To help celebrate the launch of the thriller anthology, Make Them Pay!, I thought I’d do an author spotlight featuring some of the authors in the book.
We start with A.K. Hughey, who wrote Hunting Darkness. Hughey is a thriller author hailing from West Michigan. When she’s not writing, working, or spending time with her family, she’s researching issues surrounding human trafficking in North America and working to raise money for organizations that help survivors build new lives.
Take it away A.K.!
Q: Tell us a little about your story in Make Them Pay!?
A: Two of the main characters in my Small Town Secrets series found where a missing and trafficked woman was being held. After developing a plan and practicing their ingress and egress routes, they execute their plan to save the woman. Unfortunately, even the best plans fall apart when complexities arise.
Q: What was the inspiration for your story?
A: I’ve found articles about victims found chained up in old barns, in dilapidated trailers in the country, and otherwise inconspicuous rural homes. I decided to combine some of the details from those real stories and have Lucia and Shelby take decisive action on the offense to help save a missing and trafficked woman.
Q: When did you start writing and/or publishing?
A: I’ve been writing all my life, but first had my byline published in 2015. My B.A. is in English (Writing) and and M.A. is in Ancient and Classical History, so I have two degrees that were heavy in reading, analyzing, and writing. My first non-fiction work was published in 2017, and my first full-length fiction novel was published in 2018. Previous to that, I had been published in anthologies.
Q: Why thrillers?
A: Reading about the issues of human trafficking and missing persons, I find myself wishing we—as a community, as a society—could do more to address why this is happening, and make substantial and meaningful changes to the legal system to stymie trafficking and kidnapping. One thing we can do is raise awareness. Another thing we can do is support survivors. Finally, communities must press politicians to make changes to the laws that often punish victims and let traffickers off with a slap on the hand.
Writing vigilante thrillers gives me an important outlet to not only raise awareness, but to play out and address my frustrations with the world as it stands now. My hope is that even one person will be motivated to take any action at all to help improve the legal system, raise awareness, or help survivors recover and heal.
Q: Who are your favorite thriller authors to read?
I really enjoy Taylor Adams, Mary Burton, P. A. Duncan, and Craig Martelle.
Q: Were your friends or family members nervous hanging around you once they read one of your books?
A: Thankfully, my husband is very excited. He loves what I’m writing, and I’m pleasantly surprised by that. My mother—ever the strong, independent, wild woman—absolutely loves that I’m writing in this genre.
Q: What’s your favorite non-reading, non-writing activity?
A: Horseback-riding!
If you want to check out Hughey’s story along with the other 21 top thriller authors, here’s where you can grab your copy of Make Them Pay!
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