The truth doesn’t set you free. It follows you into the dark.
“Todd Brown creates flawed characters who feel forged by their city; an unnamed place so distinct you’ll give it a name and swear you read it in the opening pages. But what’s most remarkable is the mounting tension, as unanswered questions gather and certainty becomes harder to hold. Evoking Dennis Lehane and Paul Tremblay while remaining entirely its own, Anna So Knows ’Ya is timely and empathetic, unsettling and deeply human, and creepy in the best possible way. —Mishna Wolff, best-selling author and screenwriter
“A thrilling mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat. As the plot gets more twisted and John’s sanity is put to the test, you’ll find that things are not as they seem. It’s an entertaining, intriguing read, full of suspense, and I highly recommend it!” —Tal Anderson, author, advocate, and Emmy Award-nominated actress of HBO’s The Pitt
The book tackles heavy, sensitive topics, and Todd handles them exceptionally well. I kept shifting between “Wait, is this really happening?” and “Is my mind playing tricks on me?” And that ending? I had to read it several times to believe it. Jaw. On. The. Floor.” — Bonechillingbooks
"A chilling, well-researched page-turner you won't want to put down." Janina Scarlet, best-selling author of Superhero Therapy
“By drawing readers inside John’s mind, Todd Brown offers a rare and jarring perspective forcing us to ask how we would respond if we could no longer trust our own thoughts.” —Jerri Clark, author of Gone Before Gone: When Mental Illness Steals Someone You Love
John Simons has built his career on facts. As a crime reporter in a city rattled by violence, he knows how to separate rumor from evidence and truth from noise.
Then the noise begins to acknowledge him.
A man in a dark hat starts appearing at the edges of John’s life. Taps in the wall sound like messages meant only for him. His boss Anna So’s smallest habits take on a terrible new meaning. As bodies surface across the East Side, John begins to fear he isn’t just chasing the story anymore.
He’s slipping inside it.
As dread hardens into obsession, John follows connections no one else can see, descending deeper into a reality that grows more intimate and menacing with every step. The closer he gets to the truth, the less he can trust his own mind or the people trying to pull him back.
Anna So Knows ’Ya is a haunting psychological horror novel about grief, paranoia, and the terror of realizing reality no longer knows you.
Todd Brown is the author of When Shadows Burn (2025), a Southern Gothic thriller that received a starred BookLife/Publishers Weekly review, was shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Grand Prize, named an Eric Hoffer First Horizons finalist and Honorable Mention for Best Commercial Fiction, and was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalist. His fiction blends dark humor, crime, social pressure, and morally complicated communities with a particular interest in the stories people tell to make cruelty easier to live with.
Anna So Knows ‘Ya, is his second novel. He is neurodivergent and lives with his family in a small town in Virginia, where he shares life with his incredible wife and their transgender son, who between the two of them, there's enough neurodivergence to turn comedic dysfunction into an art form. They also have a son who lives in Florida and travels the world.