Synopsis

Have you ever read a suspense novel so good you had to stop and think to yourself, “How did the author come up with this idea? Their characters? Is some of this story real?” For over five years, Mark Rubinstein, physician, psychiatrist, and mystery and thriller writer, had the chance to ask the most well-known authors in the field just these kinds of questions in interviews for the Huffington Post.Collected here are interviews with forty-seven accomplished authors, including Michael Connelly, Ken Follett, Meg Gardiner, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, and Don Winslow. These are their personal stories in their own words, much of the material never before published. How do these writers’ life experiences color their art? Find out their thoughts, their inspirations, their candid opinions. Learn more about your favorite authors, how they work and who they truly are.

About Mark Rubinstein

After earning a degree in business administration at NYU, Mark Rubinstein served in the US Army as a field medic tending to paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division.After his discharge he returned to college, went to medical school, and became a physician, then a psychiatrist. As a forensic psychiatrist, he was an expert witness in many trials. As an attending psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Cornell, he taught psychologists, psychiatric residents, nurses, and social workers while practicing psychiatry.Rubinstein’s high-octane thrillers Mad Dog House (2012) and its sequel, Mad Dog Justice (2014), were both finalists for the Foreword Book of the Year Award. His novella The Foot Soldier won the silver award in the 2014 Benjamin Franklin Awards competition, in the Popular Fiction category. His novella Return to Sandara (2014), won the gold IPPY Award for Suspense/Fiction. The Lovers’ Tango won the gold medal in Popular Fiction at the 2016 Benjamin Franklin Awards. His most recent novel is Mad Dog Vengeance (2017), the last book in the Mad Dog trilogy.Before turning to fiction, he coauthored five self-help books on psychological and medical topics.His latest nonfiction books are Bedlam’s Door (a finalist for the 2017 Benjamin Franklin Award in Nonfiction) and Beyond Bedlam’s Door. Both are sets of stories about patients he’s treated or evaluated as a psychiatrist and forensic psychiatrist.His most recent book is a nonfiction work entitled The Storytellers: Straight Talk from the World’s Most Acclaimed Suspense and Thriller Authors, a compilation of candid interviews with writers whose novels have been worldwide bestsellers.He now writes fiction and nonfiction, has been a contributor to the Huffington Post, was a contributor to Psychology Today, contributes columns to Literary Hub’s Crime Reads, and is a book reviewer for the New York Journal of Books.Visit his website at www.MarkRubinstein-Author.com

About Robertson Dean

Robertson Dean has recorded hundreds of audiobooks in most every genre. He's been nominated for several Audie Awards, won eight Earphones Awards, and was named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of 2010. He lives in Los Angeles, where he records books and acts in film, TV, and (especially) on stage.

About Simon Vance

Simon Vance, a former BBC Radio presenter and newsreader, is a full-time actor who has appeared on both stage and television. He has recorded over eight hundred audiobooks and has earned fifty-seven Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine, including one for his narration of Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini. A multiple Audie finalist, Simon has won Audie Awards for The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan, and The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. Winner of the 2008 Booklist Voice of Choice Award, Simon has also been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.

About Kirsten Potter

Kirsten Potter is an award-winning audiobook narrator who has performed on stage, film, and television. Having graduated from Boston University's School for the Arts, she has received recognition from the American Academy of Achievement and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

About Robert Fass

Winner of the prestigious Audie Award (for History and Audio Drama), veteran actor Robert Fass is equally at home in a wide variety of styles, genres, characters, and dialects. A seven-time Audie nominee with over 100 unabridged audiobooks to his credit, Robert has also earned multiple Earphones Awards, including for his narration of Joe Golem and the Drowning City by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden. Robert has given voice to modern and classic fiction writers alike, including Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, John Steinbeck, Carlos Fuentes, Isaac Asimov, Ellery Queen, Steve Berry, Jeffrey Deaver, and Nele Neuhaus, plus bestselling nonfiction works in history, politics, health, journalism, philosophy, and business.

About Keith Szarabajka

Keith Szarabajka has appeared in many films, including The Dark Knight, Missing, and A Perfect World, and on such television shows as The Equalizer, Angel, Cold Case, Golden Years, and Profit. Szarabajka has also appeared in several episodes of Selected Shorts for National Public Radio. He won the 2001 Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction for his reading of Tom Robbins’s Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and has won several Earphones Awards.

About Richard Poe

Richard Poe, a professional actor for more than thirty years, has appeared in numerous Broadway shows, including 1776 and M. Butterfly. On TV, he has had recurring roles on Star Trek and Frasier. His films include Born on the Fourth of July and Presumed Innocent. He is a well-known and prolific audio book performer, having narrated more than fifty books.

About Marc Vietor

Marc Vietor, an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an actor working with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Sundance Theatre Lab, Ravinia Festival, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe, and many others. His film and television credits include Asylum Seekers, Law & Order, and Onion News Network. He has narrated many books for Audible.com, including the award-winning 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. He is a graduate of Yale University and The Juilliard School.

About Karen White

Karen White is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Dreams of Falling and The Night the Lights Went Out. She has two grown children and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two spoiled Havanese dogs.

About George Newbern

Actor George Newbern has appeared in Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride II, Evening Star, Adventures in Babysitting, and many other films. On television, he has had roles on Friends, Nip/Tuck, Hot in Cleveland, CSI, and more. George is also known for providing the voice of Superman in Justice League.

About Carrington MacDuffie

Carrington MacDuffie is a recording artist, writer, and voice actor who has narrated over 100 audiobooks and received numerous AudioFile Earphones awards and six Audie finalists. Her original audiobook of poetry and music, Many Things Invisible, was nominated for an Audie in two categories.

About John Lescault

Patrick Cullen (a.k.a. John Lescault), a native of Massachusetts, is a graduate of the Catholic University of America. He lives in Washington, DC, where he works in theater.

About Malcolm Hillgartner

Malcolm Hillgartner has narrated over 175 audiobooks. He was named an AudioFile Best Voice of 2013. His work ranges from children's titles such as On the Blue Comet (AudioFile Best of 2011, Earphones), and Neal Stevenson's sci-fi epic REAMDE (Audible.com Best of 2011) to the biographies Kissinger (AudioFile Best of 2013, Earphones) and Cheever (AudioFile Best of 2009, Earphones). He is also an accomplished actor, writer, and musician. With his wife and partner, Jahnna Beecham, he has written over 130 books for teens and young readers, as well as the musicals Chaps! and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Musical, which have been produced in the U.S. and Canada.

About Susan Ericksen

Susan Ericksen is a three-time Audie Award-winning narrator who has recorded over 500 books. The winner of multiple awards, including twenty-plus AudioFile Earphones Awards for both fiction and nonfiction, Susan is a classically trained actress who excels at multiple narrative styles and accents.

About Patrick Lawlor

Patrick Lawlor is an accomplished audiobook narrator, stage actor, director, and combat choreographer. The recipient of an AudioFile Earphones Award, he was also a finalist for an Audie Award.

About Eileen Stevens

Eileen Stevens is a voice-over actress whose voice can be heard on cartoons, promos, programs for English-language learners, and audiobooks. An Earphones Award–winning narrator, she is also an audiobook director and producer.

About Derek Perkins

A native of the United Kingdom, Audie and AudioFile Earphones Award winner Derek Perkins's audiobook narration skills are augmented by a knowledge of three foreign languages and a facility with accents. He has narrated numerous titles in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA.

About Tim Campbell

Tim Campbell is the Audie and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning voice of hundreds of audiobook titles in almost every literary genre.

About Hillary Huber

Hillary Huber is a multiple Audie Award finalist, an Earphones Award winner, and an AudioFile Best Voice. She has recorded over three hundred titles spanning many genres and holds a bachelor's degree in English literature. A voracious reader and listener, she was raised in Connecticut and Hawaii but now splits her time between California and New York.

About Ralph Lister

Ralph Lister is an experienced actor and voice artist who trained at LAMDA. He spent fifteen years in mainstage theatre in London, Madrid, Hong Kong, and Edinburgh before moving to America, where he focuses on film, television, and audiobook narration.

About Marguerite Gavin

Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. Marguerite has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career, and has over four hundred titles to her credit.

About John Rubinstein

Kevin Baker is the author of one previous novel, Sometimes You See It Coming, and served as chief historical researcher for the recently published The American Century by Harold Evans. He is married and lives in New York City.John Rubenstein won a Theater World Award, a Tony, and a Drama Desk Award for his performances in Pippin and Children of a Lesser God.

About Ann Richardson

Ann Richardson is an award-winning narrator. With a background of drama and music prevalent in her Midwestern upbringing, she delights in narrating fiction and portraying characters with a variety of accents, including Scandinavian and Southern U.S. Being of Swedish heritage is an important facet of Ann's life, as her father was a Swedish immigrant, and she travels to Sweden every few years to spend time with family and brush up on speaking the language. In her spare time Ann is a volunteer narrator for Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic), and also enjoys sculpting, painting, long-distance running, and hanging out with her family in Northern California.

About Scott Brick

Scott Brick first began narrating audiobooks in 2000, and after recording almost 400 titles in five years, AudioFile magazine named Brick a Golden Voice and “one of the fastest-rising stars in the audiobook galaxy.” He has read a number of titles in Frank Herbert’s bestselling Dune series, and he won the 2003 Science Fiction Audie Award for Dune: The Butlerian Jihad. Brick has narrated for many popular authors, including Michael Pollan, Joseph Finder, Tom Clancy, and Ayn Rand. He has also won over 40 AudioFile Earphones Awards and the AudioFile award for Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense 2011. In 2007, Brick was named Publishers Weekly’s Narrator of the Year. Brick has performed on film, television and radio. He appeared on stage throughout the United States in productions of Cyrano, Hamlet, Macbeth and other plays. In addition to his acting work, Brick choreographs fight sequences, and was a combatant in films including Romeo and Juliet, The Fantasticks and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. He has also been hired by Morgan Freeman to write the screenplay adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama.

About John Lee

John Lee is an illustrator from Memphis, TN currently living in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and MFA from SVA's Illustration as Visual Essay program. He's worked in a variety of markets including: storyboarding, advertising, editorial, book, fashion and web illustration, as well as live drawing and reportage. He has also taught illustration at the Memphis College of Art.

About Mirron Willis

Mirron Willis has narrated over 200 audiobooks across various literary genres and has won several Earphone Awards for Excellence and is an Audie Award finalist and winner. Notable works include Ginny Gall by Charlie Smith, The Smokey Dalton Series by Kris Nelscott; My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte; The Long Fall (Booklist, Best of 2009) and others by Walter Mosley; Uncle Tom's Cabin, Elijah of Buxton, The Translator; and Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B Dubois. In three seasons at the Ensemble Theatre (Houston, Texas), Mirron appeared as JP in What I Learned in Paris, Malcolm X in The Meeting, Henry in Race, and as Countee Cullen in Knock Me a Kiss (2013 Giorgee Award for Best Leading Actor). Other roles include Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry VI Parts 2 & 3, and A Raisin in the Sun with the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has also performed as guest narrator with the Houston Symphony. Film and TV guest appearances include Criminal Minds, Private Practice, The Exes, Monk, 24, Seinfeld, Cheers, The Parkers, Living Single, E.R., Star Trek, and Independence Day, among others. Mirron resides and records audiobooks on his family's historic ranch in East Texas.

About Nancy Wu

Nancy Wu is an award-winning narrator who has worked in animation, television, theater, and film. Having lived and recorded all over the world, she is known for her vivid action/fantasy characters, accents, and bringing literature and nonfiction equally to life. A graduate of Amherst College with her master's degree in human rights, she is an avid Ashtanga yoga practitioner and rock climber. Born and raised in West Virginia, she currently resides in Boulder, Colorado.

About Lloyd James

Lloyd James has been narrating since 1996, has recorded over five hundred books in almost every genre, has earned six AudioFile Earphones Awards, and is a two-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. Lloyd's background as a performer includes extensive work in classical theater and folk music. He lives in Maryland with his wife and children.

About Pam Ward

Pam Ward has had many incarnations, including private detective, classical musician, television talk-show host, and actress, having performed in dinner theater, summer stock, and Off-Broadway, as well as in commercials, radio, and film. But she found her true calling reading books for the blind and physically handicapped for the Library of Congress Talking Books program, for which she received the prestigious Alexander Scourby Award from the American Foundation for the Blind. An AudioFile Earphones Award winner, her many audiobooks include Dancing in the Streets by Barbara Ehrenreich, Breaking Free by Lauraine Snelling, The Second Journey by Joan Anderson, and Lion in the White House by Aida D. Donald. She now records from her studio amidst the beauty of the Southern Oregon mountains.

About Joe Hempel

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Joe Hempel, a total eighties' kid, had a fascination with an eclectic array of shows that would later shape his performances in the audiobook world-shows like Alf, Night Court, Tales from the Crypt, and WWF Superstars. For over a decade Joe honed his acting skills as a referee in professional wrestling and inspired people as a NASM certified personal trainer and endurance coach. Combined with his animated personality and a love for reading, becoming an audiobook narrator was a natural step. Best known for his captivating, rich narrations and uncanny ability for pulling listeners into an immersive experience, Joe has entertained listeners with over 100 audiobooks ranging from horror and mystery to science fiction, romance, and personal development. Joe still lives in Cincinnati with his son Zach, and enjoys running marathons and bringing words on a page to life. Joe is also the winner of the 2018 ABR Listeners Choice Award for Horror.

About Kathleen Early

Kathleen Early, a five-time winner of the Earphones Award for audiobook narration, is also a television, film, and stage actress. She studied at the University of Oklahoma, the Oxford School of Drama, and the Actors Theatre of Louisville before moving to New York City, where she understudied on Broadway and toured nationally. Her television credits include recurring roles on Miami Medical and Grey’s Anatomy.

About Paul Heitsch

Paul Heitsch has been narrating audiobooks since 2011, after having worked as a pianist, composer, recording engineer, producer, and sound designer for many years. His work is often cited for the authenticity he brings to the narrative and characters he portrays, as well as his versatility, and clear, smooth delivery. He has been a presenter at several webinars and seminars for the Audiobook Publishing Association and SAG-AFTRA.

About Andrew Eiden

Andrew Eiden is an audiobook narrator who came from a long line of theater folk and has been acting since the age of four. He has starred in dozens of commercials as well as multiple television shows. At the age of eleven, he won first place in a local drama festival, which jumpstarted his acting career. He has performed in theaters ranging from the Glendale Center Theater to the Pasadena Playhouse.

About Suzanne Toren

Suzanne Toren has over 30 years of experience in recording.  She won the American Foundation for the Blind's Scourby Award for Narrator of the Year in 1988, and AudioFile magazine named her the 2009 Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture.  She is also the recipient of multiple Earphones Awards. Her many credits include works by Jane Smiley, Margaret Weis, Jerry Spinelli, Barbara Kingsolver, and Cynthia Rylant. AudioFile also raves, “Toren brings a distinguishing warmth and power to her narrations. Her talents extend to both fiction and nonfiction, and in her recording career of 30-plus years she has given listeners heart-wrenching memoirs, lively history, engaging light fiction, and involving mysteries.” Toren also performs on and off-Broadway and in regional theatres.

About John McLain

John McLain is an Audie Award nominated audiobook narrator and voice actor. He has narrated over 125 audiobook titles, including mysteries, westerns, thrillers, history, science fiction, and historical fiction. A proud member of SAG-AFTRA and the Audio Publishers Association, he and his wife live near Phoenix with their cocker spaniel, Tucker.

About Mark Bramhall

Mark Bramhall has won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration, more than thirty AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has repeatedly been named by AudioFile magazine and Publishers Weekly among their “Best Voices of the Year.” He is also an award-winning actor whose acting credits include off-Broadway, regional, and many Los Angeles venues as well as television, animation, and feature films. He has taught and directed at the American Academy of Dramatic Art.

About Andi Arndt

Andi Arndt is a professional actor who specializes in narration with an emphasis on audiobooks and e-Learning. She taught acting and voice for the James Madison University School of Theatre and Dance for over a decade, and she has worked full time for WMRA hosting classical music and NPR news programming. When not behind the mic, she can be found at live music venues or planning her next travel adventure.

About Stefan Rudnicki

Stefan Rudnicki is an award winning audiobook narrator, director and producer. He was born in Poland and now resides in Studio City, California. He has narrated more than three hundred audiobooks and has participated in over a thousand as a writer, producer, or director. He is a recipient of multiple Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as a Grammy Award, a Bram Stoker Award, and a Ray Bradbury Award. He received AudioFile’s award for 2008 Best Voice in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Along with a cast of other narrators, Rudnicki has read a number of Orson Scott Card's best-selling science fiction novels. He worked extensively with many other science fiction authors, including David Weber and Ben Bova. In reviewing the twentieth anniversary edition audiobook of Card’s Ender's Game, Publishers Weekly stated, "Rudnicki, with his lulling, sonorous voice, does a fine job articulating Ender's inner struggle between the kind, peaceful boy he wants to be and the savage, violent actions he is frequently forced to take." Rudnicki is also a stage actor and director.

About Bernadette Dunne

Bernadette Dunne has been honored to narrate the work of some of the finest fiction and nonfiction writers of our time, including Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sandra Day O'Connor. The winner of more than a dozen Earphones Awards and a three-time Audie Award nominee, she has voiced countless bestsellers, including Memoirs of a Geisha, The Devil Wears Prada, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. She studied at The Royal National Theater and lives in New York.

About Michael Kramer

Michael Kramer has narrated over 100 audiobooks for many bestselling authors. He read all of Robert Jordan’s epic Wheel of Time fantasy-adventure series as well as Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive series. He received AudioFile magazine's Earphones Award for the Kent Family series by John Jakes and for Alan Fulsom's The Day After Tomorrow. Known for his “spot-on character portraits and accents, and his resonant, well-tempered voice” (AudioFile), his work includes recording books for the Library of Congress’s Talking Books program for the blind and physically handicapped.Kramer also works as an actor in the Washington, D.C. area, where he lives with his wife, Jennifer Mendenhall (a.k.a. Kate Reading), and their two children. He has appeared as Lord Rivers in Richard III at The Shakespeare Theatre, Howie/Merlin in The Kennedy Center’s production of The Light of Excalibur, Sam Riggs and Frederick Savage in Woody Allen’s Central Park West/Riverside Drive, and Dr. Qari Shah in Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul at Theatre J.

About Suzie Althens

Suzie Althens is an experienced narrator who works regularly with major publishers. She narrates titles in a wide variety of genres, including nonfiction, cozy mysteries, chick lit, suspense, and romance. A resident of Alaska, she spends her free time gardening, sketching, cooking for friends and family, and staring at the mountains.

About David de Vries

David de Vries can be seen in a number of feature films, including The Founder, The Accountant, Captain America: Civil War, and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. On television, his credits include House of Cards, Nashville, Halt and Catch Fire, the National Geographic film Killing Reagan, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for HBO. As a veteran stage actor, David appeared as Lumiere in Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, as Dr. Dillamond in the Los Angeles and Chicago companies of Wicked, and in hundreds of shows in regional theaters throughout the country. He is an Audie and Odyssey Award-winning narrator for his performance in Pam Munoz Ryan's Echo and has voiced over 100 titles in every genre, including his Audie Award-nominated performance of the 2011 Caldecott winner A Sick Day for Amos McGee.

About Natalie Ross

Natalie Ross is an actress and voice-over artist whose acting credits include multiple appearances in the television series All My Children, among others. She is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bloomingdale Public on December 02, 2021

Kristina says: This collection of interviews is not only useful to me as a reader of thrillers, but it's also useful as a tool for enhancing my reader's advisory skills. As a librarian I am always trying to recommend new titles to patrons who are used to their tried-and-true favorite authors, but ma......more

Goodreads review by Emily on April 01, 2025

I gotta be honest, take my review with a grain of salt because I mostly listened to this audiobook to help me fall asleep at night......more

Goodreads review by Red on July 23, 2021

This book came at the PERFECT time for me. I'm always looking for inspiration to keep writing and The Storytellers did just that. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me a copy. Have you ever read a suspense novel so good you had to stop and think to yourself, “How d......more

Goodreads review by Jim on October 08, 2021

Insightful Interludes with Famous Authors This is a look behind the curtain. Where do stories come from? Nobody knows or they're not telling. The secret is getting it all down on paper or inside your computer. And that's just long hard work. But as these writers explain: none of us are alone. Cheers......more

Goodreads review by Anastasia on October 16, 2021

A wonderful book. I loved hearing from and about some of my favourite authors as well as being introduced to new ones and also some that I had read previously but forgotten about. I loved hearing about how a lot of them started out and about their writing process.......more


Quotes

“A remarkable collection of interviews with some of the most important writers working in the world today. I loved this book.” Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling author of The Force and The Cartel

“Engaging and honest interviews populate the book…Rubinstein’s who’s who of thriller and suspense authors is astonishing and the interviews are sober and sound, as if rubbing elbows with the world’s elite storytellers is an everyday occurrence…Part advice, part tell-all, Rubinstein’s collection encases a treasury of truths from writers whose stories we’ve enjoyed for years. Thrilling indeed.” Mountain Times

“A brilliant book…Mark Rubinstein has fashioned a book that offers the final word on all things related to the craft of telling tales that are impossible to put down…Rubinstein has penned one of the best author-centric studies of writers and writing ever created, and one of the few ever attempted for popular fiction. This book is destined to stand the test of time, with great storytelling in its own right that for this thriller writer was impossible to put down.” Jon Land, Providence Journal

“The Storytellers is a gift to aspiring writers of mysteries and thrillers, readers and fans, and academics alike. An instant classic.” New York Journal of Books

“The Storytellers is the most interesting and engaging work of nonfiction I have read in ages, literally filled with golden nuggets of history, background influences and revelations on every page. I envy the reader who goes on this great adventure and inhales the book as I did.”" BookReporter

“[A] fresh compendium…Particularly revelatory are the authors’ anecdotes about their previous jobs—as reporters, psychiatrists, veterinarians, and lawyers—and the range of perspectives makes for a breezy introduction to the writing game. Thriller writers—and fans curious about the process—are in for a treat.” Publishers Weekly

“Just look at this lineup: Lee Child, Patricia Cornwell, David Mamet, Meg Gardiner, Scott Turow, Kathy Reichs, James Rollins—and that’s only a small fraction of them…A nice companion piece to the slew of more traditional how-to-be-a-writer books on the market.” Booklist


Awards

  • Providence Journal Pick