Jessi asked Kevin O'Brien:

How much time do you spend researching for authenticity for your books? I have only read two thus far, Unspeakable and Make Them Cry, but I read both books in about three days and intend on reading more. Do you dip into the past in all your books?

Kevin O'Brien Hi, Jessi - Thanks for your question! I got the idea for MAKE THEM CRY after having dinner with an ex-priest buddy of mine and his priest friends. Their tales of the seminary were pretty shocking and I thought, "I have to set my next book in a seminary." My pal, a priest, and a former seminarian were all very helpful in answering questions in my research. I also asked my sister, who is a real estate agent, what her job was like (remember my heroine worked in real estate), and I got a wonderful reference book on saints and martyrs. My favorite bit of "research" was creating the town of Leroy. I made my own map--so I'd know where the dorms were, the church, the creek, the woods, etc. I loved researching the Seattle Worlds Fair for UNSPEAKABLE, too. I grew up in the 60's, so the research for those flashbacks was a lot of fun. So--for every book, I do a fair amount of research. And yes, I love flashback scenes, so I do dip into the past in a lot of my thrillers. Thanks, Jessi!

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