AUTHORS AND THEIR HOBBIES: HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN

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Jocie McKade
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hank smiling with murder listPassions with Hank Phillippi Ryan

A hobby.  A hobby? I really had to think about this. If a hobby is something that you do for fun, to distract you from your working life, or because you have a passion outside of work, then… I fear I don’t have one.

Reading doesn’t count, of course, because my whole life is reading. Writing is not a hobby,  because that’s part of how I make my living. And now in quarantine? I get to work in my library–what a joy.  The other part, being a television reporter–that’s my job, although I adore it.  Walking around our garden, and seeing what flowers come and go? That’s a pleasure, especially in tulip season, but not my hobby. We just planted a  whole row of tomatoes, and I am as unnamed (2)protective of those as anything I have ever known! But tomato-growing is not my hobby.
We have a menagerie of birds around our house now, I heard a chickadee this morning, and cardinals, a woodpecker rapping on a trunk nearby, and robins are constantly bobbing across our front lawn, looking for worms. I noticed flickers in our backyard, and a phalanx of grackles.  I love birds, too, but that is not my hobby.
unnamedThere’s a wonderful puzzle every Sunday morning in the New York Times, and I grab that first thing. But that is just a treat, not a hobby.  Watching vintage movies with my husband, I love that! But I’m no expert, and that’s just for fun.
My hobby, I have to admit, Is entertaining readers. I imagine people opening my books, and falling into the stories, into the worlds I’ve created, and that is such an inspiration!
I’m kind of lucky, come to think of it, my life is so full.

HANK’S LATEST RELEASE —- THE FIRST TO LIE

THE FIRST TO LIEBestselling and award-winning author and investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan returns with  a twisty cat and mouse novel of suspense that will have you guessing, and second-guessing, and then gasping with surprise.  THE FIRST TO LIE (A Forge Hardcover, eBook, and Macmillan Audio; On-sale: August 4, 2020), will have readers wondering: How far would you go to get what you want–and  how deeply would you betray your family to get it?

USA Today bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan is well known as the longtime on-camera investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, where she’s won thirty-six Emmys and dozens more journalism honors. But beyond her recognition for her television reporting, Ryan has countless fans across the country for her award-winning and critically-acclaimed bestselling suspense and thriller novels, including 2018’s Trust Me (an Agatha Award nominee) and 2019’s The Murder List (currently nominated for both the Agatha and the Mary Higgins Clark Award). Combining her years of first-hand experience inside high-stakes trials and the psychological intrigue of the battle for justice, plus her prowess with crafting page-turning mysteries with compelling and relatable characters, THE FIRST TO LIE is a masterpiece of a suspense novel, perfect for fans of Lisa Scottoline and B.A. Paris.

We all have our reasons for being who we are—but what if being someone else could get you what you want?

After a devastating betrayal, a young woman sets off on an obsessive path to justice, no matter what dark family secrets are revealed.  What she doesn’t know—she isn’t the only one plotting her revenge. 

An affluent daughter of privilege. A glamorous manipulative wannabe. A determined reporter, in too deep. A grieving widow who must choose her new reality.  Who will be the first to lie?  And when the stakes are life and death, do a few lies really matter?

With THE FIRST TO LIE, Hank Phillippi Ryan has once again spun a stunning new psychological standalone that will be devoured by fans who’ll rip through the pages—and be left to be gasping at the final twists. Only Ryan—who critics have dubbed “a master at crafting superb suspense”—could combine her award-winning reporting skills and story-telling talent to blend this compelling combination of suspense, a mystery of identity and trust, and the shifting versions of the truth.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is a USA Today bestselling author of 12 thrillers, winning the most prestigious awards in the genre: five Agathas, three Anthonys, the Daphne, and for THE OTHER WOMAN, the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also the on-air investigative reporter for Boston’s WHDH-TV, with 36 EMMYs and dozens more journalism honors. Book critics call her “a master of suspense,” “a superb and gifted storyteller,” and she’s the only author to have won the Agatha in four different categories: Best First, Best Novel, Best Short Story and Best Non-Fiction. Hank’s newest book is THE MURDER LIST, an Agatha, Anthony and Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee. NYT bestsellers A.J. Finn says, “exciting, explosive, relentless,” and B.A. Paris says it’s “her best yet.” Coming Aug. 4: the chilling psychological standalone THE FIRST TO LIE. The Publishers Weekly starred review says “Stellar… Hank Phillippi Ryan could win a sixth Agatha with this one” and bestseller Sarah Pekkanen says “Book clubs will gobble it up.”

Hank is a founder of MWA University and past president of National Sisters in Crime. Visit Hank online at HankPhillippiRyan.com, on Twitter @HankPRyan, on Instagram @hankpryan and on Facebook at HankPhillippiRyanAuthor.

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