Happy Sunday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for EYES OF THE FOREST! I’m so excited because today I have a guest post by April Henry to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so excited to for you to find out more about it, PLUS enter for a chance to win a print copy!
Eyes of the Forest by April Henry Published on August 24, 2021 by Henry Holt & Company
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, YA
Pages: 272
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
After a bestselling fantasy author disappears, only his biggest fan believes he’s in danger and has the courage to uncover the truth in this fast-paced mystery with a chilling psychological twist.
Bridget is RM Haldon's biggest fan. His epic fantasy series, Swords and Shadows, created a lifeline between Bridget and her mom as she lost her battle with cancer. When Bridget met Haldon at his only book signing, she impressed the author with her encyclopedic knowledge of the fantasy world he'd created. Bridget has been working for him ever since as he attempts to write his final book. Now, Haldon is missing, and Bridget is the only person who seems concerned. Can Bridget piece together Haldon’s clues and save him before it’s too late?
Master mystery-writer April Henry weaves another heart-stopping young adult thriller in this story that seamlessly blends suspense with fan culture. For readers of Courtney Summers and Karen McManus.
What was your favorite bit of research you ended up not using?
In Eyes of the Forest, fantasy writer RM Haldon wakes up in a deserted cabin, shackled to a treadmill desk. On the desk is a typewriter and a note, “Finish writing Eyes of the Forest or else!” That’s the name of his much-delayed book, the final in his epic fantasy series, Swords and Shadows. Haldon has been kidnapped by Derrick, his biggest fan.
To research the book, I bought a pair of leg shackles, used a cable to fasten them to my treadmill desk, and then snapped them around my ankles. I even walked in them (a treadmill desk is just what it sounds like – a desk with a treadmill underneath) to make sure they wouldn’t hurt my fictional character’s ankles too much.
Leg shackles are made just like handcuffs, only on a slightly bigger scale. They open with the same kind of key. There are several ways to get out of handcuffs with a small piece of metal. I’ve done it with bobby pins, binder clips, and parts of a windshield wiper.
And what is a typewriter but a bunch of metal parts?
So I took a pair of handcuffs and several sample pieces of metal to a typewriter repair shop near my house. The owner, Don Read, gamely helped me look over typewriters to see if there was some part my enterprising fictional fiction writer could snap off to use to get out of his shackles.
And we even found one! The ribbon vibrator was just the perfect size and shape. I left thinking I had solved my problem.
But back on my own treadmill desk, the reality of my fiction set in. My main character writes high fantasy, not thrillers. He knows everything about medieval weapons, ranging from dirks to double-bladed axes to the misericorde (a long narrow knife that was used to deliver a merciful death to a gravely wounded knight).
But ratcheting handcuffs were invented in 1912. Would he really figure out how to get out? Probably not.
So I had to think of a different way for Haldon to escape. He ends up relying on his researcher, a teenager named Bridget.
About April Henry
New York Times-bestselling author April Henry knows how to kill you in two-dozen different ways. She makes up for a peaceful childhood in an intact home by killing off fictional characters. There was one detour on April’s path to destruction: when she was 12 she sent a short story about a six-foot tall frog who loved peanut butter to noted children’s author Roald Dahl. He liked it so much he showed it to his editor, who asked if she could publish it in Puffin Post, an international children’s magazine. By the time April was in her 30s, she had started writing about hit men, kidnappers, and drug dealers. She has published 26 mysteries and thrillers for teens and adults, with more to come. She is known for meticulously researching her novels to get the details right.
Enter here to win a print copy of Eyes of the Forest by April Henry!
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What do you think about Eyes of the Forest? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
It sounds like an amazing book. I love the cover, and can’t wait to read it.
This thriller sounds exciting and it’s going to make for fun reading.
Thanks for hosting today, Kait!
An intriguing cover and synopsis, this sounds like a must read for me. Thank you for sharing the author’s guest post and book details