Harlan Coben, Author Biographies

Harlan Coben was only 26 years old when his first book, ‘Play Dead,’ was published. It was when he started writing his Myron Bolitar series that he won the prestigious Edgar Award and was recognized by the New York Best Sellers List. In 2008, his book, ‘Hold Tight,’ was his first novel to hit number one.

Harlan Coben has won the Edgar Award, the Shamus Award and the Anthony Award. He has the distinction of being the only person to have won all three.

Harlan Coben was born into a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, on January 4, 1962. He was raised and schooled in Livingston, New Jersey. He jokes that this was not the New Jersey of Tony Soprano.

Harlan graduated from Amherst College with a degree in political science. It was while he was in his senior year that he realized he enjoyed writing. After graduating, he worked for a time in his grandfather’s company in the travel industry.

It is said of Harlan, ‘Nobody else writes such compelling thrillers that are centered in family lives.’ Harlan says, "Families always interest me because of the ties and bonds, and the acute sense of betrayal. I think my novels work because they're not just about serial killers, or a conspiracy that reaches all the way to the White House."

Most of Coben’s stand alone novels have been optioned by Hollywood. He says he is as guilty as many other novel

ists. He takes the money and runs. He says because the studio owns the rights, it can be heartbreaking to the author that tries to be involved, because he has little say or power. He claims that he will never write another screenplay.

Harlan’s novel, ‘Tell No One,’ was adapted into a French film. He was invited to do a cameo scene in the film. Harlan brought his family to watch and the whole family wound up being in the movie.

Unlike many novelists, Harlan loves to go on tour for his books. He loves the feed back. He says, “If I write a book and nobody reads it, I don’t exist as a writer.”

Harlan says that he has a love hate relationship with technology, but he is on and maintains his Facebook, My Space and Twitter accounts.

Harlan and his wife and their four children, live in Richwood, New Jersey. His
wife, Dr. Anne Armstrong-Coben, MD, a pediatrician, works at a rescue center. This is the same rescue center which is instrumental in his novel, “Tell No One.”

Books by Harlan Coben:

Series:

Myron Bolitar:

Deal Breaker (1995)

Drop Shot (1996)

FadeAway (1996)

One False Move (1998)

(1999)

Darkest Fear (2000)

Promise Me (1996)

(2009)

Stand Alone Novels:

Play Dead (1990)

Miracle Cure (1991)

Tell No One (2001)

Gone for Good (2002)

(2003)

Just One Look (2004)

The Innocent (2005)

The Woods (2007)

Hold Tight (2008)

Caught (2010)

Omnibus:

Two Great Novels (2004)

Three Great Novels (2004)

Three Great Novels (2005)

Tell No One / Gone for Good (2008)

Just One Look / Innocent / Promise Me (2008)

Anthologies Edited:

Death Do U Part: New Series Stories about Love, Lust and Murder (2006)

Linda Fairstein, Author Biographies

Linda Fairstein is a Fellow of the American college of Trial Lawyers and for 30 years she ran the Sex Crimes Unit of the District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. She left that office in 2002. During her tenure, she helped to prosecute several high profile and controversial cases including the Robert Chambers’ “Preppy Murder” case in 1986.

Linda was born on May 5,1947 in Mount Vernon, New York. She graduated from Vassar College in 1969 with a B.A. in English Literature. Upon graduating from the University of Virginia Law in

1972, she joined the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney.

In 2004, Linda was named in a 10 million dollar lawsuit against the state of New York by Dr. Oliver Jovanovic. Dr. Jovanovic, a biologist, was convicted in 1998, for the kidnapping, sexual abuse and assault of a college student that he had met on the internet. His case was overturned in 1999, siting an unfair trial.

Linda’s draws on her legal expertise for her series character, Alexandra Cooper, a Manhattan prosecutor. Linda says she writes her series in the first person because, “I want them ‘the readers’ to see victimization and then hopefully the result in the courtroom from Alex’s perspective.” Linda’s first Alex Cooper novel, ‘Final Jeopardy,’ was made into an ABC television movie starring Dana Delaney.

Linda says that people that aren’t very bright probably commit 90% of crimes in this country. She says that in her

books, she may invent the murders, but the motives of the murders come from the motives in real cases. She says she has never written about any of her actual cases.

Linda centers all her novels in notable places around New York City. She says, “I just love having places that are real and very rich with history, and then I let my imagination loose.” She says she wants each book to be an entertaining escapism, and for the reader to come away learning something new. She said for her, writing the first hundred pages is equivalent to having a root canal but after 200 pages, it’s smooth sailing.

Linda loves to collect historical trivia, antique jewelry, desk and writing objects. She collects first edition books, particularly of crime and mystery genre. She also collects nineteenth century British Literature. She loves reading mysteries and her favorite television show is CSI Special Victims Unit.

Linda Fairstein and her husband, Justin Feldman, live in Manhattan and have a home in Martha’s Vineyard where they go each year for four months. She has a separate cottage where she plots and writes. Linda says that being a writer has been her passion since high school.

Linda is still a lawyer and takes a few cases for victims of violent crimes, usually pro bono. She also does consulting and is a keynote speaker lecturing on sex crimes and domestic violence.

Books by Linda Fairstein:

Series:

Alex Cooper:

Final Jeopardy (1994)

Likely to Die (1997)

Cold Hit (1999)

The Deadhouse (2001)

The Bone Vault (2003)

(2004)

Entombed (2005)

Death Dance (2006)

Bad Blood (2007)

Killer Heat (2008)

Lethal Legacy (2009)

Omnibus:

Final Jeopardy/Likely to Die (2004)

Cold Hit/The Deadhouse (2005)

Novels:

I’d Kill for That (2004) (with Rita Mae Brown, Jennifer Cruise, Lisa Gardner, Heather Graham, Kay Hooper, Katherine Neville, Anne Perry, Kathy Reichs, Julie Smith and Tina Wainscott)

2010)

Non Fiction:

Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape (1993)

(2007) (with Otto Penzler)

Dean Koontz, Author Biographies

Dean Ray Koontz came into this world on July 9, 1945, in Bedford, Pennsylvania. He says his family was very poor and his father was a mean drunk and womanizer. The home they lived in was a shack with four small rooms and a tar paper roof.

In 1967, Dean graduated from Shippensburg University with a degree in English. He married Gerda, his high school sweetheart the same year. They decided not to have children.

Dean took a job with the Appalachian Poverty Program, tutoring and counseling underprivileged children. His love of writing was always with him, so he continued to write after work and the weekends. His first published work, “Star Quest,” was a science fiction novel.

Dean had worked for about 18 months as a high school English teacher when his wife, Gerda, made him a proposition. She got a job in a shoe factory and offered to support the family for five years so that he could concentrate on his writing career. After the five years, Gerda quit her job and tends to the business side of Dean’s writing.

Dean has also written under these pseudonyms: W. H. Allan, David Axton, Brian Coffey, Deanna Dwyer, K.R. Dwyer, John Hill, Aaron Wolf, Leigh Nichols, Anthony North, Richard Paige and Owen West. He says he did this because publishers convinced him that because he was writing in different genres, he could wind up alienating his audience.

Dean had written several science fiction books before he tried his hand at suspense thrillers. He says, “...even the most beautifully decorated, serene welcoming room contains a stunning array of fearsome weapons if one has even the most latent talent for Homicide.” Dean has also written graphic novels, short stories, non fiction and picture books. Some of his books were inspired by his beloved golden retriever, Trixie.

Dean has been called ‘a masterful writer and a quirky character.’ He’s a writer who has the uncanny ability to turn a safe and comfortable world into one of pure horror.

Most of Dean’s novels are set in and around Los Angeles. Several of his books have been made into films, and there is talk of the novel, “Odd Thomas,” being made into a television mini series.

Dean, and Gerda, make their home in southern California.

Books by Dean Koontz:

Series:

Tucker: (as Brian Coffey)

Blood Risk (1973)

Surrounded (1974)

The Wall of Masks (1975)

Moonlight Bay:

Fear Nothing (1997)

Seize the Night (1998)

Odd Thomas:

Odd Thomas (2003)

(2005)

Brother Odd (2006)

Odd Hours (2008)

In Odd We Trust (2008) (with Queenie Chan)

Stand Alone Novels:

Star Quest (1968)

The Fall of the Dream Machine (1969)

Fear That Man (1969)

Anti-man (1970)

Beastchild (1970)

The Dark Symphony (1970)

Hell’s Gate (1970)

The Crimson Witch (1971)

Demon Child (1971) (as Deanna Dwyer)

Legacy of Terror (1971) (as Deanna Dwyer)

A Darkness in My Soul (1972)

The Flesh in the Furnace (1972)

Starblood (1972)

Warlock (1972)

Children of the Storm (1972) (as Deanna Dwyer)

The Dark of the Summer (1972) (as Deanna Dwyer)

Chase (1972) (as KR Dwyer)

Dance With the Devil (1972) (as Deanna Dwyer)

The Haunted Earth (1973) (as Deanna Dwyer)

A Werewolf Among Us (1973)

Hanging on (1973)

Demon Seed (1973)

Shattered (1973)

After the Last Race (1974)

Dragonfly (1974) (as KR Dwyer)

Nightmare Journey (1975)

Invasion (1975) (as Aaron Wolfe)

The Long Sleep (1975) (as John Hill)

Night Chills (1976)

Prisoner of Ice (1976) (as David Axton)

Time Thieves (1977)

The Vision (1977)

The Face of Fear (1977) (as KR Dwyer)

The Key to Midnight (1979) (as Leigh Nichols)

Whispers (1980)

The Voice of the Night (1980) (as Brian Coffey)

The funhouse (1980) (as Owen West)

The Eyes of Darkness (1981) (as Leigh Nichols)

The Mask (1981) (Owen West)

The House of Thunder (1982) (as Leigh Nichols)

Darkness Comes (1983)

Phantoms (1983)

The Servants of Twilight (1984) (as Leigh Nichols)

The Door to September (1985) (as Richard Paige)

1985)

Strangers (1986)

Watchers (1987)

Shadow Fires (1987) (as Leigh Nichols)

Lightening (1988)

Oddkins (1988)

Midnight (1989)

The Bad Place (1989)

Cold Fire (1991)

Hideaway (1991)

Dragon Tears (1992)

Mr Murder (1993)

Winter Moon 1993)

Dark Rivers of the Heart (1994)

Intensity (1995)

Tick Tock (1995)

Santa's Twin(1996)

Sole Survivor (1997)

False Memory (1999)

From the Corner of His Eye (2000)

One Door Away From Heaven (2001)

By the Light of the Moon (2002)

The Face (2003)

Life Expectancy (2004)

The Taking (2004)

Robot Santa: The Further Adventures of Santa’s Twin (2004)

Velocity (2005)

The Husband (2006)

The Good Guy (2007)

The Darkest Evening of the Year (2007)

Your Heart Belongs to Me: A Novel (2008)
Relentless: A Novel (2009)

(2009)

Picture Books:

Trixie, Who is Dragon (2009)

Trixie and Jinx (2010)

Graphic Novels:

Trapped (1993) (with Ed Gorman)

Nevermore (2009) (with Keith Champagne)

Non Fiction:

How to Write Best Selling Fiction (1981)

Writing Popular Fiction (1992)

Bliss to You: Trixie’s Guide to a Happy Life (2008) (with Trixie Koontz)

A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog (2009)

Christmas Is Good: Trixie's Guide to a Happy Holiday