Guess Again

Donlea is an American author of thriller and mystery novels. He is a USA Today best-selling author, having sold over 2.5 million copies of his books in the United States and over 5 million worldwide (“About.” CharlieDonlea.com). He published his debut novel, Summit Lake, in 2016. Guess Again is his ninth and most recent novel. His 2021 novel, Twenty Years Later, has been optioned for television, while The Girl Who Was Taken (2017) is slated to become a film. Donlea credits the podcast Serial for sparking his interest in true crime, which led him to “watching every documentary that lured me with the did-he-or-didn’t-he hook” (Donlea, Charlie. “The Making of a (Fictional) True Crime Story.” CriminalElement, 2018). He currently lives with his wife and children in Chicago, Illinois.

Donlea’s novels frequently explore all aspects of criminal investigations, shifting between the police, victims and their families, the media, and even the criminal. Those Empty Eyes (2023) centers on the story of Alex Armstrong, who was wrongfully accused years ago of the murder of her parents and brother. As she searches for who killed her parents, Donlea explores the lives of several other characters simultaneously, including FBI agent Annette Packard and Jacqueline Jordan, who continues to struggle with her sexual abuse as a child at a summer camp.