MADISON – Patrons of Madison Public Library can anticipate an entertaining evening when popular author Georgina Cross visits.

Cross will meet with the High Octane Book Club at Madison Public Library on Jan. 5 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The High Octane Book Club is geared for adults who enjoy books by suspense and thriller authors, like David Baldacci and Ruth Ware.

Cross is the author of “Nanny Needed” with Bantam, Penguin Random House and the bestselling author of “The Stepdaughter” and “The Missing Woman” with Bookouture and Hachette Publishing. The library staff encourages individuals to read one of Cross’ books before meeting the author.

According to Cross’ summary of “Nanny Needed,” a young woman accepts a position as a nanny for a family with unbelievable wealth. She believes that an avenue to a better life is open to her. However, she discovers that instead she was entered into a world of deception and dark secrets. (georgina-cross-author.com/nanny-needed)

In “The Stepdaughter,” Cross writes that Mia, a 13-year-old girl, has gone missing, which coincides with her neighbor’s house burning to the ground. Are the two events connected?

“The stepmother was the last one to see her swimming in the backyard pool, and now Mia is missing, and the woman’s husband is accusing her of never caring enough for the girl. The police focus their attention on the stepmother and that critical hour when the girl first disappeared,” Cross wrote.

The reader must decide if the kidnapping is staged or an even more sinister scenario. Have neighbors been mistaken in their initial thoughts? The reader learns about an unhealthy relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter.

In “The Missing Woman,” the character Erica thought Sabine had it all. “The glances Erica makes to the other woman across the pool, envying her life, the looks going unnoticed, until the day Sabine stares back. She holds the stare a little too long,” Cross said.

After graduating from Louisiana State University, Cross pursued a successful career in television news, marketing and communications. She worked nine years in business development with bids and proposals for an aerospace and defense contractor.

Cross then joined the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce as Workforce Development Director. In 2015, she founded Susie’s Wish, a non-profit that sends patients with life threatening illnesses to a visit at the beach. The organization honors the late Susie Edwards, a television news reporter.

Cross promises to pen more books in 2022.

For more information, email creagle@hmcpl.org or visit georgina-cross-author.com.