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Charles
Wilson
Charles Wilson
Charles Wilson, the author
of a number of acclaimed thriller/mystery novels, was born in Kennett,
Missouri, on August 2, 1939. He attended college at Westminster
College in Fulton, Missouri, the University
of Missouri, and the University
of Memphis. Wilson's business experience includes farming in
the Okolona
and Aberdeen
areas of northeast Mississippi, real estate development in central
Mississippi, and organizing investment syndications to drill for
oil and gas in the area surrounding Enid, Oklahoma. In addition
to writing, he enjoys working with children's sports. He has coached
numerous little league baseball and basketball teams, and he served
as a volunteer junior high head football coach for seven years,
compiling a 48-3-1 record during what he calls the most fun
period of my life. He is married to his childhood sweetheart,
the former Linda Faye George, and they have three children. Wilson
lives in Brandon,
Mississippi. |
Wilsons first book, Nightwatcher,
was published in 1990. Set in central Mississippi, the plot revolves
around a father's investigation of his daughters murder at
a hospital for the criminally insance. Silent Witness (1992),
also set in central Mississippi, tells the story of a woman who
hires a former lover to prove her husband didn't commit a murder,
but her plan backfires.
With The Cassandra Prophecy (1993),
the setting moves to Biloxi,
Mississippi, as a Secret Service agent investigates a brothers
murder. In When First We Deceive (1994), set in Pass
Christian, Mississippi, a serial killer is on the loose as a
young husband-and-wife police team investigate the murder of the
husband's former girlfriend. The story is further complicated with
the male cops guilt at having been out with the girlfriend
since he had been married.
In 1995, Wilson published Direct Descendant,
a techno-thriller set in Memphis, Tennessee, in which DNA stolen
from the remains of a prehistoric human is used to bring back humans
from the past. Fertile Ground (1996) is a medical thriller
set in Jackson,
Mississippi, in which doctors from Mississippi contract a virus
while on a scientific expedition in Brazil that drives them insane
when they return to the United States.
Recent titles by Wilson include Donor
(1999), Game Plan (2000), and Deep Sleep (2001).
Wilson has received a number of accolades
from authors and critics, including fellow Mississippian John
Grisham, who called Wilsons first book Splendid!
A lean, tight, compelling story that was over much too fast. I wanted
more! Ed Gorman, editor of Mystery Scene Magazine and
book critic for Barnes & Noble, said, Wilson might flat-out
be the best plotter of our generation.
(Article
updated December 2001)
Jim Fraiser
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Related Links & Info

BookPage has web pages
featuring reviews, author information, and sample chapters for two
of Wilson's books, Direct
Descendant and Extinct.
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Publications
Fiction (Novels):
- Nightwatcher. New York: Carrol & Graf, 1990.
- Silent Witness. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1992.
- The Cassandra Prophecy. New York: Carrol & Graf,
1993.
- When First We Deceive. New York: Carrol & Graf,
1994.
- Direct Descendant. New York: St. Martin's Press,
1995.
- Fertile Ground. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996.
- Extinct. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.
- Embryo. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
- Donor. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999.
- Game Plan. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2000.
- Deep Sleep. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.
Bibliography:
Biographical:
- "Interview with novelist Charles Wilson," conducted by Jim
Fraiser. Jackson Business Journal (May/June 1994): 17-18.
Internet Resources
Promotional web sites:
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