April Henry (born April 14, 1959) is an American ''New York Times'' bestselling author of mysteries,

thrillers Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Suc ...

, and

young adult novels Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

Early life

Born in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, April 14, 1959, Henry grew up in the small southern Oregon city of Medford where her father, Hank Henry, was a

KTVL KTVL (channel 10) is a television station in Medford, Oregon, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Rossanley Drive in northwest Medford, and its transmitter is located ...

television newscaster, and her mother, Nora Henry, was a florist.

Career

Author

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

helped April Henry take her first step as a writer. When Henry was twelve, she sent Dahl a short story about a frog who loved peanut butter. Dahl had lunch with the editor of an international children's magazine and read her the story. The editor contacted her and asked to publish her story. In 1999, Henry's first book, ''Circles of Confusion'', was published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. It was short-listed for the

Agatha Award The Agatha Awards, named for Agatha Christie, are literary awards for mystery and crime writers who write in the traditional mystery subgenre: "books typified by the works of Agatha Christie . . . loosely defined as mysteries that contain no expli ...

and the

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Among the m ...

. It was also chosen for the

Booksense IndieBound is a marketing movement for independent bookstores launched in 2008 by the American Booksellers Association. With resources targeted for "indie" booksellers, it promotes fiscal localism. IndieBound's curated reading lists include the In ...

76 list, and ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'' Book Club, and was a

Mystery Guild Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online bookseller, founded in 2000. Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to Najafi Companies, an Arizon ...

Editor's Choice. Henry's first stand-alone thriller, ''Learning to Fly'', was published by

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

in 2002. It was a Booksense pick, got starred reviews in ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' and ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'', was named one of Library Journal's Best of 2002, and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. ''Shock Point'', Henry's first young-adult thriller, was published by Putnam in 2006. It was ALA Quick Pick, a Top 10 Books for Teens nominee, a New York Library's Books for the Teen Age book, named to the Texas Tayshas list, and a finalist for Philadelphia's Young Readers Choice Award. Her next young-adult book, ''Torched'', a thriller about a girl who goes undercover in an environmental extremist group, was published in 2009. ''Girl, Stolen'', a young-adult thriller about a blind girl who is accidentally kidnapped by a car thief, was released by Henry Holt in October 2010. In April 2011, Henry found the blind girl whose brief kidnapping inspired ''Girl, Stolen''. Their story was featured in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''. In 2009, April Henry partnered with

Lis Wiehl Lis Wiehl (born August 19, 1961) is a ''New York Times'' bestselling American author of fiction and nonfiction books, and a legal analyst. She is the author of twenty books, including, most recently, ''A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of th ...

to collaborate on the ''Triple Threat Mystery'' series. The first book in the series, ''Face of Betrayal'', was on the ''New York Times'' best-seller list for four weeks. Henry travels all over the countr
speaking at schools
about the importance of writing, reading, and research.

Bibliography

Claire Montrose series

*''Circles of Confusion'' (1999) *''Square in the Face'' (2000) *''Heart-Shaped Box'' (2001) *''Buried Diamonds'' (2003)

Triple Threat series

''Co-authored with La'Annah Scales'' *''Face of Betrayal'' (2009) *''Hand of Fate'' (2010) *''Heart of Ice'' (2011) *''Eyes of Justice'' (2012)

Mia Quinn series

''Co-authored with

'' *''A Matter of Trust'' (2013) *''A Deadly Business'' (2014) *''Lethal Beauty'' (2015)

Point Last Seen series

*''The Body in the Woods'' (2014) *''Blood Will Tell'' (2015)

Girl, Stolen series

*'' Girl, Stolen'' (2010) *''Count All Her Bones'' (2017)

Standalone novels

*'' Learning to Fly'' (2002) *'' Shock Point'' (2006) *''Breakout'' (2007) *'' Torched'' (2009) *'' The Night She Disappeared'' (2012) *''The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die'' (2013) *''The Girl I Used to Be'' (2016) *''The Lonely Dead'' (2019) *''Run, Hide, Fight Back'' (2019) *''The Girl in the White Van'' (2020) *''Playing with Fire'' (2021) *''Eyes of the Forest'' (2021) *''Two Truths And A Lie'' (2022) *''Girl Forgotten'' (2023) *''Stay Dead'' (forthcoming May 2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, April Living people 1959 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American mystery writers American thriller writers American women novelists People from Medford, Oregon Writers from Portland, Oregon American women mystery writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women thriller writers Novelists from Oregon Anthony Award winners