THRILLERS WITH HEART by CJ Lyons

HART AND DRAKE SERIES

Hi, I’m CJ Lyons, a pediatric ER doc turned New York Times and award-winning thriller author. I coined the term “Thrillers with Heart” to describe the unique cross-genre stories I tell. Stories that aren’t as much about the science or technology, the car crashes or explosions, as they are about the gray areas between the black and white of good and evil.

My stories are as real as it gets with the emotional honesty of people facing the best and worst days of their lives, pushed past the brink, and forced to make life and death decisions.

When you’re in the midst of chaos and darkness, relationships become even more important. Friends, family, and yes, lovers. Which is why many of my medical thrillers include romance.

My Hart and Drake series, for example, was inspired by my own research and work with victims of domestic violence. Unlike the stereotypes we’ve been conditioned to believe, I found that both abusers and victims came from every profession and socioeconomic class.

So, I created Cassandra Hart, an ER doctor passionate about her patients, smart, dedicated, and a survivor of an abusive marriage. I wanted to show the courage it takes to walk away from a man you once loved—may even still love, despite his actions—and the conflict that creates, the damage to a psyche.

I paired Hart with Detective Mickey Drake who bears wounds of his own. It is only together, as they solve their relationship issues, that they can solve the mysteries that threaten their lives and the lives of innocents. Their story starts with their first meet in NERVES OF STEEL and four books later ends (for now, at least—fans have been clamoring for more stories) with their wedding in EYE OF THE STORM.

I knew I’d nailed the “heart” I was striving for in these medical thrillers when Sandra Brown described NERVES OF STEEL as “the perfect blend of romance and suspense.” And then the reader emails came: women in coercive relationships who, because of Hart’s story, were inspired to reach out for help. So many of them expressed gratitude that I’d shown not only the truth behind these kinds of relationships but also the fact that it truly could happen to anyone, easing some of the social stigma.

FATAL INSOMNIA SERIES

All of my stories are influenced by real life medical cases and crimes, although I never use any real life people or patients. It’s always a lot of fun turning what could be a frustrating real life case—especially one that I was involved in personally—and giving it an exciting and satisfying conclusion. But most of the true satisfaction I find in combining medicine with relationships in my Thrillers with Heart comes from taking science to the next level of “what if?”

I did this with my Fatal Insomnia trilogy, which not only combines a romance along with international thrills but also was one of the first uses of CRISPR gene-editing tech in fiction.

The real fun came from using Fatal Familial Insomnia, a 100% fatal prion disease that, if it ever becomes more virulent could cause a real life Zombie Apocalypse. Seriously. Prions can only be killed by heat as intense as crematoriums use or by highly concentrated alkalis, like lye. So the only things that stop prions are things that will kill humans.

Fascinating in their own right, the real power of using prions in storytelling comes from imagining their impact on a human facing their uniquely slow and tortuous death…death from insomnia.

Can you imagine anything more terrifying to an ER doc?

Upcoming YA THRILLER

That’s where the inspiration for the first book, FAREWELL TO DREAMS, came from. Add in a global conspiracy, serial killer, along with impending doom for humanity and the main character’s personal journey as she faces an always fatal disease and you’ve got a read Tess Gerritsen described as “a story that whips by at bullet speed.”

Medicine, science, crime, technology all make for great plot ideas, but for me, it’s the emotional honesty of the characters’ journey that creates a truly compelling and satisfying read. Which is why, after forty-four books, I’m still happily writing my Thrillers with Heart, including my upcoming YA thriller, THE COLOR OF LIES, which centers on synesthesia.

Thanks for having me!

CJ

 AUTHOR CJ LYONS

About CJ:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over forty novels, former pediatric ER doctor CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge Thrillers with Heart. 

 CJ has been called a “master within the genre" (Pittsburgh Magazine) and her work has been praised as “breathtakingly fast-paced” and “riveting” (Publishers Weekly) with “characters with beating hearts and three dimensions” (Newsday).

 Her novels have twice won the International Thriller Writers’ prestigious Thriller Award, the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Readers’ Choice Award, the RT Seal of Excellence, and the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense.

 Learn more about CJ’s Thrillers with Heart at www.CJLyons.net