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. As the novel unfolds, these seemingly disconnected stories become intertwined, with the mystery of Alex’s family’s murderer at the center.

Similarly, in Twenty Years Later, Avery Mason investigates the death of Victoria Ford in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She was the prime suspect in the murder of Cameron Young, but her death ended the investigation. Now, as Avery reopens the case, retired FBI agent Walt Jenkins has a chance of redemption in solving Cameron’s case, which eluded him 20 years before. Donlea uses a shifting point of view to unravel the events of Cameron’s death, often jumping between timelines and providing brief insight from secondary characters. Through Avery and Walt’s investigations, Donlea reveals the events from 2001, while forcing both characters to confront their own pasts to uncover the truth.

In Guess Again, Donlea shifts the limited third-person point of view to several different characters, some of whom remain unknown for much of the novel. He centers the text on Ethan and the investigation into Callie’s disappearance, then explores the lives of Francis, who has been in prison for over 30 years for killing Ethan’s father; Callie’s best friend from childhood, Lindsay; Harriett, who aids Francis while he is in prison; and more. Just as he does with his other novels, Donlea uses a shifting third-person point of view to give the reader pieces of information like Callie’s relationship with Blake, the kidnapping of the real Eugenia, and Ethan’s father’s past with Francis. As suspense builds toward Francis’s release from prison, the reader works alongside the characters to try to put together the pieces of the puzzle and uncover the truth of what happened to Callie and how it relates to Francis.