumer who likes to browse the stacks Leslie Borghini in a bookstore, you’ll feel the pain. Hopefully more independent bookstores will be able Mary Lignor Julie Whiteley to get those customers, but they’ll have to be in the perfect location to nab them. Sara Guisti While the Kindle has won in the eBook wars, the B&N Nook version is on life support, Jeff Ayers to the point where Microsoft pulled out their money a couple of years ago. The future Elise Cooper Joseph Badal of selling books for authors that don’t have a big marketing engine behind them, will be D.P. Lyle eBooks. This trend should have been embraced by authors, probably over five years ago. Dennis Palumbo Authors are always looking for marketing tips and asking what they can do to sell Lauren Brabrook more books. Well, that’s the million-dollar Robert Allen Papinchak John Valeri question, isn’t it? What works for some, might not work for others. You need to Customer Service and know your audience so you can focus more Subscriptions: on the places that cover your genre. Don’t For 24/7 service, please use our website, go to a mystery magazine if you write sci- www.suspensemagazine.com or write to: SUSPENSE MAGAZINE at fi fantasy; you probably won’t find the 26500 Agoura Road, #102-474 readers you’re looking for. Doing research Calabasas, CA 91302 is more important than ever. Don’t worry Suspense Magazine does not share our about when your book was published, keep magazine subscriber list with third-party companies. researching and keep your name out there. Books never die, they just change covers. Rates: $24.00 (Electronic Subscrip- John Raab tion) per year. All foreign subscrip- CEO/Publisher tions must be payable in U.S. funds. Suspense Magazine ■ https://www.deviantart.com/jassysart/art/My-Sweet-Little-Cardinal-769962265 “Reviews within this magazine are the opinions of the individual reviewers and are provided solely for the purpose of assisting readers in determining another's thoughts on the book under discussion and shall not be interpreted as professional advice or the opinion of any other than the individual reviewer. The following contributors who may appear in this magazine are also individual clients of Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine: J.M. LeDuc, Leslie Borghini, Susan Santangelo, Jeff Ayers, Joseph Badal, and Amy Lignor.” SuspenseMagazine.com 1 CONTENT SUSPENSE MAGAZINE April / May / June 2019 / Vol. 086 Researching the Dark Side of Humanity By Patricia Bradley . 3 Excerpt: “Justice Delivered” By Patricia Bradley . 5 The Last Time We Played Scrabble By Sheila Lowe . 12 Your Shrinks Might Need to be Shrunk By Dennis Palumbo . 15 Domestic Suspense: Much More Than a Game of “Clue” By Ellen LaCorte . .17 Crime & Science Radio: Dr. Katherine Ramsland By D .P . Lyle, MD . & Jan Burke . .19 Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews . 26 Movies with Jeff Ayers . 37 Featured Artist: Meet Jasmina Seidl ................................. 39 Witnesses By Sharon Love Cook . .. 43 Debut Author: Layne Fargo Releases Her “Temper” . 49 Segue to Suspense: Author Wendy Walker . 51 Shadows of New York: Author Hilary Davidson . 54 Lori Roy on Her Latest Hit . 58 Have You Heard? By Alan Jacobson . .. 63 Profiling a Killer By Natalie Walters . .. 68 Fit Right In By Keith Raffel . 80 Excerpt: “Guilty” By Laura Elliot . 85 Researching the DARK SIDE of Humanity PATRICIA BRADLEY ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING & HER NEW THRILLER “JUSTICE DELIVERED” By Patricia Bradley Press Photo Credit: Provided by Publicist RESEARCH . As a writer who loves the research aspect of writing, I discovered early on that I could spend (hours) days seeking information for my stories. I’ve even used research as an excuse to check out my settings. Would that every book could be set somewhere like Hawaii or Alaska… but, I digress. Or not. Because I can’t always visit the settings, I rely on YouTube and Google Earth, and just plain search engines. There are articles on every subject known to man in those search engines. Did you know that the National Institute of Justice has a forensic database for paint, shoe prints and beyond? Another thing I’ve learned is that experts in almost any field like to be interviewed. And don’t be afraid to call—the person can only give one of two answers—yes or no. Most of the time it’s yes. And you really can’t mess it up. My first call to a local homicide department went something like this: Receptionist: Homicide. Me: I, ah…am writing a novel, and I…uh, mmm, need to talk to someone. Receptionist: Hold just a moment, please. Then she connected me with a captain who met with me, and over several lunches we discussed how murderers get away with murder, and other great topics. So, you see…you can’t mess it up. And it does help to offer food. We even had a nearby family scoot their chairs away from us. The hardest book I’ve ever researched is “Justice Delivered,” the fourth book in my Memphis Cold Case novels. My research led me to personal interviews with women, mostly teens, who’d been trafficked. I met with women who had escaped their captors, and we talked about what it was like for them. I also belong to Advocates for Freedom, an organization in Mississippi dedicated to ending human trafficking. Through this organization I’ve had an inside peek at this $150 billion dollar a year business. I’ve learned how trafficking works, about the life of a trafficked person, and why it’s so hard for women to break away from their pimps. SuspenseMagazine.com 3 In “Justice Delivered,” Jasmine’s fellow-trafficked friend Lily is trying to get her to run away from their pimp: “No…” Lily’s chest barely moved. “Can’t breathe.” Her feverish eyes locked on to Jasmine’s. “Promise.” Jasmine wanted to promise, but after the “modeling agent” sold her to Blade, she’d tried to get away. Escaped three times. She rubbed the scar inside her forearm. The first time, a cop found her and took her back to Blade. He branded her with his initials and beat her until half her ribs were broken. The next time, he locked her in a closet for a week. The last time, he’d beaten her and locked her in her room for three weeks with nothing but moldy bread and very little water. She never tried again. Pimps use beatings, threats to the trafficked person’s families— anything that will tighten the pimp’s hold until the victims give up. Lily’s death pushes Jasmine, who later becomes Carly Smith, to trust the women giving out coffee and Jesus tracts. Some readers have asked why I wrote the book. After I learned about human trafficking, I couldn’t not write it.