Welcome, friend! On the blog today, I am on tour with Over The River PR for Yasmin Angoe’s latest book, Behind These Four Walls. Hailing from Northern Virginia, Yasmin Angoe is an award-winning thriller author of action and psychological suspense thrillers and a first-generation Ghanaian American. She taught English in middle and high schools for years, served as an instructional coach. and works now as a freelance developmental editor and certified Book Coach.
Behind These Four Walls follow Isla Thorne as she searches for the truth behind her best friend’s disappearance, stepping straight into the world of wealth, power, and carefully hidden lies. I’m so excited to welcome Yasmin to the blog to talk about revenge, friendship, corruption, and the emotional heart behind this chilling story. Let’s dive into the world behind these walls.
Isla Thorne had a rough start in life. Orphaned young, she spent her formative years in a group home where she met her best friend, Eden Galloway. At sixteen, they decide to run away to LA…but Eden never makes it.
It’s been ten years since Eden vanished. And Isla’s determined to find her.
She begins at the last place Eden visited: the Corrigan mansion in Virginia. Eden claimed to have unfinished business there. Posing as an aspiring journalist, Isla insinuates herself into the wealthy family’s home and begins searching for the truth.
The more she digs, the more Isla discovers Eden isn’t who she thought she was. Was she even a victim, or did Eden plan this all along? Desperate for answers and to keep her identity hidden, Isla finds an ally in one of the Corrigan sons. But as she wades deeper into this power-hungry family’s secrets and lies, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a bloodline that’s more lethal than loyal.
Find the book on Goodreads.
Get to know the author: Yasmin Angoe
Hi Yasmin! Welcome to Armed with A Book. Please tell me and my readers a bit about yourself.
Hello!!! I’m a thriller and psychological suspense author of the Nena Knight thriller trilogy and the standalones, Not What She Seems and Behind These Four Walls. I received the 2020 Eleanor Taylor Bland Award for Emerging Writers of Color and was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for mystery and thrillers. I love writing multi-layered suspense fiction, rich in family secrets and redemption and explore the human psyche and choices. I also just love entertaining my readers with a good story that will suck them in.
Isla begins as a truth-seeker, but her investigation reveals uncomfortable questions about who Eden really was. What interested you about writing a protagonist who discovers she may have misunderstood the most important person in her life?
I am always interested in writing about protagonists who get parts of the situation they’re in wrong. It happens to all my protagonists because I think that is a huge part of being human. We’re always making assumptions and have preconceived notions about other people’s characters or their situation and many times we don’t really seek the truth. Whether my protagonists want to, or not, they’re going to find out the truth. Then the work begins of how they deal with those truths, whether they want to or not. It’s something I always think about…how do you come to terms with someone who may have disappointed you? Then I write about it.
Eden’s identity becomes more ambiguous the deeper Isla digs. What did you enjoy most about writing a character who is present through absence?
Exactly that—writing a character who is present through absence. That is perfectly said, thank you! I challenged myself with how to get Eden on the page when she couldn’t be on the page and how to still make her relevant and impactful to the reader. She is the driving force for most of the characters, even when she’s not there to interact with them in real-time, and so figuring out how to do that, writing her in a way where her voice is just as engaging as Isla, was both stressful and fun.
What was most fun—or most challenging—about writing a heroine who must lie to uncover the truth?
The most challenging was remembering that she was lying about almost everything to everyone—she is undercover—so she can’t be her true self, which was a first for me. And I had to come up with situations that were terrifying for her, but she still had to stay in character, and she had to do it in a hostile environment with people she didn’t know or trust. Keeping that sense that at any moment this house of cards Isla built can topple was also challenging because it’s always right over her head, and I had to keep that tension for the readers throughout. Even during the lighter or romantic-ish moments.
What questions did you hope readers would sit with as they follow Isla’s choices?
Can Isla pull this off? Or how long can Isla pull this off? The biggest question I want them to sit with is, “What the hell happened to Eden?” and at the end, “Wow, how could things have turned out differently?” and “Who owns all that went down?”
The Corrigan family is powerful, polished, and deeply dangerous. How did you develop their internal dynamics and the secrets that keep them together?
Good question! Developing their internal dynamics really stemmed from what the main plot was—what happened to Eden the night she went missing and where is she now. From there I had to think about how Eden got in the situation to go missing and how each family member’s relationship with her was and how those relationships would be with Isla – this stranger who was allowed in their space when no one has ever been allowed in it before. As for the secrets…wow the sky is the limit when it comes to what’s at stake. I think money, power, and prestige are very addictive things, and people will fight to the death to keep it, even their own family members. All the true crime shows show us that!
How did writing Behind These Four Wallsstretch you differently from your other psychological suspense?
BTFW stretched me in writing a character who was mostly not physically on the page. I was also stretched in having to write many characters and really making sure each was their own person with their own goals because they were always together, almost like in a locked room, but not. My last psychological suspense was one person against another. This book was one person against a group and a powerful one at that…a David verses the Goliath, so there was a lot going on that Isla had to deal with at once.
What was the biggest research rabbit hole you fell into while writing this novel?
Ha! Researching mansions and property big enough for the level of wealthy the Corrigans were.
January is a time for restarts and realignments—perfect for a story about reinvention. If Isla could give one piece of advice to readers navigating a new beginning this year, what would it be?
Isla would say to, “Go all out and to use what you have to get where and what you want—IF you really want it.” That’s how she’s believed and lived her life, so she stands by it, whether it finds her success or failure. At least she did it.
And finally: now that this book is out in the world, what are you most excited to write next?
I’m working on my next thriller which I’m very excited about but can’t say too much about just yet. But it’ll be my darkest story yet—yes, even darker than BTFW. LOL. But I really enjoyed writing this new story. I did something a little different with this one.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Nothing much, just thank you for having me and I hope everyone really enjoys Behind These Four Walls. You can check me out on my website or find me on IG or Threads at author_yasminangoe.
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me!
Thank you!
Many thanks to Over the River PR for having me on tour for this book! Check out all stops here.
Thank you for joining us!
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