Kotcher writes exactly the kind of books she loves to escape into herself: exciting thrillers with strong female leads, swoon-worthy love interests, and life-changing moments. She graduated from the University of Florida School of Journalism and obtained her juris doctorate at the University of Miami School of Law. Originally from South Florida, she currently splits her time between San Francisco and Los Angeles with her husband, stepkids, and her dogs.
Ross's debut YA survival thriller is Ski Weekend.
At The Strand Magazine she tagged six "truly wonderful survival thrillers that are guaranteed to get both your adrenalin—and your brain cells—pumping," including:
Life of Pi by Yann MartelRead about another entry on the list.
Life of Pi won the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and for good reason—it is that wonderful of a story. The book follows the life ofPi Patel, the son of a zookeeper who has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and practices Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. At age sixteen, Pi and his family emigrate from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. After the ship sinks, Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Only Pi’s fear, knowledge, and cunning will allow him to coexist for 227 days lost at sea and the story he tells when he is finally rescued is almost impossible to believe. Is it the truth—or a lie? This book is a gritty, survival adventure but also an exploration of the redemptive power of storytelling.
Life of Pi is on Emma Stonex's lists of nine top books about the sea and seven best mystery novels set by the sea, Lucy Clarke's top ten list of books about castaways, Katy Yocom's list of the ten best tigers in fiction, Jodi Picoult's recommended list, Martyn Ford's top ten list of fantastical pets in children's literature, Off the Shelf's list of eight great books told by child narrators, Janis MacKay's top ten list of books set on the ocean, Kathryn Williams's list of six notable novels set in just one place, Scott Greenstone's list of seven top allegorical novels, Sara Gruen's six favorite books list, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on castaways, and John Mullan's list of ten of the best zoos in literature.
--Marshal Zeringue
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