Author Biography-Joy Fielding

Thrillers about Domestic Violence

Jul 5, 2007
Vickie Britton

Joy Fielding consistently writes thought-provoking thrillers about what happens when women get involved with the wrong men.

Joy Fielding's page-turning books take the woman in jeopardy novel to a new extreme. Her themes explore the psychological and social issues of domestic violence and women victimized by predatory lovers and strangers and sometimes husbands. These ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances, caught in a trap and on the run, must sometimes take justice into their own hands.

Two of her books that closely follow the domestic violence theme are Mad River Road and Missing Pieces.

Mad River Road

Jamie Kellogg’s life is falling apart. She just got divorced, is stuck in a dead-end job, and her prospects look bleak. Enter a handsome stranger who seems too good to be true. As Jamie is soon to find out, when things seem too good to be true, they usually are. Brad Fisher, who starts out so kind and solicitous is actually an ex-convict with a hidden agenda. He is using Jamie as he implements his crazy plans to reclaim his son and get revenge on his ex-wife. As Jamie embarks with him on a road trip, Fisher becomes more and more abusive. But by then, Jamie is unable to escape his evil clutches and the inevitable conflict when they reach the hiding place of his wife and son on Mad River Road.

Interesting note: There is actually a road called Mad River Road. in Dayton, Ohio.

Missing Pieces

Danger enters the perfect world of Kate Sinclair, therapist, wife and mother, in the form of her flighty sister, who has fallen in love with a man being tried for murder. The chilling Colin Friendly is a Ted Bundy type sociopath, all charm and wit and no conscience. Before long, another woman is missing. When he is acquitted, her sister brings trouble home when she marries him, placing Kate and her daughters in grave danger.

Joy Fielding was born in Toronto, Ontario, where she attended the University of Toronto. She started out in the acting profession before becoming a writer, and appeared on an episode of Gunsmoke. She is the author of a screenplay and nineteen novels.