This week's featured guest is author AMANDA KYLE WILLIAMS!
Fresh from her debut, The Stranger You Seek—which Publishers Weekly called “an explosive, unpredictable, and psychologically complex thriller that turns crime fiction clichés inside out”—Amanda Kyle Williams delivers a second thrilling Keye Street novel, perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell.
BIO
Amanda Kyle Williams has contributed to short story collections, written small press novels and worked as a a freelance writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was a house painter, a property manager, a sales rep, a commercial embroiderer, a courier, a VP of manufacturing at a North Georgia textile mill, and owned Latch Key Pets, a pet sitting and dog walking business. She also worked with a PI firm in Atlanta on surveillance operations, and became a court-appointed process server.
“We do what we have to do to keep the lights on while we’re waiting for that big break. Working as a process server and with PI and courier firms in Atlanta was wonderful preparation for developing the Keye Street character. It takes time and work to find that unique voice as a writer, and for that voice to reach pitch. And more time to then develop a character that’s the perfect vehicle for that voice. Keye Street is that character for me. She’s slightly damaged, seriously flawed; a sober alcoholic with a mighty Krispy Kreme doughnut addiction. She makes jokes to avoid intimacy. She’s more afraid of heartbreak than she is of whipping out her ten millimeter Glock. She feels real to me. The series is dedicated to my deeply southern Chinese-American niece, Anna.”
In order to lend authenticity to her Keye Street series, Amanda took courses in criminal profiling and practical homicide investigation, and frequently consults with professionals in law enforcement, bond enforcement, criminal profiling and forensics.
The Stranger You Seek is Amanda’s first mainstream crime novel and the first in the Keye Street series. Bantam will also publish Book Two and Three in the series. Stranger In The Room (August 21, 2012). Don’t Talk To Strangers (Fall 2013).
Amanda Kyle Williams lives in Decatur, Georgia, which produces unending fodder for her fiction. She is currently hard at work on the 3rd Keye Street Thriller, Don’t Talk To Strangers.
Amanda is passionate about animals and has been active in the humane community for many years. She is one of the founding directors atLifeline Animal Project, a nonprofit, no-kill animal welfare organization. Amanda is also a supporter of The Fugees Family. Please click the links below to learn more about these wonderful organizations:
http://lifelineanimal.org/
Lifeline Animal Project is an Atlanta-based non-profit organization working on collaborative solutions to end pet overpopulation and stop the euthanasia of healthy and treatable dogs and cats in shelters. Lifeline’s focus is to promote the adoption of homeless pets and to initiate and support effective spay and neuter programs.
http://www.fugeesfamily.org/
Fugees Family, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to working with child survivors of war.
Overview
In the sweltering heat of an Atlanta summer, a killer is pushing the city to its breaking point, preying on the unsuspecting, writing taunting letters to the media, promising more death.
Desperate to stop the Wishbone Killer, A.P.D. lieutenant Aaron Rauser turns to the one person he knows can penetrate a deranged mind: Keye Street, an ex–FBI profiler and former addict who now picks up jobs where she can get them. But the last thing Keye wants is to be pulled into the firestorm of Atlanta’s worst nightmare. And then it suddenly becomes clear that the hunter has become the hunted—and the stranger she seeks is far closer than she ever dared imagine.
An electrifying thriller debut, The Stranger You Seek introduces a brash, flawed, and unforgettable heroine in a complex, twisting novel that takes readers deep into a sultry Southern summer, a city in the grips of chaos, and a harrowing cat-and-mouse game no reader will ever forget.
KIRKUS REVIEWS - The World’s Toughest Book Critics
STARRED Review
“A suspenseful tale of a clever crime-solver who gets a little too close to the action… Williams creates a frightening and occasionally witty novel, perfect for those who can sleep with one eye open. Think Mary Higgins Clark with an edge.”
Overview
Fresh from her debut, The Stranger You Seek—which Publishers Weekly called “an explosive, unpredictable, and psychologically complex thriller that turns crime fiction clichés inside out”—Amanda Kyle Williams delivers a second thrilling Keye Street novel, perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Patricia Cornwell.
That bullet was meant for you.
Summer is smoldering through Atlanta on Fourth of July weekend, as fireworks crack through the air and steam rises from the pavement on Peachtree. Private investigator and ex–FBI profiler Keye Street wants nothing more than a couple of quiet days alone with her boyfriend, Aaron—but, as usual, murder gets in the way.
I will find her.
A.P.D. Lieutenant Aaron Rauser is called to the disturbing scene of the strangling death of a thirteen-year-old boy. Meanwhile, Keye must deal with not one but two of her own investigations: In the hills of Creeklaw County, there’s a curious case involving chicken feed and a crematorium, and in Atlanta, Keye’s emotionally fragile cousin Miki is convinced she is being stalked. Given Miki’s history of drug abuse and mental problems, Keye is reluctant to accept her cousin’s tale of a threatening man inside her house late one night. But as a recovering alcoholic herself, Keye can’t exactly begrudge a woman her addictions—especially since Miki drives Keye to near-relapses at every turn. And yet, Miki is family, and Keye must help her—even if it means tempting her own demons.
I always find her.
All hell breaks loose when another murder—the apparent hanging of an elderly man—hits disturbingly close to home for Keye. And though the two victims have almost nothing in common, there are bizarre similarities between this case and that of Aaron’s strangled teen. Is there a single faceless predator, a calculating murderer targeting his prey at random? Only a skilled profiler like Keye Street can help the A.P.D. find him. With the threat of more deaths to come, Keye works on pure instinct alone—and soon realizes that a killer is circling ever closer to the people she loves the most.
becke_davis wrote:
Amanda - I apologize, I forgot to mention two things:
1) There are always a lot more people following the conversation threads here than there are people commenting on them. Because of this, I'll often ask questions I think the silent 'lurkers' might be interested in. We do have a core of regulars who I'm sure you'll hear from - they are fabulous!
2) If you want to include the comment you're responding to, here's how to do it: Click "reply" in the lower right hand corner. When the new comment box opens, click "Quote" at the upper right. The comment you're responding to should show up at the top of the box, with a line below it. Your response will show up under that line.
Thank you!
Becke
Ah! Ok. Like this? I think I got it. 
