This week, I got to talk with Cebo Campbell and MacKenzie Green about Cebo's speculative novel Sky Full of Elephants. We dive into his inspiration for the story, how he chose Charlie and Sidney as the characters to lead the story, and get a few details into the production of the Sky Full of Elephants movie!

Sky Full of Elephants Synopsis

n this exquisite speculative novel set in a world where white people no longer exist, college professor Charlie Brunton receives a call from his estranged daughter Sidney, setting off a chain of events as they journey across a truly "post-racial" America in search of answers. One day, a cataclysmic event occurs: all of the white people in America walk into the nearest body of water. A year later, Charles Brunton is a Black man living in an entirely new world. Having served time in prison for a wrongful conviction, he's now a professor of electric and solar power systems at Howard University when he receives a call from someone he wasn't even sure existed: his daughter Sidney, a nineteen-year-old who watched her white mother and step-family drown themselves in the lake behind their house.

Traumatized by the event, and terrified of the outside world, Sidney has spent a year in isolation in Wisconsin. Desperate for help, she turns to the father she never met, a man she has always resented. Sidney and Charlie meet for the first time as they embark on a journey across America headed for Alabama, where Sidney believes she may still have some family left. But neither Sidney or Charlie is prepared for this new world and how they see themselves in it.

When they enter the Kingdom of Alabama, everything Charlie and Sidney thought they knew about themselves, and the world, will be turned upside down. Brimming with heart and humor, Cebo Campbell's astonishing debut novel is about the power of community and connection, about healing and self-actualization, and a reckoning with what it means to be Black in America, in both their world and ours.

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Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

This week, Steph and I talk about some our favorite books outside the thriller genre, since we've both been expanding our genres a little.

Books We Talked About

Project Hail Mary

The Road to Tender Hearts

Sky Full of Elephants

PS You’re the Worst

The Three Lives of Cate Kay

The Seven O’Clock Club

An Academy for Liars

Shy Girl

Things Don’t Break On Their Own

The Book Club for Troublesome Women

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Check out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and Greg

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

This week, I talk with M.M. Deluca about her new thriller The Divorce Party! We dive into why she wanted to write a thriller with some humor, how her trip to Vegas inspired the story, and the way well developed characters with complete character arcs improve thrillers.

The Divorce Party Synopsis

Savannah, Daisy, and Zoe haven’t spoken in almost twenty years, since the night that changed everything. But when an unexpected invitation arrives from Evie, the ruthless queen bee of their college clique, they have no choice but to reunite in Las Vegas for her lavish divorce party.

Savannah, now a glamorous Vegas dancer, has spent years running from a past that refuses to stay buried. Daisy, a burned-out substitute teacher drowning in debt, is desperate for a second shot at the excitement she missed. Zoe, a respected paediatrician, has built a life of perfection. But perfection comes at a cost, and the cracks are starting to show.

As the drinks flow and old resentments resurface, it becomes clear that Evie’s invitation isn’t just about celebrating her freedom. And when the weekend takes a deadly turn, the friends must confront their past to survive the present…

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Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

Last year, Sabrina Thatcher (aka Olivia Day Wallce) and Lori Brand shared their experiences at ThrillerFest, and this year, since I got to go for the first time, we all get back together to discuss Thrillerfest 2025!

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Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

This week, I talked with Kaira Rouda about her new thriller Jill Is Not Happy. We dive into how her own road trip inspired the story, what Kaira loves about writing domestic thrillers, and the likeable unlikeability of Jill.

Jill is Not Happy Synopsis

Some secrets keep a couple together.

If you ask Jill Tingley, she’ll tell you she and her husband Jack are college sweethearts living the dream in Southern California. Wealthy, popular and genetically blessed, theirs is an enviable life, though they’ve grown distant in recent years. Newly empty nesting with their daughter Maggie away at college, Jill suggests a road trip to reconnect.

Jack would rather do anything else than drive to Utah with his wife. He’s only stayed in this marriage because of a shared secret, a tragedy in the past he wanted to keep buried. And for his daughter’s sake. But Jack is finished with the charade of his marriage. He’s filing for divorce as soon as they return, no matter what.

But he doesn’t realize what else Jill is hiding.

So begins a cat-and-mouse road trip as a cunning wife—think Ripley in yoga pants—and a reluctant husband match wits and drive each other to the edge. But everything will be fine. Jill still loves Jack and believes he’s the only one for her. She’ll do anything to keep him. Anything. She always has.

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Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

This week, I shared a quick ThrillerFest Recap (more to come on that front), and then Gare and Steph and I shared some of our favorite iconically blue and yellow covered thrillers!

Books We Talked About

No Road Home

Keep it in the Family

Believe Me Now

When No One is Watching

The Pact

Daughter of Mine

Not a Happy Family

What Have You Done

Darling Girls

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Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

This week, I got to talk with Rob Hart about the second book in his Assassins Anonymous Series The Medusa Protocol. We dive into the inspiration for the title, how he crafts action without letting his main characters kill anyone, and plans for the third book in the series.

The Medusa Protocol Synopsis

When Astrid, known in her assassin days as Azrael, stopped showing up to Assassins Anonymous, the group assumed her past had caught up with her. Only her sponsor Mark, formerly the deadliest killer in the world, holds out hope that she’s okay. Then, during a meeting, the group gets a sign, or rather, a pizza delivery. Is there another psychopath out there who actually likes olives on their pizza, or is Astrid trying to send Mark a message?

Meanwhile, Astrid wakes up in the cell of a black site prison, on a remote island. A doctor subjects her to mysterious experiments, plumbing the depths of her memory and looking for a vital clue from her past. She’ll do anything to escape, except…killing anyone. Hmm. Turns out it’s not easy to blow this joint without blowing anything, or anyone up.

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Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

This week, I was lucky enough to go to Chicago with Steph to see Julie Clark in conversation with Mary Kubica about her new thriller The Ghostwriter!! If you haven't seen the sprayed edges already, you need to. We had so much fun at the event, but also had the best time recording our first IRL episode! The reading gods smiled down on me and now specific fiction books work for me in audio form, so we decided to share some of our favorite audiobooks!

Books We Talked About

Finding Me by Viola Davis

This American Woman by Zarna Garg

Cue the Sun! by Emily Nussbaum

Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Don't Tell Me How to Die by Marshall Karp

The Good Sister Sally Hepworth

Allegedly Tiffany D. Jackson

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Check out the Bookwild Community on Patreon

Check out the Imposter Hour Podcast with Liz and Greg

Follow @imbookwild on Instagram

Other Co-hosts On Instagram:

Gare Billings @gareindeedreads

Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian