More about SAY NO MORE! It's pub day!

Today the Reds are thrilled about the launch of our own Hank's SAY NO MORE. Her fifth Jane Ryland novel, it's come roaring out of the gate with a STARRED review from Library Journal ("Ryan does it again...  a fast-paced, edgy mystery that seems ripped from the headlines") and RTBookReviews TOP PICK. Hank, we're dying to know...

HALLIE EPHRON: As always with your unputdownable novels, the title is loaded with multiple meanings and a powerful theme that gets artfully woven through the book. SAY NO MORE... Hank, tell us where you were going with this.

HANK: Well, thank you! Yes, RT called it "Brilliant...an exceptional multi-faceted procedural."Yay! 

Here's what I was thinking: Several years ago, Jonathan and I were driving along Monsignor O'Brien Highway between Boston and Cambridge, and I witnessed a hit and run accident--a car smashing into the back of a van. . I guess my reporter brain kicked in, because I looked out my passenger-side window at the driver of the car, and carefully and intently catalogued his face. Widows peak, pointy nose, high cheekbones, pointy chin.   I don't know why, I just did.  

Then he shifted gears, backed up, and sped away! I got his license plate, too, which I wrote in the dust on our dashboard. (I wrote down the description too, but later, on paper.)

When the police came--I told them I'd recognize the guy. And to let me know if they needed help.

I didn't think they would,  but months later I got a call from the DA's office, asking me to come to court and try to point him out. I'd be on the witness stand, he MIGHT be in the audience. (It's called a non-suggestive identification hearing.)

And in that moment I thought--wait a minute. What if that puts my life in danger? And I really thought--wow, I don't want to do this.

And then I thought--I spend my entire reporter life trying to get people to talk. Now I see why they might not want to.

And then I thought--HA.  That's a book.

LUCY BURDETTE: I haven't read this yet, but my copy is winging its way toward me--can't wait! I'd love to hear about how far ahead you imagine the arc of the relationship with Jane and Jake. And do you hear much about this from readers?

HANK: Oh, Lucy, Booklist said  "Boston's smartest and sexiest investigative couple is at it again..."  How cool is that? But I have to say--I have no idea. I see only their relationship developing as I write it--I have no "Plans" for them, and I think that's because they're not quite sure either.  In book time, they've only been "together" for a year or so, and in real life, that may not enough time for thirty-somethings to make a life decision. Readers love Jake and Jane, and are ...impatient. But they are trying to evolve their relationship carefully. 
So am I.   

RHYS BOWEN: So looking forward to this, Hank, and wishing you mega success with it! I know that some of your former novels have literally been ripped from the headlines and taken from cases you have actually worked on. Is this true for SAY NO MORE?

HANK:Thank you! Isn't that such a fascinating concept? Ripped from the headlines? Because we all know how long it takes to write a book, and "ripped from the headlines" is impossible. 

One reviewer, though, called my books "Investigative thrillers" and I really embrace that label. Because my books are actually ripped from my OWN headlines--which means inspired and informed by my extensive research and experience in investigating certain stories.  

SAY NO MORE,  like all of my books, is an amalgam of elements from a few of them: coverage of sexual assault on campuses and how colleges respond to those involved--and how it changes the survivors' lives. It's about the conflict law enforcement has when dealing with confidential informants, and the impossible task a person in witness protection has to wipe out their entire past.  In each of these situations, there's  necessity or a compulsion to keep a secret--to say no more.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Boy, the storyline involving campus sexual assault really rings a bell for me. Now Youngest has started college tours, the horror stories that have made it into the news are very much on my mind. What did you find out in your research that you'd like parents and students to know?

HANK: Yeah, it's--terrifying. And anyone with any connection to anyone in college should read this. Truly.

One of the main characters is "Tosca," a young woman who is a survivor of a sexual assault on campus. She is so damaged by it--this once bright and out-going opera student now stays in her apartment, taking classes remotely and  counting the days until graduation. She also  watches out her window over Boston's busy Kenmore Square, keeping track of the young man who raped her: He's out there, happy and social and having a good time. She keeps track of him, too, in a file she labels "Someday. " Someday--what? But for now she'll say no more.

What I learned--just briefly? But that's enough: One in five of women students are sexually assaulted on campus. One in five! And some statistics say 90 per cent of those assaults happen during the first week of classes--they call it The Red Zone, because it's such a vulnerable time. And although the stats for sexual assault are so high, about 150 universities are now under investigation by the feds for failing to report the incidents.

I mean--no college wants to be tainted as a scary-dangerous place to attend, right? So maybe it's--safer, administrators think, for colleges to SAY NO MORE.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hank, I was fascinated by the hit and run episode. It's so immediate, and immediately made me think, "What would I have done if..." And I must say you were very cool to have not only taken such notice of the driver's face, but to have written down the license plate. And now I want to know WHY did the driver deliberately crash into the other car? And whose alibi was destroyed???? 

HANK: Ah! If that's what you're wondering, perfect!

DEBS: As far as "ripped from YOUR headlines," now that you write these wonderful crime novels, do you find yourself constantly analyzing real-life incidents you encounter as a reporter for their fictional potential?

HANK: Every minute of every day. And...you had me at "wonderful." xox

Now--two more things. 

One, now I need your advice!  Which of these two paragraphs makes you more intrigued by SAY NO MORE?

1. Her career is all about the truth—but now, keeping silent may be her last chance to stay alive.  A Boston newcomer watches a murder… but won't tell police. A college sexual assault victim is trapped in a sinister scheme to force her silence. And after reporter Jane Ryland witnesses a hit-and-run, she discovers that revealing  the truth may put her life in danger.  What if staying  silent is the only thing that keeps the three women  alive? Hank Ryan's newest ripped from her own headlines thriller: SAY NO MORE.

2. Her career is all about the truth—but now, keeping silent may be her last chance to stay alive. When Boston reporter Jane Ryland reports a hit and run, she soon learns she saw more than a car crash—she witnessed the collapse of an alibi, and now she's under pressure to tell all to the police. She's also digging up the inside scoop for an expose of sexual assaults on Boston's college campuses for the station's new documentary unit, and is working with a victim to reveal her heartbreaking experience on camera.

But, a disturbing anonymous message—SAY NO MORE—has Jane really and truly scared.

Who is supposed to keep quiet? And why?

 And two, which would you rather hear about at a book talk--the campus assault element, or the hit and run?

SO excited for pub day! Click here for all the scoop!   And my tour schedule! Thank you darling Reds and readers!  Leave a comment—and you’ll be entered for a great prize!