Iris Johansen Books

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Iris Johansen is a romance and crime fiction author best known for her bestselling novels. Born on April 7, 1938, Johansen did not launch her writing career until her children left home for college. Upon completion, her son, Roy developed into an award-winning novelist and screenwriter while her daughter, Tamara joined her mother in authorship but as a research assistant.

Johansen became an acclaimed novelist in the early 1980s. At the time, her genre of preference was strictly romance. However, she diversified and ventured into other genres over time. In 1996, she started writing crime fiction novels; a genre that she has propelled her writing career even further. In fact, her prowess earned her seventeen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. Her most acclaimed work in this genre and overall is the Eve Duncan series.

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Iris Johansen Awards:

Ever since she became a published author, Iris Johansen has won multiple awards and gotten nominations for many others. The most notable wins are perhaps the 1986 RT Reviewers Choice Award for the novel “Always” (Bantam Loveswept category) and the 2008 RT Reviewers Choice Award for “Dark Summer” in the Suspense Novel category. In 1997 and 1998 she was an RT award nominee for contemporary suspense. Other recognizable achievements include multiple RT Book Reviews Top Picks (for “Night and Day”, “The Perfect Witness”, “Shadow Play”, and others)

Iris Johansen Books into Movies:

As mentioned already, Iris Johansen’s most praised work is the Eve Duncan series. This crime fiction masterpiece features a series of books organized in subseries. Of all the novels, her 1999 release “The Killing Game” has a film adaptation with the same title. The Lifetime Original Movie was released in 2011 and stars Laura Prepon as Eve Duncan and Naomi Judd as Sandra Duncan, Eve’s mother. The film’s plot does not deviate from the book’s plot. It revolves around Eve Duncan, a forensic sculptor. 10 years after the mysterious disappearance and murder of her daughter, Bonnie, Eve is contacted by a man who claims to be Bonnie’s killer. The man offers sketchy but taunting clues that subconsciously bring out Eve’s obsession with the case. Now she has to gambles with her life and that of others in a bid to uncover the mysterious death of her daughter and the identity of the killer.

Best Iris Johansen Books:

Iris Johansen’s Eve Duncan series is the most loved. Three of the most appreciated books in the series are:

The Face of Deception: first published in 1998, this crime fiction novel is the first of the series. After losing her daughter, Bonnie to a serial killer, Eve Duncan dedicates all her time and energy to her career. The forensic sculptor rebuilds faces from skull bones and her gifted hands have earned her a reputation as the best at what she does. John Logan, a billionaire uses his money to entice Eve into rebuilding a face. What she doesn’t know is that there are very powerful people who don’t want the skull’s identity to be revealed and they are willing to do anything to ensure the secret is safe. She soon reconstructs the face and discovers that it is shrouded with very dark secrets that might get her and Logan killed. Now they have to combine forces and use their wits and might to survive.

The Killing Game: a serial killer is on the loose and he has sights on an innocent child. He knows Eve Duncan is still in grief over the murder of her daughter, Bonnie. Her body has never been found and he knows that Eve will want to investigate the skeletons discovered at Georgia’s Talladega Falls just in case one of them is Bonnie’s. Let the game begin; Eve wants to find her daughter’s remains but the killer wants his ultimate prize – Eve’s life. He has a bunch of tricks up his sleeve and he is willing to use them like a chess master to lure the forensic sculptor into his trap.

The Search: this third installment of the Eve Duncan series was first published in 2000. Johansen takes a different angle and brings in Sarah Patrick who was first introduced in The Killing Game as the main character while Eve Duncan takes up a supporting role. Sarah and Monty, her golden retriever partner, are pulled into a search and destroy mission by John Logan, Eve’s billionaire ex-boyfriend after his research station that is based in South America is attacked and his chief scientist kidnapped. The trio manages to track and rescue the hostage only to find out that the sadistic attempts at destroying Logan have just started. Now Sarah and Monty are squarely in the war and have to partner with Logan if they are to survive the killer’s quest for vengeance.

When Does The Next Iris Johansen book come out?

The next book by Iris Johansen is Death Mask and will be released on June, 24th 2025. It is the newest book in the Eve Duncan Series.

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