{"id":54123,"date":"2025-10-03T22:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T22:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/54123\/"},"modified":"2025-10-03T22:09:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T22:09:10","slug":"morgan-hill-author-delivers-debut-thriller-dead-by-monday-morgan-hill-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/54123\/","title":{"rendered":"Morgan Hill author delivers debut thriller \u2018Dead by Monday\u2019 | Morgan Hill Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Morgan Hill\u2019s Chuck Foster is pictured with the paperback version of his first novel, \u201cDead By Monday.\u201d Contributed photo<\/p>\n

Kathryn Benton was a privileged young student with every advantage money could buy, but when she suddenly becomes the target of a massive nationwide manhunt, her comfortable world crumbles in an instant in \u201cDead by Monday,\u201d the debut thriller from Morgan Hill author Chuck Foster.<\/p>\n

Foster deliberately crafted what he calls a \u201cmodern David versus Goliath story,\u201d but with a crucial twist: there\u2019s no superhero coming to the rescue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this story, there isn\u2019t going to be [an action hero] to step in,\u201d Foster explains. \u201cThe only tools she has are a guy she meets in a dumpster that claims to know her and his dead cell phone. And those tools may not be enough when the [situation] hits the fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Benton, Foster wanted to create the ultimate underdog, someone with minimal resources facing off against overwhelming institutional power. Kathryn\u2019s character arc requires her to transform from someone accustomed to a silver spoon into a resourceful survivor.<\/p>\n

\"\"A novel by Chuck Foster<\/p>\n

Foster, who has lived in Morgan Hill since 1977, had always been an avid reader, particularly drawn to thrillers during his frequent business travels during his 40-year career in tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d always grab two books, one for the outbound flight, one for the inbound,\u201d Foster recalls. \u201cI picked thrillers most of all because you could read them real quick. I\u2019m reading my book in the hotel room, and I started wondering if I could write a book myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

That curiosity simmered for years until pandemic lockdowns provided an unexpected opportunity for creative exploration. \u201cWhen we had the quarantine, I said, \u2018I suppose I\u2019ve got all this time on my hands that I hadn\u2019t expected. What\u2019s the most difficult thing a person could possibly do?\u2019 And I said, \u2018Write a novel.\u2019 And I was right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster approached his writing with the methodical mindset of what he calls a \u201cplotter,\u201d someone who plans story structure in advance, carefully arranging every twist and turn, as opposed to \u201cpantsers\u201d who write by the seat of their pants. However, even with careful planning, he says the story took on a life of its own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI swear, I didn\u2019t know until I was typing the last page how it would really end,\u201d he admits. \u201cThe ending that was on my outline was not the ending that\u2019s in the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although \u201cDead by Monday\u201d is a unique story with its own unexpected twists, Foster said it follows many of the usual genre conventions readers expect from thrillers, including constant obstacles and constantly escalating tension.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rule in thrillers is nothing\u2019s ever easy for your protagonist,\u201d he said. \u201cNothing can happen without effort. That\u2019s where the tension comes in. \u2018What\u2019s going to happen now?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDead by Monday\u201d was written for what Foster calls \u201cintelligent readers.\u201d Rather than over-explaining every detail, he trusts his audience to understand references and fill in gaps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI specifically wrote it to appeal to a more intelligent reader, somebody where I didn\u2019t explain every single thing in there, and I make the reader think through it as it goes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This approach extends to the book\u2019s themes, which emerged organically rather than being imposed from the outset. While Foster initially aimed simply to write an engaging thriller, he recognizes a deeper theme in the finished product about the nature of justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you don\u2019t get the kind of justice that you get in the movies,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s more like the justice you get in real life, where it was better than nothing, or it wasn\u2019t as bad as it could have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster expects mixed reactions to the story\u2019s unconventional ending. \u201cI think 50% of the readers will say, \u2018Oh, now that was good.\u2019 And 50% will say, \u2018I want four weeks of my life back. That was a waste of my time.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster enthusiastically encourages others to try fiction writing, no matter where they are in their career or how much experience they have, describing the writing process as endlessly more rewarding than the finished product.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would encourage anybody who has ever thought about writing a little bit of fiction to just sit down and write a love story. Everybody\u2019s been in love or everybody\u2019s imagined how love should be,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if you just get 600 words, you\u2019d probably find that very satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDead by Monday\u201d is available at BookSmart and online, offering readers a chance to experience the suspenseful tale crafted by a local author who discovered that the best adventures happen when you surrender to the creative process and let the story write itself.<\/p>\n

Calvin Nuttall is a Morgan Hill-based freelance writer.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morgan Hill\u2019s Chuck Foster is pictured with the paperback version of his first novel, \u201cDead By Monday.\u201d Contributed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[412,40946,40947,40948,146,85,46,40949,5782],"class_list":{"0":"post-54123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-booksmart","10":"tag-chuck-foster","11":"tag-dead-by-monday","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-morgan-hill","16":"tag-novel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}