It was my recent pleasure to hear author Jessica Strawser deliver her Top 10 Writing Lessons From 10 Years of Bestselling Author Interviews at the downtown Cincinnati public library. Here’s one of the gems from her presentation:

“Character and plot are the same thing.”

Now this literary thumbnail seems simple enough, but the former editorial director of Writer’s Digest magazine zoomed it out a size bigger with this quote from author Lisa Scottoline: “Action reveals character…We are what we do.”

Put those two into focus and add a masked intruder who shuts down a video chat between old friends at the start of the novel, and you have the crux of Strawser’s latest domestic suspense thriller, Forget You Know Me.

It’s a marvel just how effortlessly Strawser delivers the discovery of details that shape the course of action taken by her characters once the masked intruder sets the story in motion. The circumstances in the aftermath of the incident pile up, mostly with foreboding effect that cast doubt about the relationships the characters have with each other, as well as both their physical and emotional well-being. Soon, we’re whisked away in the streams of consciousness that undoubtedly will converge in one raging confluence, the force of which none of them seemingly can withstand.

Told through the point of view of the three primary characters (a husband and wife, and the wife’s oldest best friend), the story churns through their interaction and decisions as the trio impact each other and the lives of the few others who are closest to them. The flaws and poor choices of the trio deepen the suspense that continues to whirlpool around the masked intruder. As the plot thickens and the identity of the masked intruder looms increasingly more ominous, the characters flesh out right in front of us until the unputdownable suspense reaches a collision course that capsizes with shock.

Forget You Know Me is one unforgettable torrent of a a read…Brava, Jessica!