Traci Hunter Abramson is an American mystery and suspense novelist. Her books have received

Whitney Awards The Whitney Awards are awards given annually for novels by LDS authors. Established in 2007, they are named after Orson F. Whitney, a prominent early member of the LDS Church. There are several categories for which novels may be nominated. The Whit ...

for best mystery/suspense novel in 2012, 2013, and 2015. Her books often feature characters involved with the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

, inspired by her time working for the CIA. Abramson's books are known for featuring characters who are members of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

characters and she has a large following among readers who are members of that Church.

Education and background

Abramson grew up in Arizona and lives in

Stafford, Virginia Stafford is a census-designated place (listed as Stafford Courthouse) in and the county seat of Stafford County in the northern part of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. The population of Stafford County as of the 2010 United States Census w ...

. She joined

when she was twelve years old. She studied business at Brigham Young University and worked for the CIA for six years, from the late 1980s to 1995. Abramson is married and has five children. She has coached the

North Stafford High School North Stafford High School is one of the five high schools in the Stafford County, Virginia public school system. It instructs students in grades 9 through 12. History Completed in 1981, North Stafford High School was the second high school to b ...

swim team for over 20 seasons.

Writing

Many of Abramson's novels feature FBI or CIA agents, and she bases her books on similar situations she encountered working for the CIA as a finance officer. Since she is a former CIA employee, books that mention the CIA are reviewed by the agency to ensure that they do not reveal confidential material. Many of her characters are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and her novels have an enthusiastic fan base among Mormon readers. Abramson's first book, ''Undercurrents'', featured an Olympic-hopeful swimmer who is in

witness protection Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

. The

Virginia Tech shooting The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting that occurred on April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Seung-Hui Cho, an u ...

inspired Abramson to write ''Lockdown'', a novel about a woman who survives a school shooting. She said the process of writing the novel helped her to heal from the trauma. Critics have praised Abramson's research and believable and likeable characters, though some of her plots have been criticized as predictable.

Awards

Abramson received the novel of the year Whitney award in 2017 for ''Safe House''. Abramson received the best mystery/suspense Whitney Award in 2017 also for ''Safe House'', in 2015 for ''Failsafe'', in 2013 for ''Deep Cover'', and in 2012 for ''Codeword'' Six other of her books have been finalists for the award: ''The Deep End'' in 2007, ''Royal Target'' and ''Freefall'' in 2008, ''Lockdown'' in 2009, ''Crossfire'' in 2010, and ''Smokescreen'' in 2011. ''Smokescreen'' was on Deseret Book's bestseller list for the end of 2010, and ''Code Word'' was a Deseret Book top-10 bestseller in 2012.

Bibliography

Undercurrents trilogy

*''Undercurrents'' (2004) *''Ripple Effect'' (2005) *''The Deep End'' (2007)

Saint Squad series

*''Freefall'' (2008) *''Lockdown'' (2009) *''Crossfire'' (2010) *''Backlash'' (2010) *''Smokescreen'' (2011) *''Code Word'' (2012) *''Lock and Key'' (2013) *''Drop Zone'' (2014) *''Spotlight'' (2015) *''Tripwire'' (2018)

Royals trilogy

*''Royal Target'' (2011) *''Royal Secrets'' (2012) *''Royal Brides'' (2016) *''Royal Heir'' (2020)

Guardian series

*''Failsafe'' (2015) *''Safe House'' (2017) *''Sanctuary'' (2019) *''On The Run'' (2020) *''In Harm's Way'' (2021) (scheduled release date 08March2021)

Standalone novels

*''Obsession'' (2011) *''Deep Cover'' (2013) *''Chances Are'' (2014) *''Kept Secrets'' (2016) *''Chance for Home'' (2017) *''Proximity'' (2018) *''Mistaken Reality'' (2019) *''A Change of Fortune'' (2020)

Compilation works with others

*''Twisted Fate'' (2014) *''Entangled'' (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahamson, Traci Hunter Living people Converts to Mormonism American women novelists Brigham Young University alumni Novelists from Arizona Novelists from Virginia 21st-century American novelists Christian novelists 21st-century American women writers People of the Central Intelligence Agency Latter Day Saints from Virginia People from Stafford, Virginia Year of birth missing (living people) Harold B. Lee Library-related 21st century articles