Mystery writers are among the nicest people. I have said that so many times before and probably will say it many times in the future.

Take Jeff Abbott, left, and Harlan Coben, below left.

Two nice guys who write solid crime fiction novels. Both started out writing quite good paperbacks before moving on to quite good hardcovers.

Both also have been supportive of each other throughout their careers. Panels with the two of them are non-stop laughter.

This past year, the two of them were working on young adult novels at the same time. Again, mutual support came up.

Several months ago, I was interviewing Jeff for a profile in Mystery Scene. That interview was in issue No. 120, Summer 2011.

During the interview, Jeff mentioned that his European publisher noticed that many teenage boys were reading his stand-alone thriller Panic about the exploits of Evan Cashier, the novel’s 24-year-old hero.

So Jeff’s publishers asked to do something radical to draw even more young readers. Could he re-imagine Panic, rewriting it to make Evan a 15-year-old school boy?

“My first thought was this was not a simple search and replace since age 24 is a lot different than being age 15,” said Jeff.

“But my sons had been begging me to write a book they could read. My oldest said, ‘If you do this, I want to read this first.’ So he and his 15-year-old cousin were my first readers.”

The result is Panic: The Ultimate Edition with new characters and different interaction between the characters. The novel is only available, at present, in Europe.

“I had a lot of fun with it and it was an invigorating experience. It was a new challenge, and I am glad to get a Young Adult book done for my sons.”

While Jeff was working on Panic, Harlan Coben also was working on Shelter, his first YA novel. Shelter continues the story of Mickey Bolitar, Myron's very bright nephew.

And Jeff's sons entered the writing process again.

"Harlan asked my sons to vote on covers of his YA book. My sons are listed as cover consultants," said Jeff.