Earlier this year, Jason Pinter stunned the thriller scene with Hide Away, a page-turning adventure that followed Rachel Marin, a fearless vigilante and one of the genre’s best new characters. Now, he’s gearing up to bring her back for more action in A Stranger at the Door, which is scheduled to rocket into bookstores on January 12, 2021.
Whereas Hide Away saw Rachel move to a new town in an effort to outrun her past only to stumble upon a high-profile murder, Pinter’s follow-up will show her finally at peace, putting those crime-solving skills to good use in a partnership with the local police department. Of course, any happily-ever-after ending is put on hold when another crime—one that hits especially close to home—pulls her back into the game just as fragments from her past come back to haunt her once again, complicating things like never before.
“There’s a tremendous amount of pressure when it comes to writing the second book in a new series,” Pinter told me in an exclusive statement to The Real Book Spy. “In the first book, you’ve laid the groundwork, introduced the characters, and hopefully given readers a reason to care about them enough to come back for more. You want the first book to close with a satisfying ending, but leave just enough room that the reader might have a few more questions about things that were deliberately left unanswered.
“In the second book, it’s up to the writer to test their characters even further, introduce new ones, and expand upon the universe that they’ve created. It was hugely important to me to follow Hide Away with a book that was riveting, emotional, personal, and propulsive”
As for what readers can expect this time around, Pinter told me, “We learn more about Rachel Marin and her past, more about her children and how they’re coping (or not coping) with their new lives, and we see how John Serrano and Leslie Tally are adapting to having Rachel in their midst. Rachel has struggled balancing her desire for justice to be meted out with her need to protect and raise her children, and that delicate balance will be tested more than ever. But what I’m most excited about is that a character from Rachel’s past, someone we got to know briefly in Hide Away, has a big, big role to play in this book . . .
“I can’t wait for you to see what happens in A Stranger at the Door. Because even though Rachel Marin thinks she’s finally escaped her past, her past isn’t done with her. Not by a long shot.”
Check out the official plot details and cover art below.
From the Amazon bestselling author of Hide Away comes the gripping second installment of the Rachel Marin Thriller series.
Rachel Marin is in a good place. After years of struggle, the single mother has found both a stable, loving relationship and a new purpose: putting her investigative skills to work solving crimes for the local PD. But just as the pieces of her life are finally starting to fall into place, her teenaged son’s teacher is gruesomely murdered, starting a domino effect that shatters her peaceful existence.
When Rachel discovers an ominous email the teacher sent to her just before his death, she knows she must help bring his killer to justice. But soon a figure from her past reappears, threatening to expose Rachel’s darkest secrets if she doesn’t tread lightly. And when her son is recruited by a shadowy businessman who may be connected to the murder, Rachel knows this has just gotten very, very personal.
Someone out there is dead set on keeping this grisly cover-up good and buried, which means if Rachel’s not careful, it’s only a matter of time before her dream life becomes her worst nightmare.
Jason Pinter is the bestselling author of seven novels for adults—Hide Away, the first Rachel Marin Thriller, the acclaimed Henry Parker series (The Mark, The Guilty, The Stolen, The Fury, and The Darkness), and the stand-alone thriller The Castle, as well as the middle-grade adventure novel Zeke Bartholomew: SuperSpy! and the children’s book Miracle. His books have over one million copies in print worldwide. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Thriller Award, Strand Critics Award, Barry Award, and Shamus Award, and The Mark was optioned to be a feature film.
Pinter is the founder of Polis Books, an independent press, and was honored by Publishers Weekly’s Star Watch, which “recognizes young publishing professionals who have distinguished themselves as future leaders of the industry.” He has written for the New Republic, Entrepreneur, the Daily Beast, Esquire, and more. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and their two daughters.
Readers excited to pre-order A Stranger at the Door can now do so here. In the meantime, make sure you’re following Jason Pinter on Twitter, Instagram, and his official website for more updates.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and pens a monthly thriller column for CrimeReads. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.