George Oliver
New Member
Hi - Just finished reading The Rainmaker by John Grisham and I was pondering this question over my toast. Wanting to turn the page and stay up into the night to finish a book, by definition, means it is thrilling but does that necessarily mean that it is a thriller? Is it believable characters who become embroiled in believable but critical situations under time pressure told in real time as far as possible, often from the first person?
'Vera Atkins: A Life in Secrets' by Sarah Helm was all about the British government's callous treatment of spies in WW2 ie factual non-fiction but it reads like a thriller. Then there's 'Julius' by Brian Allen Levine which leaps convincingly across the years - London circa 1938 to Nazi Germany to 60's Hollywood - without losing any pace. What these books have in common is something bad or illegal happening which gets the blood flowing and where you can feel the clock ticking and you just KNOW something bad is brewing - ie suspense.
Subsidiary question really: does someone always have to die or disappear for it to constitute a thriller? Are there non-violent thrillers out there? I'm not looking for any - I have to admit a certain partiality to escapism from my non-violent lifestyle (!?!) - but am simply curious. I better get bacl to my toast...
'Vera Atkins: A Life in Secrets' by Sarah Helm was all about the British government's callous treatment of spies in WW2 ie factual non-fiction but it reads like a thriller. Then there's 'Julius' by Brian Allen Levine which leaps convincingly across the years - London circa 1938 to Nazi Germany to 60's Hollywood - without losing any pace. What these books have in common is something bad or illegal happening which gets the blood flowing and where you can feel the clock ticking and you just KNOW something bad is brewing - ie suspense.
Subsidiary question really: does someone always have to die or disappear for it to constitute a thriller? Are there non-violent thrillers out there? I'm not looking for any - I have to admit a certain partiality to escapism from my non-violent lifestyle (!?!) - but am simply curious. I better get bacl to my toast...