2025 ThrillerMaster: Janet Evanovich

Over the last twenty-six years, Janet Evanovich has written a staggering forty-five New York Times bestsellers.

She is the author of the Stephanie Plum books, including One for the Money and Sizzling Sixteen, and the Diesel & Tucker series, including Wicked Appetite. Janet studied painting at Douglass College, but that art form never quite fit, and she soon moved on to writing stories. She didn’t have instant success: she collected a big box of rejection letters. As she puts it, “When the box was full I burned the whole damn thing, crammed myself into pantyhose and went to work for a temp agency.” But after a few months of secretarial work, she managed to sell her first novel for $2,000. She immediately quit her job and started working full-time as a writer. After a dozen romance novels, she switched to mystery, and created Stephanie Plum.

In addition to Janet’s many other popular books, she is also the author of The Recovery Agent, the start of a blockbuster new series. Janet’s favorite exercise is shopping, and her drug of choice is Cheeze Doodles.

2025 ThrillerMaster: John Grisham

John Grisham is an expert storyteller, whose unforgettable characters fight for justice in a world that isn’t always fair.

John Grisham is the author of fifty consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include Camino Ghosts, The Exchange: After the Firm, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series.

Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.

When he’s not writing, Grisham serves on the board of directors of the Innocence Project and of Centurion Ministries, two national organizations dedicated to exonerating those who have been wrongfully convicted. Much of his fiction explores deep-seated problems in our criminal justice system.

John lives on a farm in central Virginia.

2025 Silver Bullet: James Patterson

James Patterson is the most popular storyteller of our time. He is the creator of unforgettable characters and series, including Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Jane Smith, and Maximum Ride, and of breathtaking true stories about the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Tiger Woods, as well as our military heroes, police officers, and ER nurses. Patterson has coauthored #1 bestselling novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton, and collaborated most recently with Michael Crichton on the blockbuster Eruption. He has told the story of his own life in James Patterson by James Patterson and received an Edgar Award, ten Emmy Awards, the Literarian Award from the National Book Foundation, and the National Humanities Medal.

2025 Spotlight: Oyinkan Braithwaite

Oyinkan Braithwaite is a graduate of Kingston University in Creative Writing and Law. Following her degree, she worked as an assistant editor at Kachifo Limited, a Nigerian publishing house, and as a production manager at Ajapaworld, a children’s educational and entertainment company. She now works as a freelance writer and editor. In 2014, she was shortlisted as a top-ten spoken-word artist in the Eko Poetry Slam, and in 2016 she was a finalist for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria.

2025 Spotlight: Jennifer Hillier

Jennifer Hillier imagines the worst about people, and then writes about it.

She’s the USA Today, Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail bestselling author of Things We Do in the Dark, described as “an intoxicating thrill ride” by the New York Times and “propulsive and chilling” by People magazine. It’s a Book of the Month Club selection, an Indigo Top Ten Best Book of the Year, an Amazon Editor’s Spotlight Pick, a Loan Stars pick, and her third consecutive novel to be honored as a LibraryReads pick, which places her in their Hall of Fame.

She’s also the author of six other psychological thrillers. Her USA Today bestselling novel Little Secrets is currently being adapted for Peacock by Tish Cyrus’s Hopetown Entertainment, writer Melissa Scrivner Love and Universal Television, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Anthony Award. Jar of Hearts won the ITW Thriller Award for Best Hardcover Novel and was also shortlisted for the Anthony and Macavity Awards. Her books have been published in twenty-three languages so far.

2025 Thriller Fan: McKenna Jordan

McKenna has her Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Master’s in Violin Performance from University of Houston. She’s owned Murder By The Book since January 2009.

Murder By The Book is one of the nation’s oldest and largest mystery specialty bookstores, established in 1980 and purchased by McKenna in 2009.  The store stocks over 25,000 books – new & used, hardbacks & paperbacks, first editions, collectibles, gift items, mystery magazines, and more.  They host over 200 of the hottest mystery, crime, and fantasy authors for book signing events every year. They’ve had everyone from Dick Francis to P.D. James, Sue Grafton to Robert Crais, Michael Connelly to Patricia Cornwell, James Lee Burke to Daniel Silva.

Some of McKenna’s favorite authors; Megan Abbott, Cara Black, Ken Bruen, Kerry Greenwood, Charlaine Harris, Carolyn Haines, Peter Lovesey, Daniel Silva, Jacqueline Winspear.

She has a real respect for the genre and its icons, and loves unique characters. Though she’s happy to read across the genre as long as it’s well-written, and there’s nothing that beats a fresh new voice that grabs you from the first line.

2025 Thriller Legend: Neil Nyren

Neil Nyren is the former EVP, associate publisher, and editor in chief of G.P. Putnam’s Sons and the winner of the 2017 Ellery Queen Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Among the writers of crime and suspense he has edited are Tom Clancy, Clive Cussler, John Sandford, C. J. Box, Robert Crais, Carl Hiaasen, Daniel Silva, Jack Higgins, Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett, Jonathan Kellerman, Ed McBain, and Ace Atkins. He now writes about crime fiction and publishing for CrimeReads, BookTrib, The Big Thrill, and The Third Degree, among others, and is a contributing writer to the Anthony/Agatha/Macavity-winning How to Write a Mystery.