Sandra Brown is renowned American bestselling fiction writer. She is best known for her romantic thrillers and suspense novels. Her works have been published under several pen names, such as Erin St. Claire, Laura Jordan and Rachel Ryan.
Sandra Lynn Brown was born 12 March 1948, in Waco, Texas and grew up in Fort Worth. She pursued major in English from Texas Christian University. However, she left her studies amid to marry, a former television news anchor and award-winning documentarian, Michael Brown. She worked as a weathercaster and news reporter after her marriage. On her husband’s persuasion and challenge, Brown embarked on her writing career. She has written prolifically over the period of time and managed to produce seventy fiction works out of which fifty has topped the New York Times bestsellers list. Nearly eighty million copies of her novels have been sold worldwide grossing millions of dollars. Her books have been translated into thirty-four languages across the globe.
Brown wrote her first novel, Love’s Encore, as Rachel Ryan in 1981. It was a part of Dell Candlelight Ecstasy Romances. As Laura Jordan she produced two stand alone novels, Hidden Fires and Silken Web, both published in 1982. Harlequin and Silhouette Category Romances were written under the pseudonym Erin St. Claire. After acquiring success as a romance novelist, she finally began using her real name in her further publications in 1983. She wrote a few family sagas and historical romances, including Coleman Family Saga (1985), Mason Sisters Series (1987), Texas! Tyler Family Saga (1990).
In 1988, Brown shifted her interest from plain romance to romantic thriller, mystery and suspense novels. Slow Heat in Heaven (1988) is marked as her first stand alone romantic thriller. Her bestselling novel Mirror Image (1990) garnered huge praise for its intricate mystery plot. The novel illustrates story of a TV reporter Avery Daniels, who survives a plane crash and regains consciousness only to realize she has been mistaken for senatorial candidate Tate Rutledge’s wife. In the aftermath, her face is surgically reconstructed for Carole Rutledge as it was disfigured in the crash. During her convalescence she also discovers an assassination plot against Tate. The fast-paced story keeps the reader guessing till the end who might be the plotter among the family members and friends.
Brown’s another romantic mystery The Witness was published in 1995. The novel revolves around a fugitive, Kendall Deaton, who is running away with her baby from a powerful family in South Carolina. Everything falls apart in Kendall’s life when she discovers an unnerving secret about her marriage and the town she lives in. In order to save herself and her unborn child she flees the town and gets help from the official authorities. However, she feels doubtful about trusting them with their lives. Subsequently, she survives a fatal accident, on her escape, with an amnesiac who poses potential threat to her. The plot progresses to reveal the identity of this amnesiac stranger and the secret that Kendall tries to run away from.
One of Sandra Brown’s novels, titled French Silk, has also been adapted into a television movie in 1996, starring Susan Lucci, Shari Belafonte, and Lee Horsley. She has received numerous awards, such as American Business Women’s Association’s Distinguished Circle of Success, A.C. Greene Award and International Thriller Writers Award (2008). Her latest novel Best Kept Secrets was published in 2014.
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