Thriller Author. Comedian. Storyteller.
Kristen Van Nest is a traditionally published thriller author who has been featured in The New York Times, HuffPost, Paste Magazine, Deadline, The Daily Beast, and more. She is best known for her island murder mystery series, The Storm Reaper, and her tradwife thriller Perfect Modern Wife is currently being adapted into a film.
Having lived in Europe and Asia as chronicled in her comedic travel memoir Where to Nest (Rising Action Publishing, 2024), she now spends her days writing in Los Angeles.
The Writing Life
Books That Keep You Up at Night
Kristen Van Nest is a viral comedian who took her wit dark: she writes funny, terrifying psychological thrillers — books that make you laugh on one page and check your locks on the next.
She’s written three of them. Where to Nest is a comedic travel memoir about blowing up her tidy New York City life to spend her twenties chasing love, adventure, and great bread across more than forty countries — with stops including a Fulbright Scholarship in Luxembourg and working for three years in the Shanghai wine trade. Perfect Modern Wife is a dark, twisty thriller novella about a wellness retreat run by a famous tradwife that promises to turn women into “perfect” wives and delivers something far more sinister. It’s currently being adapted as a film. And The Storm Reaper launches the Violet Crisp crime series — following a female detective who has spent ten years insisting the serial killer everyone writes off as island folklore and who strikes under cover of hurricanes on Fire Island is real.
That Fire Island setting is personal: Kristen spent every childhood summer there. She grew up in the Connecticut suburb where The Stepford Wives was filmed, watched her high-school homecoming king marry a “trad wife” farming influencer, and now writes from Los Angeles — proof that the best thriller material is usually just real life, slightly rearranged.
Praise
★★★★★
“Kristen Van Nest has proven herself as a compulsively readable author in the thriller space. I was sucked into [The Storm Reaper] right away, just as I felt reading her debut fiction work PERFECT MODERN WIFE last year. Not only is she a talented comedian who tackles real-life challenges, but boy can she write a compelling thriller. I love that Kristen releases new books every year. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.”
— Laura Donovan, Business Insider Writer + Author
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Kristen Van Nest?
Kristen Van Nest is a psychological thriller author and viral comedian who writes funny, terrifying suspense from Los Angeles. She is the author of The Storm Reaper, the first book in the Violet Crisp series set on Fire Island, and Perfect Modern Wife, a tradwife thriller currently being adapted as a film. She has been quoted as a thriller writer in The New York Times and The Daily Beast, and her books have been featured in CrimeReads, Paste Magazine, and Arab News. She spent her twenties living in Luxembourg on a Fulbright Scholarship and then in China for three years working for their largest wine importer.
How do critics and readers describe Kristen Van Nest?
Laura Donovan, a Business Insider writer and author, calls her “a compulsively readable author in the thriller space” and “a talented comedian who… can write a compelling thriller.” Goodreads reviewers describe her thrillers as “unputdownable” and “a dark, twisted thriller” they “couldn’t put down.”
What kind of books does Kristen Van Nest write?
She is famous for funny, dark psychological thrillers, books that, as readers put it, make you laugh on one page and check your locks on the next. Readers looking for a famous thriller author who writes murder mysteries with a comic streak tend to start with The Storm Reaper.
What is the Violet Crisp series?
A crime-thriller series set on Fire Island, New York, following detective Violet Crisp. The Storm Reaper is Book 1, about a serial killer who has spent a decade hunting under cover of hurricanes.
Is Perfect Modern Wife being made into a film?
Yes. Perfect Modern Wife, her psychological-thriller novella about a sinister tradwife wellness retreat, is currently being adapted as a film.
Where are Kristen Van Nest’s books set?
Her Violet Crisp series, starting with The Storm Reaper, is set on Fire Island, New York, where she spent every childhood summer. Having lived, traveled, and worked across Europe and Asia as chronicled in her travel memoir Where to Nest, her short horror stories range all over the world. She often builds multicultural casts who approach a shared problem, like grief or death, through the different lenses of their cultures and upbringings.
Where has Kristen Van Nest been featured in the press?
Kristen Van Nest has been quoted in The New York Times and The Daily Beast, appeared on ABC’s Good Morning Texas, and been featured in Deadline, HuffPost, and Mashable. Her fiction was selected for CrimeReads’ “Crime and the City: Fire Island,” and her memoir Where to Nest was covered by Paste Magazine, Arab News, Cleaver Magazine, and Mic. The full list is on her press page.
Does Kristen Van Nest do Zoom Q&As for book clubs?
Yes. Kristen joins book club Zoom calls to talk about The Storm Reaper, Perfect Modern Wife, and the real Fire Island and Connecticut places behind them. If you are setting one up, her guide to hosting a book club walks through the whole night, and you can reach her through the contact page to book a date.
Is Kristen Van Nest available as a podcast guest?
Yes. Kristen has been a guest on more than twenty podcasts and speaks on thriller writing and publishing, comedy and internet culture, AI and the entertainment industry, solo travel, and women in business — she spent her twenties in Luxembourg on a Fulbright Scholarship and three years in the Shanghai wine trade. Past appearances are listed on her press page; booking enquiries go through the contact page.
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