The Body Reader by Anne Frasier

For three years, Detective Jude Fontaine was kept from the outside world. Held in an underground cell, her only contact was with her sadistic captor, and reading his face was her entire existence. After her experience with isolation and torture, she is left with a fierce desire for justice—and a heightened ability to interpret the body language of both the living and the dead.

Author Anne Frasier recently sat down with The Big Thrill to discuss her latest book, THE BODY READER.

How did you create the character Jude Fontaine, and at any point did you find it difficult to write from her perspective?

She was difficult because it was important that she be removed and shut off. It’s hard to make that kind of character sympathetic, regardless of what she’s been through.

Would you ever consider writing a sequel to this book and if so, do you have any ideas on what you would focus on?

I’d love to write a sequel. It would be a bigger story, with a bigger canvas. Last year my editor was eager for me to sign on for a second book, but since I’m still writing the Elise Sandburg series I suggested we wait to see how readers respond to The Body Reader.

Broken family dynamics seem to play a large role in this book. What inspired you to include this topic in your story?

I came from a pretty damaged family, so it’s hard to keep that kind of thing out of my books no matter how I try. 😀

What kind of environment do you like to be in when you write?

Silence and solitude. I’m definitely not a coffee-shop writer. My writing studio is in a fairly unpopulated area. I was watching The Martian last night and realized that’s my life.  I need to find more of a balance.

Is there a message that you hope your readers take away with them when they are done reading this thrilling novel?

At its core, The Body Reader is a story of female empowerment.  Jude’s freedom and sense of self were taken from her, but she came back stronger than ever.

*****

Anne Frasier is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her award-winning books span the genres of suspense, mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, paranormal, and memoir. She won a RITA for romantic suspense, and the Daphne du Maurier Award for paranormal romance. Her thrillers have hit the USA Today list and have been featured in Mystery Guild, Literary Guild, and Book of the Month Club. Her memoir, The Orchard, was an O, The Oprah Magazine Fall Pick; a One Book, One Community read; a B+ review in Entertainment Weekly; and a Librarians’ Best Books of 2011. She divides her time between the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and her writing studio in rural Wisconsin.

To learn more, please visit her website.