How Author Meg Gardiner Gets into the Mind of a Killer

The suspense writer talks about the TV series based on her book UNSUB

Over the course of 14 thrillers, Meg Gardiner has catapulted kick-butt female protagonists into the pitch-black corners of religious cults, serial murders, and other horrors (Stephen King once dubbed her “the next suspense superstar”). Her latest, Into the Black Nowhere, the chilling sequel to UNSUB, which is in development as a CBS television drama, has FBI agent Caitlin Hendrix in Texas tracking a ruthless killer targeting women.

How do you get into the mind of a killer (and still sleep at night)?
Killers, like all of us, consider their actions justified. I mull the twisted ways they convince themselves that committing murder is right. (Or, at least in the moment, that it’s their right.) What motivates a killer—anger, fear, greed, love? And I was a lawyer. I learned to put forth the most compelling argument possible for a client’s case. But I also learned to identify the weaknesses in an argument—which helps me develop a villain’s flaws and gives my heroes a chance to cause their downfall.

And to get out of the mind of a killer?
When I finish writing for the day, I surface for air, go for a run, maybe eat a pan of brownies. Turn on a Spurs-Thunder game.

How did you map the book’s geographical trajectory across several states?
The story was sparked by the case of Ted Bundy. He escaped from jail—twice!—and went on the run across the country. That spurred the idea for the cat-and-mouse chase across the western U.S. I searched for wild, spooky locations that could drive the plot.

What’s it been like turning UNSUB into a television series?
I’m thrilled to see the story and my characters being brought to life by executive producer Liz Friedman, an Emmy-nominated writer who has written and produced shows including Orange Is the New Black, Marvel’s Jessica Jones, House, and Elementary. I consult with her about the adaptation, and I love it. From her, I learn things about my own novel that I’d never seen before.