What is the title of your latest release?
THE ONE WHO WALKED AWAY
What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Bounty hunter Elle Randolph is chasing a dangerous man who seems to be hiding out somewhere on the Mendocino coast in Northern California. He has not killed anyone yet, at least not that Elle knows of. But that changes when people start dying all around her and finding her quarry becomes even more urgent. She wants to work with the detective investigating the murders, but Ronan Clarke doesn’t trust bounty hunters any more than Elle trusts cops. Can they declare a truce long enough to catch a killer?
How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I’ve been visiting the Mendocino coast for about ten years. My husband and I vacation here every summer to beat the heat. It’s usually about thirty degrees cooler on the coast than it is anywhere else. I’ve fallen in love with the rugged coastline, the waves crashing on the rocks, and the serene redwood forests. I wanted to share my appreciation for this amazing place with my readers!
Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
I would. I would hang out with most of my protagonists, to be honest, but Elle has an innate kindness that made me want to be her friend.
What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Elle Randolph is kind, loyal, and courageous.
What’s something you learned while writing this book?
That bounty hunting is illegal in most of the world and in four of the US states: Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, and Wisconsin. It is considered kidnapping in these states and bounty hunters have no jurisdiction.
Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
A little of both. Mostly I insert comments into my draft, telling me to go back and do this or double-check that. But I might go back and change a crime or the fate of a victim if I realize early on that those details are going to become important later. It’s easier to change text in a few places than in a whole book.
What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I’m usually a meatloaf or pot roast kind of girl, but there is a restaurant south of Mendocino that makes a duck breast that is to die for. They make it with a cherry cabernet sauce that makes the duck melt in your mouth.
Describe your writing space/office!
I write in a bedroom-turned-office. It has a set of shelves for my books and a set of cubbies for my very sizable yarn stash. Don’t judge. I think yarn is pretty, and I like to both knit with it and collect it. The table behind my desk holds two 3-D printers, my newest hobby—cough, obsession. My office also has a coffee maker and a minifridge for Diet Coke. Together these two appliances meet all my daily and middle-of-the-night caffeine needs, LOL. My desk is always cluttered with pens, charging cords, Goldfish crackers, and little 3-D printed catbirds (from my San Diego series). People—cough, my husband, cough—often stack boxes in my office when they don’t know where else to store them. This continues until the small room is a warren of boxes stacked taller than me, and I can’t get to my yarn. Then I clean, but my desk remains cluttered. I am mildly suspicious of people with clean desks.
Who is an author you admire?
Christine Feehan. She has the most incredible imagination!
Is there a book that changed your life?
Would it be too cliché to say Nancy Drew? I loved mysteries as a child and would often hide with them under my covers with the proverbial flashlight. When I started writing many years later, I was unsurprised to find mysteries and thrillers to be the genre that just clicked in my mind.
Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
It was December, 2001. I’d already written my debut novel five times, learning as I went. I’d gotten some “good” rejections from editors who loved the characters but felt the book was too long. (Book length has always been my struggle—my characters won’t stop talking in my head!) My agent had resubmitted the book for the second time to various editors, but I’d just gotten another rejection that wasn’t so nice. My daughter, eleven years old at the time, patted my arm and said, “Don’t worry, Mama. Someone will buy your book.” Sure enough, a few days later I was at work and got a call from my agent. She said that Warner Books, which later became Grand Central, had made a two-book offer. Inside, I was screaming OH MY GOSH!!!
AAAAAHHHHH!!! But on the outside, I remained calm. “Oh, that sounds good. We should take it.” Then I left my office and went to my car where I could finally scream my happiness. I called my husband first, then my BFF who also screamed her happiness. She was so excited, she missed her exit off the highway. By midnight, I think I’d called nearly everyone I knew to tell them the good news.
What’s your favorite genre to read?
Paranormal romance. I love dragons and vampires! There always seems to be a dark side to these books, some villain to defeat or mystery to be solved. That’s the part I love the most.
What’s your favorite movie?
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
What is your favorite season?
Winter. I love the cold.
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My husband usually makes me my favorite meal. He’s an amazing cook. Last year it was meatloaf. The year before was pot roast. He’ll also buy an ice cream cake. My tastes run pretty simple.
What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’ve been loving THE VAMPIRE KNITTING CLUB by Nancy Warren. It’s a cozy series that’s got murder, vampires, witches, and yarn. What more can you ask for?
What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Meat and potatoes.
What do you do when you have free time?
I knit, play with my dog, visit with friends, and work on my 3-D prints.
What can readers expect from you next?
Following THE ONE WHO WALKED AWAY will be the fifth installment of my San Diego Case Files series featuring Detective Kit McKittrick and psychologist Dr. Sam Reeves. Readers can expect more Kit and Sam, Harlan and Betsy, the foster kids, and the octogenarians from the retirement home. Oh, and homicide investigations. Can’t forget about that!
THE ONE WHO WALKED AWAY by Karen Rose
A thrilling new tale of romantic suspense from New York Times bestselling author Karen Rose.
Bounty hunter Elle Randolph takes on every case she can, in an effort to outrun herself. Three years ago, she was the only one who walked away from a car crash that killed her husband and two others. Although she was cleared of any wrongdoing, she is fueled by guilt and dedicated to solving other people’s problems. But her running is over when she’s identified as a person of interest in a murder investigation.
Detective Ronan Clarke, a single dad for fifteen years, has been laser-focused on raising his daughter and serving the people of Mendocino County, California. He’s got everything under control—until a bounty hunter enters his jurisdiction, keeping secrets and bringing murder to his quiet town. The hunter is definitely involved in his current case, but exactly how is his question. Could she be his killer? As he unravels her secrets, he becomes increasingly troubled by what he finds. While Elle is forced to reexamine every painful memory of the life she left behind, Ronan grows more and more sure of her innocence. But can he trust himself to uncover the truth amid their growing attraction?
Thriller Police Procedural | Romance Suspense [ Berkley, On Sale: August 11, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book / audiobook, ISBN: 9798217190485 / eISBN: 9798217190508 ]
Buy THE ONE WHO WALKED AWAY: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play | Books-A-Million | Indie BookShops | Ripped Bodice | Libro.fm | Audible | Walmart.com | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR
About Karen Rose
Internationally bestselling, RITA-award winning, author Karen Rose was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. She met her husband, Martin, on a blind date when they were seventeen and after they both graduated from the University of Maryland, (Karen with a degree in Chemical Engineering) they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen worked as an engineer for a large consumer goods company, earning two patents, but as Karen says, “scenes were roiling in my head and I couldn’t concentrate on my job so I started writing them down. I started out writing for fun, and soon found I was hooked.”
A former high school teacher of chemistry and physics, Karen lives in Washington State with her husband of more than thirty years.
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