Five Total Strangers

Natalie D. Richards is the author of two New York Times Bestselling novels, Five Total Strangers (2020) and Seven Dirty Secrets (2021), as well as seven additional novels. Natalie writes “page-turning thrillers'' (School Library Journal) for a Young Adult audience. Four Found Dead is Natalie's ninth YA thriller from Sourcebooks and is a bone chilling addition to her psychologically twisted work about teens locked in an abandoned movie theater. Her first middle-grade book, 15 Secrets to Survival (Nov. 2023) has been hailed as “a teamwork oriented update to Hatchet,” by School Library Journal and “exciting and revelatory,” by Kirkus reviews. Natalie won her very first writing contest when she was in the second grade with a short story about Barbara Frances Bizzlefishes (who would not dare do the dishes). These days she writes about some awesome girls, broody boys, and all things that are creepy and dark. She spent many years applying her writing abilities to amazingly boring business documents. Fortunately, she realized that she is much better at making things up, and has written for teens ever since. When she isn’t shopping a manuscript or writing, she can most likely be found wading through the huge stacks of dog-eared paperback books that have taken over her bedroom. Natalie currently lives in Ohio with her three children and (very) large dog, Wookiee.