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 played leading roles on and off Broadway and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a BA from Tufts University and an MFA from Yale. His audiobook narration has garnered ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works in film and television in addition to narrating.

About Simon Vance

Simon Vance is an award-winning actor and an AudioFile Golden Voice with over fifty Earphones Awards and thirteen prestigious Audie Awards. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.

About Kirsten Potter

Kirsten Potter has won several awards, including more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a three-time finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. Her work has been recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and by AudioFile magazine, among many others. She graduated with highest honors from Boston University and has performed on stage and in film and television, including roles on Medium, Bones, and Judging Amy.

About Robert Fass

Robert Fass is a veteran actor and twice winner of the prestigious Audie Award for the year’s best narration. He has earned many Earphones Awards and AudioFile magazine “Best of the Year” accolades.

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 television he has had recurring roles on Star Trek and Frasier. His films include Born on the Fourth of July and Presumed Innocent. Poe is a well-known and prolific audiobook performer and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards.

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 has been narrating audiobooks of all genres since 1999. Honored to be included in AudioFile’s Best Voices, she’s also a four-time Audie Finalist and has earned multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and Library Journal starred reviews.

About George Newbern

George Newbern is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and a television and film actor best known for his roles as Brian MacKenzie in Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride Part II, as well as Danny in Friends. As a voice actor, he is notable for his role as Superman on the Cartoon Newtork series Static Shock, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited. He has guest starred on many television series, including Scandal, The Mentalist, Private Practice, CSI: Miami, and Numb3rs. He holds a BA in theater arts from Northwestern University.

About Carrington MacDuffie

Carrington MacDuffie is a voice actor and recording artist who has narrated over two hundred audiobooks, received numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards, and has been a frequent finalist for the Audie Award, including for her original audiobook, Many Things Invisible. Alongside her narration work, she has released a new album of original songs, Only an Angel.


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

“[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

“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

“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

“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


Awards

  • Providence Journal Pick