Book Title: ALTERED (JUSTIN WRIGHT SUSPENSE SERIES Book 1) by Rob Kaufman
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 270 pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller, Suspense
Publisher: Rob Kaufman
Release date: May 2023
When Frank Devlin walks into Justin Wright's office, the renowned New York City psychiatrist decides to take on one of the most challenging cases of his career.
Justin is determined to help Frank, a young man with multiple personalities (“alters”), live a happier, more fulfilling life. Little does he know that Frank and his alters are secretly weaving themselves into Justin’s life in ways that will affect the Wright family forever.
A suspense-filled story driven by emotion, angst, and the ultimate revenge, “Altered” takes readers down a twisted path of uncertainty and mind games—leaving them shocked, heartbroken, and questioning what could possibly come next...
Where Do My Twisted Ideas Come From?
People sometimes ask where I get the ideas for my psychological thrillers.
I usually tell them I have a dark and mysterious imagination. That sounds much better than admitting I spend an unreasonable amount of time wondering what could go wrong in perfectly ordinary situations.
A stranger enters an office. What could go wrong?
A family welcomes someone into its life. What could go wrong?
A psychiatrist decides he can help a deeply troubled patient.
You can probably see where this is heading.
The inspiration for ALTERED began with my fascination with the human mind and a simple question: What would happen if a psychiatrist took on a patient whose alternate personalities were not confined to the therapy room?
Frank Devlin comes to Dr. Justin Wright seeking help. Justin is caring, compassionate, and genuinely committed to his patients. He wants Frank to live a stable, fulfilling life. But Frank’s alters have needs, motives, and plans of their own—and Justin does not realize how closely his professional and personal worlds are beginning to overlap.
That is where many of my stories begin: not with a crime or a shocking twist, but with a question about people. How well can we really know someone? What happens when compassion overrides caution? Can a person make a completely understandable decision that leads to devastating consequences?
Once I have the central question, I begin building characters who will be forced to answer it under increasingly difficult circumstances. Then I add secrets, emotional complications, and enough trouble to make any sensible character consider changing his phone number and moving to another state.
The best inspiration often comes from ordinary human emotions—love, guilt, jealousy, fear, grief, and the desire to protect the people closest to us. Those feelings are familiar. What makes a thriller exciting is pushing them to an extreme and asking what someone might do when there is no painless choice left.
ALTERED became the first book in the Justin Wright Suspense Series because its consequences were too large to fit inside one novel. The later books follow the Wright family as old dangers return, buried truths surface, and new threats emerge from decisions made earlier in the series. Each installment expands the characters’ world while tightening the suspense, and readers often tell me that once they begin, they cannot put the books down.
Apparently, wondering what could go wrong has its advantages.
Keep the crown. It had been Len’s only goal for six years, before which it had been to take the damn thing. As Serica’s first ruling queen in centuries, she’s managed to stay on her throne through force of will and a growing trail of blood. For a time, her crown felt safe. Then Bardan Alimen, her lifelong betrothed, called to fulfill their marriage. With no coin to buy her freedom and an enemy force too strong to attack, Len feels her crown slipping from her grasp.
