Cindy R. X. He is the author of Perfect Little Monsters, a YA psychological thriller. It is a Children’s Book Council 2025 Young Adult, Teacher, and Librarian Favorites Awards Winner, as well as a finalist for the 2022 Daphne du Maurier Award, and the 2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Award. She was born and raised in multicultural Singapore, but currently resides in the French Alps with her husband, children, and rescue cat. She skis in the winter, gets dragged on hikes in the summer, and hoards books all year round. Her second YA thriller, This Is Where We Die, hits shelves July 1, 2025.
Tell us about your book.
This Is Where We Die is a young adult thriller set on an isolated island, that Kirkus calls “A chilling and suspense-filled tragedy.”
Sadie, Will, Isla, Anthony, Emily, and Charlie are survivors. They were the six (out of their group of eight friends) to return from a ski holiday turned nightmare two years ago. Although… nobody knows exactly what happened; the details hushed up via the wealth and connections of Sadie’s rich parents.
When an exclusive private island with a mansion for rent goes viral on social media, their graduating class persuades Sadie to rent it for the weekend. The six arrive first by helicopter and wait for the rest of their classmates to join them by boat the next day.
But nobody ever comes.
Cut off from the rest of the world with no cell service and no means off the island, paranoia and terror mount as they start to be picked off one by one by an unseen killer. Their past has finally caught up with them, and they’ll need to figure out who is killing them before they all wind up dead.
What drew you to the thriller genre?
I was a voracious reader growing up, and mystery and thriller books were what I enjoyed reading most. I read a lot of The Famous Five and the Nancy Drew books, and devoured most of Christopher Pike and Agatha Christie’s books.
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So when I wrote my first young adult thriller, Perfect Little Monsters, it wasn’t so much a conscious decision to write in the thriller genre, as an inevitable outcome!
What’s a recent thriller you loved?
I’ve been on a horror binge recently, but the last thriller I loved is Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo. Many YA thrillers are fast-paced and twisty. Not many, however, are full of heart and humor like Not Like Other Girls. The messy, confused, hurting, and brave protagonist had me laughing and crying and rooting for her from start to finish.
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Who is a fellow author you’d want with you if you were in a slasher movie?
Ooh, fun question! Probably my friend Keely Parrack, who I know wouldn’t leave me to be murdered while she runs to save herself! And if I could choose one more, Lisa Springer, author of There’s No Way I’d Die First, seems like an obvious choice. She can teach me how not to die first! As thriller writers, maybe the three of us can find a way to flip the tables on the killer and be Final Girls together!
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What’s the thing that scares you the most?
The thought of anything bad happening to my kids. Just that could probably fuel a dozen thriller/horror novels.
What’s your favorite slasher movie of all time?
I’m actually a big scaredy pants and don’t watch a lot of slasher movies, but one I enjoyed was Cabin In the Woods because it’s funny, and I like when scary comes with a side of humor!
Which of your characters would you be most afraid to meet in real life?
I wouldn’t want to be trapped in a cabin with Will, Isla, and Ant from This Is Where We Die…
Have you ever scared yourself writing a scene?
Not while writing, but once, the idea for an adult horror novel came to me at night as I was lying in bed just before sleeping. The story unraveled in my head, and when I got to the plot twist, it scared me so badly my heart started racing as I lay there in the dark! I’ve finished writing the novel; hopefully a publisher will want it!
What’s creepier to you: an anonymous note, a neighbor who knows too much, or a familiar voice on the other end of the phone?
Definitely a voice on the other end of the phone, especially if it’s somehow familiar but you can’t place who it is. And then of course, the perennial favorite plot twist: the call is coming from inside the house…!
What’s your favorite “thriller trope” to write or read?
The unreliable narrator, but that might be giving too much away…
This Is Where We Die by Cindy R.X. He
Two years ago, eight teens vacationed at a ski resort, and only six returned. Now, those six travel to a private island for their class’s graduation trip, but none of their classmates arrive. Cut off from the outside world, these teens must unmask the killer hunting them and face the truth of what happened at the ski resort if they want to make it off the island alive.
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