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The Big Thrill Discusses UNSEEN with Traci Hunter Abramson

UNSEEN by Traci Hunter AbramsonYou never know when you’ll be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Manuel never expected to be condemned to life in prison for something as mundane as going to buy milk. When the guardian program offers him a way out, he fakes his death and becomes a ghost, protecting U.S. government operatives in Central and South America.

Laura’s work as a nurse practitioner in San Diego has pushed her to the breaking point. Her visit to Honduras to see her abuela is supposed to be a respite from the pressure. In a split second, however, Laura is captured in a deadly case of mistaken identity. The outlook is dire until a mysterious rescuer appears, launching the pair on a desperate flight to freedom.

Manuel’s skills are pushed to the limit as he races to get Laura out of the country alive. What begins as a connection forged in a shared ordeal quickly deepens, and Manuel and Laura must learn to trust their instincts—and their hearts—if they hope to survive.

Traci Hunter Abramson

Award-winning author Traci Hunter Abramson recently spent some time with The Big Thrill discussing her latest romantic suspense, UNSEEN.

A novel is such a major undertaking; there’s the writing of it, of course, then you’re spending months and months revising, polishing, and then promoting it. How did you know this was the book you wanted to spend the next couple of years on?

I wrote this during 2021 when travel was still restricted because of COVID. I already knew I wanted to set this book in Central America, so this was a way I could travel to the part of the world I hadn’t been able to visit since my teenage years. I lived in Venezuela during the summer of 1984, and it was fun going back to the culture of that time and learning of the differences between there and Honduras. My frequent visits to Mexico during the 1980s certainly didn’t hurt my research any either.

Can you pinpoint a moment or incident that sparked the idea for this book?

The one thing that did spark some ideas for the premise of this book came from some of the events that followed the George Floyd incident. In several cases, the initial reports were lacking accurate information. And while the premise of this book is very different, the idea that public perception can be incorrect helped fuel my imagination.

In addition to a great read, what do you hope readers will take away from this story?

I hope readers will have that resolve that we can all do hard things, even when the odds seem insurmountable. Life may not turn out quite the way we plan, but sometimes, the challenges we face can create the foundation for an even brighter tomorrow.

When you first created your protagonist for this book, did you see an empty space in crime lit that you wanted to fill? What can you share about the inspiration for that character?

I’ve seen a lot of real-life scenarios where the public has jumped to conclusions after an incident hit the news. I wanted to show the possibilities of how a situation can look one way and be completely different.

What can you share about what you’re working on next?

I already have several books under contract for the upcoming eighteen months, including Jim & Katherine, a sweet romantic suspense which will release on the 20th anniversary of my first novel. The two lead characters have featured in several of my previous books, including their introduction in my first published novel. This particular story goes back in time to the mid-1980s to where these characters first met.


 

Traci Hunter Abramson was born in Arizona, where she lived until moving to Venezuela for a study abroad program. After graduating from Brigham Young University, she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, eventually resigning in order to raise her family. She credits the CIA with giving her a wealth of ideas as well as the skills needed to survive her children’s teenage years. She loves to travel and recently retired after twenty-six years coaching her local high school swim team. She has written forty-five best-selling novels and is an eight-time Whitney Award winner, including 2017 and 2019 Best Novel of the Year. You can find out more about Traci and her books at www.traciabramson.com, on her various social media pages, and in her Facebook group, Traci’s Friends.

UNSEEN with Traci Hunter Abramson

ITW