The Word ‘Scheming’ Takes on a Deadly Meaning
“October 23. Will Bachman has sixty days to live.”
Will is one of freshman Chloe Sevre’s reasons for attending college at John Adams University. The other is that she’ll participate in a psychology study for psychopaths. And yes, she is one, even though her IQ is five points short of genius.
In her debut novel NEVER SAW ME COMING, author and scientist Vera Kurian sets the stage for what might happen to a group of psychopaths swept into a murder investigation that might involve one of them. Being a psychologist, Kurian was the perfect person to write this novel, taking inspiration from her own college experiences.
“The inspiration came from two separate streams. I had a sudden idea in my head: What if there was an entire school filled with psychopaths? Like a special school that was trying to help them? Then I realized that was too many and cut it down to just a handful—a clinical panel study for undergraduates, with each not knowing who the others are.
“Also, as a regular thriller consumer, I was tired of books featuring hapless female main characters, ones who never asked basic follow-up questions or always reacted to someone else’s more interesting decisions. I wanted to write about a young woman in a college setting who would stop at nothing to get what she wants, getting the reader to root for her even though she would normally be unlikeable. I also wanted my sense of humor to shine through; besides cozies, we don’t see that too often in mysteries.
Read the rest of my review and interview in The Big Thrill.
