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| photo: Meg Antkowiak | |
Ande Pliego began writing stories when she discovered she could wield her overactive imagination for good. A lover of stories with teeth, she writes books involving mind games, dark humor, general murder and mayhem, and, most importantly, finding the hope in the dark. You Are Fatally Invited (Bantam, February 11, 2025) is her debut novel, a twisty locked-room mystery centering on a thriller writers' retreat gone lethal.
Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
You Are Fatally Invited follows a writers' retreat for thriller authors, and the event coordinator who realizes she's not the only one with dark intentions.
On your nightstand now:
As I'm deep in the revision cave--as in, way deep in there, what-year-is-it in there--my nightstand (and e-reader) overfloweth. For physical copies, I have All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker (which I have heard nothing but rave reviews of), the recently released satirical rom-com Unromance by my incredible agent sibling Erin Connor, and an early copy of Kate Alice Marshall's forthcoming thriller, A Killing Cold.
On my e-reader, my current emotional support books are early copies of the thrilling fantasy heist To Steal from Thieves by M.K. Lobb, the delightfully fractured Alice in Wonderland-inspired fantasy House of Hearts by Skyla Arndt, and Saltwater by Katy Hays, who wrote the fantastic literary thriller The Cloisters.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Reading the Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien at 12 years old ignited an obsession known to alarm adults, perhaps for good reason--I might have translated Journey's "Faithfully" into Sindarin (that's Elvish. I was a fun child). Eragon by Christopher Paolini was the first contemporary fantasy I read, and gifted me my ongoing obsession with dragons.
Your top five authors:
This question is designed to root out the weak, I see. Tana French never misses the mark with her literary thrillers; I'm constantly dissecting her prose and the way she spins dialogue. I haven't read everything Stephen King has written, but he gave me a love for stories with teeth, and so many of my favorites lurk among his backlist, including The Institute, Under the Dome, and 11/22/63. With every thriller, Lucy Foley masterfully weaves such complex, rich plots together into one tight, incredibly satisfying mystery. Holly Black writes the layered, angsty characters and brilliantly crafted plots I can't get enough of in YA. And Adrienne Young's novels always have such heart paired with fascinating concepts, stretching your mind and soul in tandem.
See, I'm not weak. I can totally keep the list to five authors. I didn't even mention Patrick Ness, whose books The Chaos Walking trilogy, A Monster Calls, and The Rest of Us Just Live Here have socked me hard in the feels.
Book you've faked reading:
I can already hear the gasps, but The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; I'm just not riveted by miserable people having affairs!
Book you're an evangelist for:
Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young. It is the perfect blend of small-town thriller, magical realism, angsty romance, stunning prose, and spooky atmosphere. The only book I've read similar to it is Midnight Is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead, a Southern gothic spin on all of the above. Both books burrowed deep into my soul and have grown their roots around my heart.
(If you saw me sneak in a second book--no, you didn't.)
Book you've bought for the cover:
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (the Illumicrate edition). What can I say, I'm absolutely powerless in the face of sprayed edges and foiled hardcovers.
Book you hid from your parents:
Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Supremacy. As a very young fan of the movies, I got ahold of a paperback and squirreled it away in my nightstand drawer for months.
Book that changed your life:
Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy. It has one of the best renditions of friendship and character arcs in literature.
Favorite line from a book:
"Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you." --The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. The story is revenge at its finest.
Five books you'll never part with:
The Likeness by Tana French is, in my opinion, the crowning jewel of dark academia, with a character-driven mystery and delicious prose to savor. Under the Dome by Stephen King is a masterclass in mind games and character. The YA fantasy novel Caraval by Stephanie Garber (any of her books, really) is my go-to reread anytime I need to truly escape from the real world for a while. Leigh Bardugo's fantasy heist book Six of Crows altered my brain chemistry, and is peak fantasy for me. And last, The Nature of Disappearing, Kimi Cunningham Grant's stunningly crafted survival thriller.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
It's a tossup between Alex Michaelides's The Silent Patient and Alice Feeney's Rock, Paper, Scissors. Both had brilliant plot twists that got me oh so good.
Books you are looking forward to in 2025:
A Rather Peculiar Poisoning by Chrystal Schleyer (Park Row, September 2) is a deliciously written, suspenseful historical mystery; the Fourth Wing/Mad Max mashup Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge (FSG, July 8); Autumn Krause's political intrigue fantasy Grave Flowers (Peachtree Teen, September 2); Kelly Andrew's latest YA horror novel I Am Made of Death (just released by Scholastic); Adrienne Young's adult fantasy debut Fallen City (Saturday Books, November 4); and, of course, the next Riley Sager thriller, With a Vengeance (Dutton, June 10).