2026 THRILLERMASTER: Lisa Scottoline

Lisa Scottoline’s writing career began with her first novel, EVERYWHERE THAT MARY WENT, published in 1994 by HarperCollins Publishers. The novel became a bestseller and was nominated for the Edgar Award, the most prestigious award given in crime fiction, awarded by the Mystery Writers of America. Lisa’s second novel, FINAL APPEAL, was also nominated for and received an Edgar Award. Since then she has written 32 novels, all of which have appeared on bestseller lists, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly, and Publishers Weekly.

Lisa and her daughter Francesca also wrote a Sunday humor column, Chick Wit, for the Philadelphia Inquirer. These stories have been collected in a New York Times bestselling series of books including the most recent, I SEE LIFE THROUGH ROSÉ-COLORED GLASSES. Scottoline presently has 30 million copies in print in the United States, not including audio, e-book and various large print editions. Internationally, Lisa is published in 35 countries. Her most recent book is THE UNRAVELING OF JULIA (2025).

Lisa also joined the faculty as a visiting professor at The University of Pennsylvania Law School to teach a course she created entitled “Justice and Fiction.”

Lisa graduated magna cum laude in three years from the University of Pennsylvania, in 1976. Her B.A. degree was in English with a concentration in the Contemporary American Novel, and she was taught by professors such as National Book Award Winner Philip Roth. Lisa then graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1981, where she served as an Associate Editor, University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

Lisa began her legal career with a clerkship for President Judge Edmund B. Spaeth, Jr. of the Pennsylvania Superior Court. When the clerkship ended, she joined Dechert, Price & Rhoads in Philadelphia as an associate. In 1986, she left the firm to raise her newborn daughter and began writing legal fiction part-time. In 1994, Scottoline re-entered the legal world as an administrative law clerk to Chief Judge Dolores K. Sloviter of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, while beginning a new career as a fiction author, with the publication of her first novel.

2026 THRILLERMASTER: Harlan Coben

With over 90 million books in print worldwide, Harlan Coben is the #1 New York Times author of thirty-five novels including WIN, THE BOY FROM THE WOODS, RUN AWAY, FOOL ME ONCE, TELL NO ONE and the renowned Myron Bolitar series. His books are published in 46 languages around the globe.

Harlan is the creator and executive producer of several Netflix television dramas including FOOL ME ONCE, STAY CLOSE, THE STRANGER, SAFE, THE FIVE, THE INNOCENT and THE WOODS. He is also the creator and executive producer of the Prime Video series Harlan Coben’s SHELTER, based on his young adult books featuring Mickey Bolitar. Harlan was the showrunner and executive producer for two French TV mini-series, UNE CHANCE DE TROP (NO SECOND CHANCE) and JUST UN REGARD (JUST ONE LOOK). KEINE ZWEIT CHANCE, also based on Harlan’s novel, aired in Germany on Sat1.

Winner of the Edgar Award, Shamus Award and Anthony Award – the first author to win all three – international bestselling author Harlan Coben’s critically-acclaimed novels have been called “ingenious” (New York Times), “poignant and insightful” (Los Angeles Times), “consistently entertaining” (Houston Chronicle), “superb” (Chicago Tribune) and “must reading” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

In his first books, Coben immersed himself in the exploits of sports agent Myron Bolitar. Critics loved the series, saying, “You race to turn pages…both suspenseful and often surprisingly funny” (People). After seven books Coben wanted to try something different. “I came up with a great idea that simply would not work for Myron,” says Coben. The result was the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller TELL NO ONE, which became the most decorated thriller of the year. Two books later, Bookspan, recognizing Coben’s broad international appeal, named NO SECOND CHANCE its first ever International Book of the Month in 2003 – the Main Selection in 15 different countries.

Harlan was the first writer in more than a decade to be invited to write fiction for the New York Times op-ed page. His Father’s Day short story, THE KEY TO MY FATHER, appeared June 15, 2003. His essays and columns have appeared in many top publications including the New York Times, Parade Magazine and Bloomberg Views.

Harlan has received an eclectic variety of honors from all over the world. In Paris, he was awarded the prestigious Vermeil Medal of Honor for contributions to culture and society by the Mayor of Paris. He has won the El Premio del Novela Negra RBA in Spain, the Grand Prix de Lectrices in France, and the CWA/ITV3 Bestseller Dagger for favorite crime novelist in England. On the other end of the spectrum, Little League Baseball inducted Harlan into their Hall of Excellence in 2013, and Harlan is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame from his playing days at Amherst College.

Harlan was born in Newark, New Jersey. He still lives in New Jersey with his wife, Anne Armstrong-Coben MD, a pediatrician, and their four children.

2026 SPOTLIGHT: Rachel Howzell Hall

Rachel Howzell Hall is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of 15 novels, including the bestselling thriller FOG AND FURY, and the Good Morning America Book Club selection, THE LAST ONE. She is also the author of bestselling thrillers, including WHAT FIRE BRINGS, WHAT NEVER HAPPENED, and THESE TOXIC THINGS. She is a two-time finalist of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for AND NOW SHE’S GONE and WE LIE HERE.

Rachel has been nominated for a number of mystery awards, including the Anthony, Strand and International Thriller Award, the Lefty, Barry and Shamus. She is also the author of the Audible Originals bestseller SEE HOW THEY RUN, and the Thriller Award- and Audie Awards-nominated HOW IT ENDS, Rachel is a New York Times bestselling author of THE GOOD SISTER with James Patterson. She’s also received acclaim for THEY ALL FALL DOWN and for her Detective Elouise Norton series.

Her shorter works have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Shattering Glass and Unoccupied Earth. “Breakdown in the Right Lane,” was published in Alta Magazine and was selected as a Distinguished Story in Best American Mystery & Suspense for 2023. Her short story, “Clout Chaser,” was a nominee for the British Crime Writers Association’s Short Story Dagger Award.

Rachel is a former member of the board of directors for Mystery Writers of America and was a featured writer on NPR’s acclaimed Crime in the City series and the National Endowment for the Arts weekly podcast; she has also served as a mentor with Sisters in Crime, Pitch Wars and the Association of Writers Programs.

Rachel lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.

2026 SPOTLIGHT: Luis Alberto Urrea

Hailed by NPR as a “literary badass” and a “master storyteller with a rock and roll heart,” Luis Alberto Urrea is a prolific and acclaimed writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph.

A 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for nonfiction and a Guggenheim fellow, Urrea is the critically acclaimed and best-selling author of 19 books, winning numerous awards for his poetry, fiction and essays. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is most recognized as a border writer, though he says, “I am more interested in bridges, not borders.”  

Urrea’s newest book, GOOD NIGHT, IRENE, takes as inspiration his mother’s own Red Cross service. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances, GOOD NIGHT, IRENE powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea’s “gifts as a storyteller are prodigious” (NPR).

THE HOUSE OF BROKEN ANGELS (2018) is a novel of an American family, which happens to be from Mexico. Angel de la Cruz knows this is his last birthday and he wants to gather his progeny for a final fiesta. A national bestseller, THE HOUSE OF BROKEN ANGELS was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in fiction and a New York Times Notable Book.

In 2017, Urrea won an American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction award and his collection of short stories, THE WATER MUSEUM, was a finalist for the 2016 PEN-Faulkner Award and was named a best book of the year by The Washington Post and Kirkus Reviews, among others. INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH, his 2009 novel, is a Big Read selection by the National Endowment of the Arts and has been chosen by more than 50 different cities and colleges as a community read. THE DEVIL’S HIGHWAY, Urrea’s 2004 non-fiction account of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert, won the Lannan Literary Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Pacific Rim Kiriyama Prize. THE HUMMINGBIRD’S DAUGHTER, his 2005 historical novel, tells the story of Urrea’s great-aunt Teresa Urrea, sometimes known as the Saint of Cabora and the Mexican Joan of Arc. The book, which involved 20 years of research and writing, won the Kiriyama Prize in fiction and, along with THE DEVIL’S HIGHWAY, was named “best book of the year” by many publications.

Urrea has also won an Edgar award from the Mystery Writers of America for best short story (2009, “Amapola” in Phoenix Noir and featured in THE WATER MUSEUM). INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH earned a citation of excellent from the American Library Association Rainbow’s Project. Urrea’s first book, ACROSS THE WIRE, was named a New York Times Notable Book and won the Christopher Award. Urrea also won a 1999 American Book Award for his memoir, NOBODY’S SON: NOTES FROM AN AMERICAN LIFE and in 2000, he was voted into the Latino Literature Hall of Fame following the publication of VATOS. His book of short stories, SIX KINDS OF SKY, was named the 2002 small-press Book of the Year in fiction by the editors of ForeWord magazine. He has also won a Western States Book Award in poetry for THE FEVER OF BEING and was in the 1996 Best American Poetry collection. Urrea’s other titles include BY THE LAKE OF SLEEPING CHILDREN, IN SEARCH OF SNOW, GHOST SICKNESS and WANDERING TIME.

Urrea attended the University of California at San Diego, earning an undergraduate degree in writing, and did his graduate studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

After serving as a relief worker in Tijuana and a film extra and columnist-editor-cartoonist for several publications, Urrea moved to Boston where he taught expository writing and fiction workshops at Harvard. He also taught at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

Urrea lives with his family in Naperville, IL, where he is a distinguished professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

2026 THRILLER LEGEND Barbara Peters

Barbara Peters was born in Evanston, raised in Winnetka, Illinois, spent way too much time in graduate school, and founded The Poisoned Pen in 1989. With her husband Robert Rosenwald, she gambled on Poisoned Pen Press in 1997 where she is Editor-in-chief. Barbara has won the Raven and Quill Awards from the Mystery Writers of America (and been nominated for an Edgar for Best Biographical Work) and is a Bouchercon Fan Guest of Honor and Lifetime Achievement honoree as well as a lifetime honoree from Malice Domestic. 

2026 THRILLER FAN: Jordan Moblo

Jordan Moblo is Executive Vice President of Creative Acquisitions and IP Management for Universal Studio Group (USG). Leading the IP-focused division, he and his team are responsible for sourcing and acquiring content for four powerhouse television studios: Universal Television, UCP, Universal International Studios and Universal Television Alternative Studio. Moblo oversees global book and IP acquisitions that align with USG’s content strategy for scripted and unscripted series across broadcast, cable, streaming and podcast platforms. He works with the studios’ talent roster—including Jenna Bush Hager, Jordan Peele and Malcolm D. Lee—to identify strategic opportunities and package series adaptations for television. Moblo joined USG from Netflix, where he was the Director of IP Scouting. He previously held roles as the Director and Co-Head of the Creative Acquisitions department at Disney Television Studios and the Director of Creative Acquisitions at 20th Television. His bookstagram—@jordys.book.club—has established him as an influential voice in the publishing world.