About Audiobook #1

Author: A.J. Rivers

Narrator: Claire Duncan

Length: 7 hours 32 minutes

Publisher: Altered Path⎮2020

Genre:  Thriller

Series: Emma Griffin FBI, Book 1

Release date: Aug. 15, 2020

Synopsis: Knock…knock…

When Emma finds a dead body on her porch with her name written on the dead man’s hand, she uncovers a sinister clue to the mystery that has haunted her since childhood.

FBI Agent Emma Griffin is sent undercover to the small sleepy town of Feathered Nest to uncover the truth behind the strings of disappearances that has left the town terrified.

To Emma, there is nothing that can lay buried forever. Even though her own childhood has been plagued by deaths and disappearances. Her mother’s death, her father’s disappearance, and her boyfriend’s disappearance. The only cases that she hasn’t solved. Her obsession with finding out the truth behind her past was what led her to join the FBI.

Now, she must face what may be her biggest case. In cabin 13, there lies an uneasy feeling. The feeling of her movements being watched. When a knock on her door revealed a body on her porch and her name written on a piece of paper in the dead man’s hand. Suddenly, her worlds collide.

With the past still haunting her, Emma must fight past her own demons to stop the body count from rising.

The woods have secrets. And this idyllic town has dark and murderous ones. Either, she reveals them or risk them claiming her, too.

In Feathered Nest, nothing is what it seems. 

The girl in cabin 13 is about to find out that the dead may have secrets of their own.

Buy Links for Audiobook #1

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I’m always a sucker for FBI books. The Girl in Cabin 13 is a good mystery with great suspense that keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next. Told in first person point of view, author A.J. Rivers takes you deep into the mindset of FBI Agent Emma Griffin. Good plot, characters that jump off the page, and a narrator that delivers. 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing? 

Yes. I’ve been fascinated by true crime, particularly serial killers and complex murder mysteries, since I was really young. I read The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers at eight years old and was hooked ever since. Being familiar with both famous and lesser known but really interesting murders and conspiracies is a major inspiration for me. The details are always different, and I put my own spin and twists and turns into it, but I love to weave in homages to actual crimes and events. My books have included inspirations from well-known killers such as Dahmer and Bundy, but also more obscure crimes and those with no resolution, such as Elisa Lam.

How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?

Writing is my dream, and I always remind myself of that. There are definitely stressful moments, but when I find myself having a hard time, I think about how fortunate I am to have achieved “what I wanted to be when I grew up”, and how many amazing opportunities it gives me. The most important thing is just loving what I do. I get to tell myself stories all day, and that’s pretty awesome. I maintain my enthusiasm by thinking of myself as my first reader. When I’m writing, it’s like I’m telling myself the story, and I want to know what’s coming next. Even though I have thorough outlines and plans, there’s always something to discover when the moment comes to type it, whether it’s a line of dialogue or a little twist reveal. 

Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you? 

I am an occasional audiobook listener. I love the actual act of reading, so I tend to lean toward reading the books myself, but audiobooks are great for road trips or when I’m cleaning the house. I like the performance value of it. I’m particularly fond of fun mysteries and comedies because I enjoy listening to the narrator give their spin to pacing and dialogue in those genres. 

There’s also something really nice about the sections of an audiobook being paced so they are roughly the same length. It helps to create little digestible chunks so I can listen to a certain amount during an activity and use it to time myself. 

If this title were being made into a TV series or movie, who would you cast to play the  primary roles? 

This is so much fun to think about. When I’m writing, I like to imagine how the scenes would play out if they were being done for TV or a movie, so this is something I’ve thought about before. I would cast Ronda Rousey as Emma. She has the intensity, strength, and fearlessness, but is also endearing, funny, and attractive. For Sam, I would choose Armie Hammer. He is tall and handsome, with a strength and steadiness about him that would make him a good sheriff, but also has a lovable boyish quality. I would choose Jensen Ackles as Dean for the dark, chiseled quality he has that makes him believable as someone who is scarred and hardened by his past, but also has the ability to be goofy and fun when he’s relaxed. 

What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?

I think that’s crazy! No one says it’s cheating if you watch TV when you could read the screenplay, or if you listen to music rather than play it yourself. It’s a different way of enjoying the same thing. The point of getting lost in a book is the story. Whether you’re curled up with a beaten up old paperback version or listening to a narrator while driving down the road or doing dishes, you’re still getting the story. I like to think of audiobooks as being a cousin to the great radio dramas of past generations. You can relax and let the performance give you a new perspective and appreciation of the story. 

About the Author: A.J. Rivers

A.J. Rivers loves all things mystery and thriller. Growing up in a sleepy small town, A.J. spent her days enthralled in crime solving novels and movies. She started creating stories at a young age to escape and create adventures for herself. As a child she dreamed of solving crimes and becoming a crime fighter. She dreamed of being as great as her favorite crime solving character Sherlock Holmes. While in college she realized that leading a crime fighting life might be more gruesome than she could stomach. She decided that the best course of action would be to fuse her love of writing with her love of thrilling mysteries together.

She finds inspiration from researching true crimes and is passionate about writing suspenseful novels with crazy twists. Twists that you’ll never see coming. The inspiration for her first novel came when she read a news article about a missing young woman in a small town that was never found. Her question on who, what, and why brought her to her journal to discovering the dark twisted story behind the disappearance and to seek justice for the victim through her writing.

Her thriller novels have elements of mystery, suspense, and romance.

When she’s not absorbed in a novel or working on her next thriller mystery, her favorite past time is spent with her husky. She finds great inspiration while going on hikes with her dog.

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About the Narrator: Claire Duncan

Claire Duncan is a multi-award winning actress living in NYC.  She has performed Off-Broadway, regionally, and in national tours, and appeared in the Drama Desk nominated revival of The Threepenny Opera. She has played the lead in a dozen films, and received a Best Actress Award for her work as Rosetta in the dark comedy Rosetta’s Blues, which debuted at Cannes. As a singer, she had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and toured the country as a travel host with Visit The USA.

Claire’s broad career has shaped her into an exceptional and flexible voice artist. You can hear her on Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, in hundreds of national commercials, and in over thirty audiobooks. 

“Claire Duncan was a dynamo”  – New York Stage Review

 “Simply side-splitting… a terrific comedic actress” – Show Business Weekly

Proud member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA.

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