Kate Robards's Blog

This fall, I’m running for a seat on the Board of Trustees for the Indian Prairie Public Library because I care deeply about my library and the role it plays in my community. My love of libraries started at a young age. My mom was a librarian, so I’ve seen firsthand that a library is much more than a place to check out books. I still remember going to Take Your Child to Work Day and helping her with all of her tasks. It made an impact, and I started working at my local library when I was just......

I read The Better Mother by Jennifer van der Kleut earlier this summer, and two months later, it’s still stuck with me. To me, that’s always a pretty good sign that a book is worth recommending. The story follows Savannah, who becomes pregnant after a casual fling with Max. Things get complicated when Max gets back together with his serious girlfriend, Madison. What made this book so compelling for me was the characters. Savannah is imperfect but authentic and incredibly easy to root for. You......

I recently read Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer, and this one really pulled me in. The premise immediately caught my attention, but what I loved most was how the story kept getting creepier and creepier as it went along. I’m not normally a horror reader, but I’d been seeing this one pop up on a lot of must-read horror lists this summer, so I decided to give it a try. I’m very glad I did. By the end, I was genuinely squealing as I turned the pages. It’s a creepy, unsettling thrill ride that...

I’m thrilled to share some very exciting news: The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard will be part of Harlequin’s May 2025 Book Club shipment! There’s something especially fun about seeing a book find new readers, and I’m so excited that Willa will be making her way into the hands of Harlequin Book Club members. The book will be featured in a special Book Club edition with an awesome new cover, available exclusively through the Harlequin Book Club. It’s always surreal to see a book you’ve spent...

I’m excited to share some news about Only the Guilty Survive: my second thriller will soon be available to readers in Greece! My publisher, Crooked Lane Books, sold the Greek rights to the book, which means Only the Guilty Survive will be reaching an entirely new audience. As an author, it’s pretty surreal to see a book travel beyond the market where it was originally published, and I’m thrilled to see where this one goes next. Only the Guilty Survive is a dark, gritty psychological thriller...

Booklist, the book review journal of the American Library Association, reviewed Only the Guilty Survive .

I'm excited to share that Booklist reviewed Only the Guilty Survive. Booklist is the book review journal of the American Library Association.

It's amazing to see my book compared to such fantastic novels, and I appreciate that the reviewer picked up on how the "found family" of the cult appealed to each character for different reasons. It was important to me to capture the three main cha...

After months of anticipation, ONLY THE GUILTY SURVIVE is out in the world! This moment feels like a distant daydream I kept tucked away in my mind has suddenly materialized in front of me.

The idea for ONLY THE GUILTY SURVIVE took shape over a long time, with different elements coming to me at different times, finally forming a spark that lit up my imagination. It's a dark, twisty, emotional story about three people whose lives are connected through a troubled cult living out its final days.

O...

I'm excited to share that the audiobook of ONLY THE GUILTY SURVIVE is available on NetGalley now through August 6. I love the audiobook, especially because it's narrated by three fantastic voice actors for the roles of Claire, Lollie, and Dominic, and they embody the characters so well.

Access it here: https://www.netgalley.com/widget/637796/redeem/da2752220edaa1b94cb0e76fc28bdfd2a7abee9e348d7f7020cc7ac996128910

Approved librarians, media, and book influencers can have early review access to ...

New reading list available on Shepherd.com.

My new thriller, ONLY THE GUILTY SURVIVE, centers around the shocking demise of a small cult nestled in northern Michigan. For years, I've read true crime books about the subject of cults and coercive control, and I wanted to infuse what I've learned into my novel to make it feel authentically real. To that end, I put together a reading list for Shepherd.com featuring my picks for the top five thrillers inspired by real events.

Shepherd is a site t...

Mindy Carlson's debut novel Her Dying Day is a compelling, twisty mystery about an aspiring documentary filmmaker and her search for answers into the disappearance of a famous author.

In Her Dying Day, June Masterson is sorting through ideas for her capstone film project when she alights on the mystery of her favorite author's decades-old disappearance. She decides to interview those close to Greer Larkin to tell the story of famous mystery author. Her film subjects are wealthy, elite, and po...