Tuesday, June 25, 2013

What is Meg Gardiner reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Meg Gardiner, author of The Shadow Tracer.

Her entry begins:
Heart in my throat, I’ve been reading T. Jefferson Parker’s Border Quartet. These novels—about sheriff’s deputy Charlie Hood and his work with the ATF against gunrunning to the narcotrafficantes—are wise, taut, and beautifully written. They’re about the violent clash between worlds. Lawmen and outlaws. American cops and Mexican drug lords. Struggling, honorable humans and—maybe—a journeyman devil. They’re tough and emotionally true. They’re also a master class in suspense. Any novelist who wants to improve his or her skills should read Iron River and annotate the ways that Parker...[read on]
About The Shadow Tracer, from the publisher:
An explosive stand-alone thriller from the Edgar Award–winning writer Stephen King called “the next suspense superstar”

Can a person ever really disappear for good by going off the grid? And what happens when vanishing is no longer an option?

Sarah Keller is a single mother to five-year-old Zoe, living quietly in Oklahoma. She’s also a skip tracer, an expert in tracking people who’ve gone on the lam to avoid arrest, prosecution, or debt—pinpointing their locations to bring them to justice.

When a school bus accident sends Zoe to the ER, their quiet life explodes. Zoe’s medical tests reveal what Sarah has been hiding: Zoe is not her daughter. Zoe’s biological mother—Sarah’s sister, Beth—was murdered shortly after the child’s birth. And Zoe’s father is missing and presumed dead.

With no way to prove her innocence, Sarah must abandon her carefully constructed life and go on the run. Chased by cops, federal agents, and the group responsible for Beth’s murder, Sarah embarks on a desperate journey. Can her knowledge as a skip tracer help her stay off the grid, remain one step ahead of her pursuers, and find a way to save her daughter?

Meg Gardiner is acclaimed for her richly drawn characters, propulsive plotting, relentless suspense, and shocking twists. The Shadow Tracer delivers on those fronts and more.
Learn more about the book and author at Meg Gardiner's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: The Dirty Secrets Club.

The Page 69 Test: The Memory Collector.

My Book, The Movie: Meg Gardiner's Evan Delaney series.

Writers Read: Meg Gardiner (July 2010).

The Page 69 Test: The Liar's Lullaby.

My Book, The Movie: Meg Gardiner's Jo Beckett series.

The Page 69 Test: The Nightmare Thief.

Writers Read: Meg Gardiner (August 2011).

The Page 69 Test: Ransom River.

Writers Read: Meg Gardiner (July 2012).

The Page 69 Test: The Shadow Tracer.

Writers Read: Meg Gardiner.

--Marshal Zeringue