From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson comes a pulse-pounding thriller that goes behind the doors of an exclusive academy with a terrifying secret...
Ever since her father was stabbed to death in a home invasion, Julia "Jules" Farentino has been plagued by nightmares. Her half-sister, Shaylee, now seventeen, has had her own difficulties since the tragedy, earning a rap sheet for drug use, theft, and vandalism. Still, when Jules learns of her mother’s decision to send Shay to an elite boarding school in Oregon, she’s skeptical. The Academy has a reputation for turning wayward kids around—but one of its students went missing six months ago and her body has never been found. There are rumors she may have died during one of the school’s questionable treatments. Once enrolled, Shay grows fearful, convinced her every move is being watched. And the deeper Jules digs, the more concerned she becomes.
On impulse, Jules applies for a teaching job at the Academy. Though the facility boasts state-of-the-art equipment and a breathtaking campus, Jules senses cracks in the director’s do-good demeanor. Shortly before Jules arrived, a student was found hanged, and a hysterical Shay believes it was murder. Staff members are wary and unwelcoming—all except Cooper Trent, another recent hire who has his own suspicions, and his own secrets.
Then another girl goes missing, and yet another is found dead. There’s no doubt something sinister is at hand—but Jules may be too late to stop it. Behind the Academy’s idyllic veneer lurks an evil force on a brutal and terrifying mission. And Jules has become the next target of a bloodthirsty killer without limits, without remorse, without mercy…
Lisa Jackson, the veteran author nationally known for her more than fifteen bestsellers, including the number one New York Times Best Seller, FATAL BURN, is a bit surprised at her own reaction to her latest novel, CHOSEN TO DIE. "At times I lost myself more than I anticipated in several of my protagonists, even though I've had characters continue from book-to-book before. Maybe it's because of the planned three-book arc. I don't really know why, but I do know I found myself coming back again and again to Pescoli and Alvarez and to the dynamics of their relationship," says Lisa. "I was also unusually on edge about Pescoli's boyfriend Nate and what he goes through. And for some reason I managed to scare myself more than usual." She adds "I don't think you'll ever see me driving in the snow again."
Involvement with her characters is not unusual for Lisa, who has frequently mentioned having to take breaks from her writing when her protagonists have gone through particularly emotional or horrifying situations. But she always comes back, usually after a walk on the beach. Invariably through the years, she's found herself forming relationships of her own with specific characters that have caught her imagination. That tends to lead to their reappearance in future novels.
For instance, the long-time New Orleans detectives and partners Reuben Montoya and Rick Bentz were not expected to have lead or supporting roles in a total of seven novels (so far), let alone for Rick Bentz to take over a book of his own (MALICE 2009). And Lisa was a little surprise when Travis Settler and his daughter Dani, secondary characters in DEEP FREEZE, insisted on having their story told. Dani ended up kidnapped in Fatal Burn and Lisa ended up in the number one slot on The New York Times Best Seller list.
It's been common knowledge for some time that Lisa has been killing people everywhere from Savannah, New Orleans and Baton Rouge to Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Pacific Northwest and, now, Montana. It's been worth it. Her readers come back again and again, her novels are fixtures in bookstores and on national bestseller lists and it all means that Lisa gets to do what she loves best--sit back down, open her mind to possibilities and spin another complex tale of suspense and relationships.
After more than twenty novels of murder and romance, Lisa continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers. As she creates the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she never forgets how fortunate she is that none of what touches her through her writing is real. She's very aware that the fictional fear and terror faced by her victims mirror the harsh reality of the sort of horror and madness that actually do touch far too many lives and families.
Lisa began writing at the urging of her sister, novelist Nancy Bush. Inspired by the success of authors she admired and the burgeoning market for romance fiction at the time, Nancy was convinced they could work together and succeed. They sat down, determined to write and to be published. They were--just not together.
Lisa and Nancy's first combined efforts went nowhere, yet each found success moving in different directions. It was more than twenty-five years later that they once again combined their talents and wrote the national bestseller WICKED GAME . It will be followed in February 2010 with WICKED LIES. Not long after that, the mass market reprint of Lisa's MALICE will be published, followed by her new hardcover WITHOUT MERCY, on sale at the end of March.
Lisa frequently appears at bookstores, libraries and other venues, including The Nick Linn Lecture Series for Friends of the Library of Collier County (Naples, Florida), Mohegan Sun's Winning Author Program (Connecticut), Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation Authors and Illustrators Dinner (Washington), and the Romance Writers of America's Annual Conference. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. Born in Molalla, Oregon, Lisa hasn't strayed far from her roots. She continues to live, love and work in the Pacific Northwest.
An Interview with Lisa Jackson
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Lisa, thank you for talking with us at TRS. Please tell us about your latest release, Without Mercy.
LJ:Without Mercy is set in the Siskiyou Mountains on the Oregon -- California border. I wanted to set at the fictional Blue Rock Academy somewhere rugged and beautiful and -- most of all secluded. It is an elite boaarding school for troubled teens so I wanted to make it hard to get to and hard to leave, but being able to contrast it to the calm, timeless beauty of the region was important as well. A student there goes missing and her disappearance is never solved. After Jules Farantino's half-sister, Shaylee, is sent to the school, Jules is alarmed by the rumors she hears and frightening reports from her sister. She heads there "undercover" as a teacher. She doesn't know what to expect but it certainly isn't to find her former lover on staff and another student missing on the very day she arrives. Then, things really start getting tense.
HH: Your heroine faces anyone's worst nightmare -- being trapped by the elements with a ruthless killer. Where did you get the idea for this taut thriller?
LJ: I think much of the idea come from a fascination with how people may react when left to their own devices and with no defense but themselves. I've created a sort of man vs. man vs. nature situation in other stories -- such as Chosen to Die -- and not so sure I'm finished exploring it yet. There are so many choices people can make -- to act, to not act, to go on the offensive, to run, to compromise, to give up... And isolation itself can be so frightening.
HH: What do you like best about Jules and how do you relate to her?
LJ: One of my favorite things about Jules -- and also Cooper Trent -- is that she bucks the system to do whatever she has to in order to do what she believes is the right thing. And she'll bend rules to do it.
HH: What sort of research do you do for your best selling works?
LJ: Over the years more and more of my research takes place on the internet and that's true for Without Mercy. I've stumbled into everything from vampire cult sites to what almost seem to be serial killer "fan" sites. Whenever possible I do try to spend time in the places I'm setting my stories, though certain details may still result from "Googling." I love the mountains of the Pacific Northwest so, except for specific topography, a lot of those descriptions are pretty much second nature.
HH: What can you tell us about the Academy?
LJ: Blue Rock Academy is beautiful -- a veritable Eden. Of course, it also has its own snaake. For all the good intent of the many people of the Academy, there's evil there -- greed for power, for status, the shameful behavior that a little bit of authority can bring out in some people. And the people of the Academy are like those anywhere -- likely to be temptted, filled with their own secrets, fears and insecurities. They bring with them all the human frailties that make it possible for evil to creep in and make its place. All most people want are things like love and redemption, a sense of meaning to their lives. All too often there really is someone willing to prey upon that and Blue Rock Academy is no different.
HH: What else do you have coming for lucky readers?
LJ: Some interesting projects will see light of day in the next year. Zebra let me step back in time a bit and revisit my novel Wishes. I had wanted to look at it again and see if some the ideas and plot elements I wasn't certain how to work with at the time really did belong in that story. They did. I loved revisiting it and trying to decipher -- not always successfully -- some of my old notes. What I didn't realize was how many new twists and changes were going to emerge. Pretty soon I had written so much new material, I was neck deep in reworking and expanding subplots, key scenes, characters and relationships. By the time I finished, it was pretty clear that the story had changed so much that it needed a new title and so Wishes became Running Scared, out in August from Zebra Books in mass market. After that Zebra will release Wicked Lies in early 2011 -- the new paperback original written with my sister Nancy Bush. It's our second novel together and follows our New York Times bestseller Wicked Game. As for my next hardcover…more to comee as we get closer to the April 2011 publication date.
HH: What's your writing time like and what do you consider a successful writing day?
LJ: I'm definitely an early riser and I really like to take a bit of time to wake up and stretch, see what's new on my e-mail and all that, but not for too long. I try to be at work and going strong as early in the day as possible. Life interferes, though, and sometimes that means it's a gorgeous, sunny day and the dogs need to walk on the beach or the car has to be repaired. What can I do? I find that I start out slowly with a new book, regardless of the hours put in, and as I get drawn further and further into the characters and their lives, everything speeds up as I'm pulled along with the momentum of the characters. That doesn't mean there aren't hiccups and some absolute dead ends, but as I get closer to the end of a book, I'm as caught up in it as I hope the readers are.
HH: How do you balance your successful writing career with family and everything else in life?
LJ: I don't. And I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say I have "balance" in the sense you may mean it. If one my kid's is having a birthday, I'm not missing it. I'm there for the cake, whether it means extra hours the next day or not. You can't predict the weather or the people in your life; you can only try to incorporate as much of what's important to you into each day. As for balance, the best I do is to try to figure out what doesn't really matter or need to be done, and separate those things out.
HH: Do you enjoy hearing from fans?
LJ: Are you kidding? That's where I get most of my best feedback. Readers can always get in touch via www.lisajackson.com.
HH: What's the best fan letter/email/interaction you've ever had?
LJ: There could be a lot of different answers to this. There have been some very special moments. But you know what? The truth really is the first one. The first time a note from a reader was forwarded to me by my publisher and I really understood what it meant to have one of my stories read and appreciated.
