Lisa Gardner to Sign Books In Norcross

Lisa Gardner, the New York Times best-selling author of “Alone” will be appearing in Norcross this Saturday, March 12 for a book signing at the Norcross Cultural Arts and Community Center. She’ll be talking about her new book, “Love You More,” and taking questions from fans. The signing starts at 7 p.m.

Gardner is known for her ability to keep readers up late into the night, waiting in anticipation to find out what happens next in her mind-gripping thrillers. In“Love You More” Tessa Leoni, a respected Massachusetts State Trooper and mother who hasn’t always had the best life, kills her abusive husband in self-defense.

Her body is covered in bruises and her six-year-old daughter, Sophie, is missing. She admits to tough-girl Detective D.D. Warren, who you may have come to know in “Alone”,” Hide,” “The Neighbor” and “Live To Tell,” that she did indeed shoot her husband, but doesn't know what happened to her daughter. Warren senses deceit but about what? Sophie's life is on the line. Warren is in a race to find the missing puzzle pieces of the young girl's disappearance before it’s too late.

Although “Love You More” is part of a series, Gardner writes all her books as standalone reads. The research she did for this book had a profound effect on the final product, she says.  She spent a lot of time at body farms, which are research centers for studying decomposing bodies to further forensic science. She also learned about search and recovery dogs and canine teams. But it was her ride along with a female patrol officer that had the greatest influenced on the book.

“I had, as it turns out, a lot of preconceived notions that were incorrect,” she said.

She had always felt that the most intimidating thing for a female cop would be dealing with men and having them not take you seriously. She learned that most men are trained from a very early age to respond to a mother figure, the real threat – soccer moms.

“Women, particularly women of a certain socioeconomic class, um, feel like they’re totally within their rights  to bully, bark you, become very aggressive very fast,” she explained.

Surprisingly, the absolute hardest thing about being a patrol officer is going to the bathroom. The first thing the officer said to Gardner about the ride along was, “Don’t drink any water that day.”

Apparently, patrol officers have 20-pound duty belts that take 20 minutes just to get off. Since they’re never allowed to leave their gear, it has to go into the bathroom stall with them. Just going to the bathroom becomes a 30 minute, plan-ahead process.

You can observe the heavy influence that Gardner’s ride with the patrol officer had on, “Love You More,” just from reading the first chapter of the book, which you can do here for free.

Gardner’s ride along with the officer also affected the characterization of Leoni by bringing the concept of command presence to her attention. She realized that when patrol officers put their uniform on, they transform into an imposing, larger than life figure.

“I knew one of the officers as a young, friendly neighbor.  On the job however, she was stern and intimidating.  I was very impressed!” Gardner said.

As for the rest of her characterization and chilling plot twists, those just come to her. People often ask Gardner how a nice girl like her can write such dark books. Her answer is simple, “Beats me. I was raised in suburbia by two accountants. Normal childhood, normal house, normal family. Maybe this is simply what so much normalcy does to a kid.”      

You can ask her any additional questions you may have when she visits Norcross this Saturday.  The Eagle Eye Book Shop will have books for sale at the event. Feel free to bring older titles to the signing as well.