Fresh Interview | Sandra Brown on MEAN STREAK: Love, Deceit, and Survival

Fresh Fiction is thrilled to welcome #1 New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown to discuss her latest thrill-ride: MEAN STREAK. Join Features Editor Pasha Carlisle as she gets the inside scoop on the story that asks the age-old question: "Does the end justify the means?"

Pasha: First of all, welcome, Sandra! We are glad to have you join us today. In MEAN STREAK, heroine Dr. Emory Charbonneau disappears on an icy mountain road and is held captive in the wilderness. What drew you to choose the cold mountains of North Carolina for the setting of this story?

Sandra: I’m familiar with the area. We have family get-togethers there, and I’ve retreated to a “cabin in the woods” to do intensive writing. I’ve hiked trails and driven roads like those described in the book.

Pasha: Reviewers everywhere agree that readers are in store for quite a twist toward the end of MEAN STREAK. We won’t ask you to spoil it, but would you name some of your favorite plot twists in movie and book history?

Sandra: One that immediately springs to mind is the twist at the end of the movie Sixth Sense. Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island had a real shocker of an ending. I love jaw-droppers, which is why I try to build one into every story. Before I begin, I ask myself, “What do I know from the get-go that the reader doesn’t?”

Pasha: Your stories are known for their intense thrills and their attractive, often mysterious heroes. Which do you think will keep readers up all night after reading MEAN STREAK—the suspense of the story, or its handsome, nameless hero?

Sandra: LOL. Well, I can tell you which of those would keep me up all night!

Pasha: Good answer! I think we all can agree on that. In MEAN STREAK, Emory and her nameless captor have a run-in with a dangerous group of people who play by their own rules. Could you tell us about your inspiration for this encounter?

Sandra: I wouldn’t call it inspiration so much as need. There in the middle of the book, I needed a conflict that would take Emory and the hero outside the cabin. That conflict also needed to demonstrate the two sides of the hero’s personality: his gentleness with the women contrasted to his “mean streak” that was manifested when dealing with the brothers. It also compromised Emory, placing her in an untenable situation when she returned to her ordinary world, as well as giving her a reason to trust and protect the hero.

Pasha: Thanks so much for joining us today, and we have one last question. Fresh Fiction Readers want to know: What books are on your to-read list this year?

Sandra: I have only one criteria: Tell me a story. I read across the board, fiction and non, historical and contemporary. I’m easy. I just want to be entertained!

Readers, are you ready to be entertained? Brace yourself for the thrills and chills of MEAN STREAK, available now! And enter this giveaway for your chance to win a signed, personalized copy of MEAN STREAK and a dozen buttercream cookies from Cheryl's!

About MEAN STREAK

Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband Jeff, miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous wilderness and paralyze the search for her.

While police suspect Jeff of "instant divorce," Emory, suffering from an unexplained head injury, regains consciousness and finds herself the captive of a man whose violent past is so dark that he won't even tell her his name. She's determined to escape him, and willing to take any risks necessary to survive.

Unexpectedly, however, the two have a dangerous encounter with people who adhere to a code of justice all their own. At the center of the dispute is a desperate young woman whom Emory can't turn her back on, even if it means breaking the law. Wrong becomes right at the hands of the man who strikes fear, but also sparks passion.

As her husband's deception is revealed, and the FBI closes in on her captor, Emory begins to wonder if the man with no name is, in fact, her rescuer from those who wish her dead - and from heartbreak.

Combining the nail-biting suspense and potent storytelling that has made Sandra Brown one of the world's best loved authors, MEAN STREAK is a wildly compelling novel about love, deceit, and the choices we must make in order to survive.