We were so happy to have Ben Sanders pop in to Book Hero HQ this week to chat with Lizzy about his newest book, No Prisoners, written under penname Ellis Blake!
No Prisoners is about Hannah, a wife and a mother and a scientist. Her husband is missing, she's determined to find him despite the terrifying feeling that someone is trying to stop her. Detective Hunt is trying to help her but has secrets of his own that are coming to the surface in dangerous ways. We're talking atmospheric settings, strong characters, slow burn thriller pacing, and a truly excellent ending. Take a read about Ben's visit below and then, if you haven't already, grab a copy of his excellent book!
It was so lovely to meet the man behind one of our fave thrillers of the year so far. Ellis Blake is the new pen name for Ben Sanders, someone who is not new to writing thrillers having 8 high octane novels already published, but this was something a little different for him. We got to sit down with her for a Q&A, where we got to ask about the new pen name, him experimenting with writing a different style of thriller and a different kind of main character, the reason why it was so easy for him to include diabetes as part of the story for one of our favourite characters, and his reason for setting the story in rural Albuquerque.
And because we couldn’t resist, we put Ben through a round of quickfire questions too:
Quickfire QUESTIONS
- Tea or Coffee? Coffee, always.
- One book you always recommend? No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
- Favourite Crime Trope? The good guys always win.
- Pristine Pages or Well-Read? Absolutely pristine, and I like a pristine spine as well.
- Writing by hand or on computer? Plot by hand if I need to plot, but the actual writing of the manuscript happens on a computer.
- Favourite spot to spend a day off? Any beach on the North Shore (Auckland)
- Perfect writing set up? I love working at home in the evenings, because it reminds me of what it was like when I first started out. Capture a little bit of that energy, that's cool.
- What are you currently reading? I'm currently reading a book published in 1979 by Norman Mailer called The Executioner's Song, and it's 1100 pages. I'm about halfway through it, so it's excellent. We'll see whether I've got another 600 pages in there.
- What other crime author would you recommend people read? Colson Whitehead. He's an absolute master.
You’ll have to watch the full video to catch all Ben's answers, and to hear more about the inspiration behind No Prisoners!
After answering our many questions, Ben signed all the copies we have in stock of No Prisoners, ready to send out to readers. While signing we kept chatting about the thrillers that we both loved (no surprises that Lee Child features for us both), the authors he looked up to (Michael Connelly got a shout out!), and so much more. Ben was such a delight to chat with!
We took Ben for a little warehouse tour to show him how packed we are with 100,000 books, and why we are moving ASAP. It's always fun showing people our version of heaven which is just books from floor to ceiling, and a humming warehouse full of the team getting books out to happy customers.
Lastly, we wanted to gift Ben a book to say thanks for his time visiting. Because he is such a crime/thriller expert, we ended up choosing Patricia Cornwell's memoir 'True Crime' - a candid account of a bestselling author and her journey to becoming such an icon in the genre.
No Prisoners by Ellis Blake
Lizzy's Review:
I read this while away on a holiday, staying at the base of a mountain, and it will be one of those reading experiences that stays with me because I could not put this down. Classed as neo-crime (a new genre for me but basically means a combo of traditional crime noir elements but with more modern setting and psychological elements), this novel delivered exactly what I wanted - a slow burn, atmospheric thriller that had me stressed until the very end. I loved the mother-son element, and the mystery surrounding the missing husband was so well crafted. Highly recommend if you enjoy the thriller genre!
You’ll love this if you like:
- Crime thrillers with lots of psychological suspense
- Strong female main characters written SO well
- Atmospheric settings that add a lot to the story itself
A huge thank you to Ben for coming to visit us - it was so great to find out more about his novel and it's very memorable characters! We can't wait to see what Ben writes for us next.
Signed copies of No Prisoners are in store now… but we have a feeling they won’t stick around for long!
