Is Hoboken A Perfect Place For A Psychological Thriller Novel? This Author Thinks So

HOBOKEN, NJ — Yvonne Ventresca revised her book “Black Flowers, White Lies” many times, but one element always stayed the same: the Hoboken setting.

“I lived in Hoboken for about five years and always remember that time fondly,” Ventresca told Patch. “I knew it would make the perfect place for my psychological thriller. It was fun incorporating Hoboken restaurants, landmarks and trivia into the story.”

Ventresca said that she did fictionalize some aspects of Hoboken, adding a cemetery, an animal shelter and a bookstore on Newark Street. (The story was written before the arrival of Little City Books.) But Hoboken residents will find much of the landscape familiar, she said.

“I used the 77 River Street building as the main character’s home, and put her boyfriend in an apartment on Bloomfield,” Ventresca said. “The novel also includes scenes set at Stevens Institute of Technology, The Brass Rail and the PATH station, among other places.”

According to the author, here’s the premise of Black Flowers, White Lies:

“Ella Benton’s father died tragically before she was born, but she knows they have a special connection. New information points to his death in a psychiatric hospital, not a car accident as her mother claimed. When strange, supernatural signs appear in their Hoboken apartment and family-owned bookstore, Ella wonders if Dad’s trying to tell her something, or if someone’s playing unsettling tricks. As the unexplained events become sinister, she finds herself terrified about who—or what—might harm her. Then the evidence points to Ella herself. What if, like Dad, she’s suffering a mental breakdown? Ella desperately needs to find answers—no matter how disturbing the truth might be.”

Black Flowers, White Lies is available for preorder and will be released in October by Sky Pony Press.

According to a news release, Ventresca is the author of Pandemic (Sky Pony Press), winner of a 2015 Atlantic region Crystal Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Her other works include the short story “Escape to Orange Blossom,” which was selected for the dystopian anthology Prep for Doom, as well as two nonfiction books and numerous articles. She resides with her family in New Jersey.

Learn more at www.YvonneVentresca.com.

Photo: SoCal Public Relations

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