Caroline B. Cooney (1947-) is an American young adult writer, often in horror and suspense. Her most famous work is her Janie Johnson ​series.
Some of her other stuff:
- Flight 116 Is Down
- A Friend At Midnight
- The Losing Christina series
- Several books in the Point Horror seriesnote
- The Time Quartet series
- Twins
- Wanted
- If The Witness Lied
Common Tropes in Cooney's Works
- Awful Truth: If the Witness Lied has the kids' father died from a car accident, and their youngest brother Tris allegedly pulled the parking brake that led to their family car running him over. The two older sisters have left the house to deal with their grief. It leads to middle child Jack being the Only Sane Man trying to protect Tris from the unwanted spotlight, while a woman named Aunt Cheryl has signed a reality TV deal. It comes out that Aunt Cheryl was the one who actually killed their father; she wasn't really their aunt but a woman hitting on him and took offense when he refused to marry her for the kid's sake. Tris, fortunately, was playing with his dad's phone, getting a picture of Cheryl's hand on the parking brake.
- Cassandra Truth: Many a protagonist deals with this.
- Gaslighting
- Karmic Twist Ending: If the Witness Lied has this for Aunt Cheryl. The kids get the evidence that Aunt Cheryl killed their father to the adults in their life legitimately concerned for their welfare, with a neighbor friend keeping Tris safe in her house. Their grandparents arrive in Big Damn Heroes mode, their grandfather forcing Aunt Cheryl to cancel the reality TV deal and keeping her outside until the police come.
