Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about $100,000 memoirs, Focus Friend, and Anthropic. Then, stick around for a chat with Jeffrey James Higgins!

Jeffrey James Higgins is a retired supervisory special agent who writes thrillers, short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays. He has wrestled a suicide bomber, fought the Taliban in combat, and chased terrorists across five continents.

Jeffrey received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Heroism and the DEA Award of Valor. CNN, Fox News, and The New York Times have interviewed him, and he’s appeared on CNN Declassified, National Geographic’s Narco Wars, and ABC News. He has a BS in Journalism and an MS in Criminal Justice.

He’s a #1 Amazon bestselling author who’s won the Claymore Award, PenCraft’s Best Fiction Book of the Year, and a Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal. His debut novel, Furious, is Black Rose Writing’s bestselling thriller, and The Forever Game was selected as one of the best medical thrillers of the 21st century. In 2025, Severn River Publishing will publish The Havana Syndrome, followed by three more thrillers in the Nathan Burke international espionage series.

Jeffrey owns Elaine’s Literary Salon in Alexandria, VA, where he counsels writers, interviews authors, and hosts a podcast. He’s an Authors Guild ambassador for the DC area and a frequent panelist at conferences and book festivals. Jeffrey’s an active member of International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, The Northern Virginia Writers Club, and the Royal Writers Secret Society.

Join hosts Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, Kevin Tumlinson, and JP Rindfleisch as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Associated Press, book banning, and AI. Then, stick around for a chat with Lisa Gardner!

Lisa Gardner, a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller novelist, began her career in food service, but after catching her hair on fire numerous times, she took the hint and focused on writing instead. A self-described research junkie, she has transformed her interest in police procedure and criminal minds into a streak of internationally acclaimed novels, published across 30 countries. She’s also had four books become TV movies (At the Midnight Hour; The Perfect Husband; The Survivors Club; Hide) and has made personal appearances on TruTV and CNN.

Lisa’s books have received awards from across the globe. Her novel, The Neighbor, won Best Hardcover Novel from the International Thriller Writers, while also receiving the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle in France. She was also recognized with the Daphne du Maurier Award in 2000 for The Other Daughter. Finally, Lisa received the Silver Bullet Award from the International Thriller Writers in 2017 for her work on behalf of at-risk children and the Humane Society.

For a bit of fun, Lisa invites her readers to enter the annual “Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy” Sweepstakes at LisaGardner.com. Every year, one Lucky Stiff is selected to meet a grand end in Lisa’s latest novel. Past winners have nominated spouses, best friends and even themselves.

Lisa lives in New Hampshire where she spends her time with an assortment of canine companions. When not writing, she loves to hike, garden, snowshoe and play cribbage.

Join hosts J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, Jena Brown, and Kevin Tumlinson as they discuss the week's entertainment news, including stories about Bookshop.org, Read Dating, and Stephen King. Then, stick around for a chat with Karin Slaughter!

Karin Slaughter is one of the world's most popular and acclaimed storytellers. She is the author of more than twenty instant New York Times bestselling novels, including the Edgar–nominated Cop Town and standalone novels Pretty Girls, The Good Daughter, and Pieces of Her. She is published in 120 countries with more than 40 million copies sold across the globe. Pieces of Her is a #1 Netflix original series starring Toni Collette, and WILL TRENT, based on her Will Trent series, is on ABC (and streaming on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally). False Witness and The Good Daughter are in development for television. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programming. A native of Georgia, she lives in Atlanta.