Simon Wood

Posts Tagged: zoe Sutton

NEW RELEASE: L’évadée

I am happy to announce the release of the mass paperback edition L’évadée from French publisher City Editions. How to describe the book? I’ll let the publisher do that…

Récemment diplômées, les étudiantes Zoé et Holli prennent la route pour Las Vegas afin de décompresser et de profiter de la vie. Mais les choses tournent mal. Les deux jeunes femmes sont enlevées par un psychopathe que la presse surnomme « le Numéroteur ». In extremis, Zoé parvient à s’évader. Mais pour elle la vie a changé et rien ne sera plus comme avant. Tourmentée par les remords d’avoir laissé son amie entre les mains du tueur, Zoé tente de retrouver des pans effacés de sa mémoire et d’obtenir que justice soit faite pour Holli. Quand elle apprend qu’un crime qui ressemble à son propre enlèvement vient d’être commis, elle décide de se lancher sur les traces de son bourreau. Mais « le Numéroteur » est lui aussi à l’affût de Zoé. Pour lui, ce n’est pas une survivante, mais simplement celle qui s’est échappée… pour un temps.

Terrifiant et machiavélique : un thriller insoutenable.

I do like the tagline they’ve given the book. So if you’re French or know someone, I hope you’ll check it out.

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SHELF LIFE: Reader Reaction

TOTGASo THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY has been out for a month (two if you’re an Amazon Prime Member) and reader feedback has been coming in.  Quite a lot of it actually.  On Amazon.com, the book has racked up almost 2,000 reviews so far.  This is understandable as TOTGA (as the cool kids aka my editor calls it) is by far my fastest and bestselling book so far.  Phew!  I may be in publishing for a little while longer.

But a lot more readers mean a lot more opinions.  Luckily for me, people more often than not like TOTGA.  Thank God for that.  I was a little worried about reader feedback because there’d be a lot more people reading out of genre.  More exposure is nice…as long as everyone is of the same opinion and a positive opinion at that.  Well, it looks as if it is so.

Actually I’m quite pleased about TOTGA’s reception.  People, by and large, got it.  They embraced Zoë Sutton warts and all.  I wasn’t sure readers would, considering she is someone suffering from PTSD, which makes her a little difficult to like or understand at times.

But with every book, I get feedback that I wasn’t quite expecting.  So here are a few findings:

  • Quite a few people want or think TOTGA is the first in a new series. I didn’t have any plans to make Zoë Sutton a series character but now you’ve got me thinking. At this point I don’t know how I would take Zoë forward and maintain the same level of danger.
  • I’m surprised and amused by how many women have said they’re going to take fight classes after seeing what happened to Zoë. So be warned predatory men, the ladies are no pushover.
  • I’m touched by the therapists and victims of violence/stalkers thought I got Zoë right. This was a tough book to write because I tried to interview a number of victim support groups and all of them declined to speak to me so I’m glad people feel I got it right.
  • Some people have thought the violence is quite graphic and to be honest, most of the violence is off the page. It’s like Psycho, you see the knife but you don’t see anyone get stabbed. It’s your mind embellishes the rest.
  • And speaking of embellishments, I’ve had a few emails describe scenes/events that never took place. It happens with every book. People always bring something to the story.
  • People think the book is short but it’s longer than my last three and quite a bit longer than the average James Patterson. It’s a product of my writing style that it’s focused and pacey so it tends to feel brief.

When a book meets the public, it’s exciting and daunting because it’s an interpretive voyage of discovery…and the discovery will continue as the book continues to travel.

 

Categories: book of the month shelf life

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NEW BOOK UPDATE: The One That Got Away Cover

I am happy to unveil the final cover art for THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY.  I hope you like it.  The back jacket blurb goes a little like this.

“Graduate students Zoë and Holli only mean to blow off some steam on their road trip to Las Vegas. But something goes terribly wrong on their way home, and the last time Zoë sees her, Holli is in the clutches of a sadistic killer. Zoë flees with her life, changed forever.
A year later and still tortured with guilt, Zoë latches on to a police investigation where the crime eerily resembles her abduction. Along with a zealous detective, she retraces the steps of that fateful night in the desert, hoping that her memory will return and help them find justice for Holli. Her abductor—labeled the “Tally Man” by a fascinated media—lies in wait for Zoë. For him, she is not a survivor but simply the one that got away.
With an unforgettable heroine, a chillingly disturbed psychopath, and a story that moves at breakneck speed, THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY is thriller writer Simon Wood at his finest.”
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY will be out March 1st!

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