MOOREFIELD – Ivanka Fear was waiting in a parking lot for her husband to finish work when her imagination started spinning.
He was late.
“What if he didn’t come out at all?” Fear wondered.
This train of thought sparked inspiration for the first book in her new thriller series, Jake and Mallory Thrillers.
Though her husband did eventually finish work and head out to his awaiting wife, for Fear’s fictional character Mallory, things are more sinister.
Mallory discovers her husband, Jake, never made it to work, even though she dropped him off earlier that morning.
And so begins Where is my Husband?, a domestic thriller published by Level Best Books and released on Oct. 3.
The book is available in paperback and on Kindle, with an audiobook version coming soon.
It can be purchased online at Indigo Books and Amazon, or can be requested at any local book store.
Jake and Mallory are a “young couple who have what seems to be a perfect marriage,” Fear said.
But the novel, told from both their perspectives, reveals deep-rooted issues in their relationship that can’t be ignored.
Mallory and Jake have contrasting personalities – Mallory is a serious character who suffers with severe anxiety and prolonged grief after the death of her parents, while Jake is a joker with a history of abuse and addiction.
The characters’ flashbacks throughout the novel provide pieces of a puzzle that explains the cracks in their relationship as well as Jake’s disappearance.
The book is set primarily at a farmhouse located on the edge of town, and while the locations are fictitious, Fear said they draw from places she has visited in real life.
The fictional city Brampton Heights is inspired by Orangeville and Brampton, and the farmhouse by the home where Fear’s husband grew up, just outside of Blyth.
Fear said she has heard the book be compared to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
Fear said most of her books grapple with the effect of the past on the present, and whether characters deserve forgiveness and redemption.
While most of Fear’s writing happens while she sits in her living room typing on her laptop, Fear said “ideas come anytime.”
She may be out for a walk, completing household chores, or dreaming at night when something sparks her imagination and makes its way into her novels.
There will be at least two more novels in the Jake and Mallory Thriller series, to be released in October 2024 and 2025.
Fear released her first book, The Dead Lie, in March, as part of the Blue Water Mysteries series.
In June, Fear attended the New York City Thrillerfest as a debut author – an opportunity she describes as “the most exciting event I’ve been to in my writing career so far.”
The festival was the first time Fear ever visited New York City, and she was “star stuck” speaking alongside famous authors including Lisa Gardener, Lisa Unger and R.L. Stine.
The second book in Fear’s Blue Water Mystery series, Lost Like Me, will be available in March 2024.
Set a year after The Dead Lie, Lost Like Me features main character Lana’s search for a missing person.
While each of Fear’s novels can be enjoyed without reading the others, she recommends reading each book in each series in order to have a deeper understanding of the characters.
For more information about Fear and her writing, visit ivankafear.com, where she shares poetry, short stories, book reviews, and information about her two series.
IVANKA FEAR. Submitted photo
