This week, I talk with Debbie Babitt about her new Hitchcockian thriller The Man on the Train. We dive into how she gets to know her characters, how she figures out plot and what she's working on next.

The Man on the Train Synopsis

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Linda Haley is awakened early one morning by two police officers at the door. She has no idea that her husband has been living a secret life during his daily commute from Scarsdale into the city. Now Guy is the prime suspect in a brutal murder that could derail Linda’s high-powered career and may be connected to a cold case.

And Guy has disappeared.

With a warrant out for her husband’s arrest, Linda sets out to prove his innocence accompanied by an ex-cop who harbors a secret affection for her. Together, they travel to the scene of a forty-year-old unsolved murder and a night of violence that shattered the serenity of a small fishing hamlet just past the Hamptons.

But as the manhunt intensifies and she begins to uncover the shocking truth—and the past Guy has buried deep—Linda must decide if the stranger she married is innocent or guilty. And if he truly deserves to be saved.

Featuring tense, atmospheric suspense that moves at breakneck speed, this Hitchcockian thriller careens from a bedroom community just north of New York City to the picturesque beaches of eastern Long Island to a suburban train station, where a killer hiding in plain sight waits to exact a final revenge.

This week, Halley and I share updates on our 1,000 Words of Summer challenge and dive into what we love about our favorite book covers. We also share what we've been reading, watching and listening to.

Books We Talked About

Almost Surely Dead

Stone Cold Fox

The Last Housewife

The Favorites

The Lies I Tell

The Force of Such Beauty

This week, I talk with Rob Hart about his new action packed thriller Assassins Anonymous. We dive into how he came up with the idea for an assassin who swears off killing for moral reasons, why musicals and action movies are similar, and how he created an empathetically accessible assassin as a main character.

Assassins Anonymous Synopsis

In this clever, surprising, page-turner, the world’s most lethal assassin gives up the violent life only to find himself under siege by mysterious assailants. It’s a kill-or-be-killed situation, but the first option is off the table. What’s a reformed hit man to do?

Mark was the most dangerous killer-for-hire in the world. But after learning the hard way that his life’s work made him more monster than man, he left all of that behind, and joined a twelve-step group for reformed killers.

When Mark is viciously attacked by an unknown assailant, he is forced on the run. From New York to Singapore to London, he chases after clues while dodging attacks and trying to solve the puzzle of who’s after him. All without killing anyone. Or getting killed himself. For an assassin, Mark learns, nonviolence is a real hassle.