I’m thrilled to announce that my second psychological thriller with Thomas & Mercer has now been published!
I began work on LOCK THE DOOR back in early 2016. I had some prolonged discussion with my editor, while I was also working on edits for my first thriller, GIRL NUMBER ONE. I knew from very early on that it would involve the abduction of a baby. But never having written that kind of story before, it took a while to come up with the plot complications that would make this abduction more tense and disturbing than others in the genre.
First of all, I had to research baby disorders to find the perfect one for my story. Having had five children myself, I found this research quite upsetting. But it was important to me that I got the medical facts right.
The story starts with a group of friends at a modest dinner party, and spirals out into a dangerous and unsettling world where nothing is what it seems. I enjoyed finding out who all these characters were, and exploring the terrible stresses that are brought to bear on a family when a child goes missing, especially a sick baby.
There have been various appalling stories like this in the news in recent years. Sometimes the missing child is quickly found and returned to their parents. Other times the child is never found, and those unfortunate parents are then left in a nightmarish limbo, unable to move forward, forever wondering what happened to their child, if they are alive or dead, if they are suffering …
With such heightened emotions on show, it was quite a challenge to write this book as realistically as possible, while controlling the raging fires of hell into which my characters are being drawn.
Luckily, I enjoy a challenge!
One of the hardest parts of writing a novel is the denouement, where all the story threads are drawn together and everything is finally made clear. These can be very difficult moments to get right.
But I was inspired in LOCK THE DOOR to write an ending that would leave me emotionally satisfied, and bring all my characters to the end of the line. I also wanted to leave readers breathless. Thankfully, early reviews on Amazon seem to indicate that I’ve achieved that, which is lovely to see.
Now for the next thriller …
LOCK THE DOOR
Meghan Smith has always been a protective mother. Her baby son, Harry, has a life-threatening condition and is never far from her sight. But on the evening of her wedding anniversary, as she and her husband celebrate in the garden with friends, Harry disappears from his cot without a trace.
In an instant, the perfect life she always longed for is in tatters, her family exposed to interrogation and accusation in the glare of media attention. But none of it gets Meghan answers—or brings back her son.
As her life unravels and suspicion takes hold of her sanity, Meghan begins to question everything she once took for granted. Can she trust her husband? Can she trust her friends? Can she even trust herself?
Jane Holland Author 