Allison Buccola

Allison Buccola writes psychological suspense about memory, guilt, and the stories communities build around unresolved crimes. Catch Her When She Falls is her debut thriller, first issued by Random House in 2022. The novel follows Micah Wilkes, a Pennsylvania coffee-shop owner whose high-school boyfriend was convicted of killing her best friend Emily. Ten years later, messages, a true-crime blog, and online speculation force Micah to reconsider both the verdict and her own recollection of the night. Buccola uses the small-town setting and Micah’s increasingly uncertain judgment to examine how a killing reshapes more lives than a court case can settle. The publisher presents an atmospheric, psychologically driven story, while library records classify it across mystery, thriller, and detective fiction. Buccola holds a law degree from the University of Chicago and lives in the Chicago suburbs. Catch Her When She Falls brings that legal awareness to questions of evidence and punishment without losing focus on friendship, grief, and personal responsibility.