Without a doubt, one of my favourite genres is the thriller, more specifically the psychological thriller. But what is this exactly? Well sit back and let me explain….
It is helpful to be aware of the characteristics of a psychological thriller. One of the main features is the fact, that as a reader we are given an insight into the minds of the characters, their thoughts, feelings, motivations. However, it must be noted that these aren’t usually completely ordinary folk, or rather, I should say that they are usually ordinary folks who find themselves in extraordinary situations. The master of this is Stephen King, who is not strictly a thriller writer. He is renowned for taking the ordinary and making it seem scary, because let’s face it, horror is often looking us straight in the eye.
But I digress. Other features you will find in a thriller include tension/suspense, conflict, deception and tension. A common storyline that you will come across is the girlfriend who thinks she knows everything about her perfect boyfriend, only to discover, often purely by chance, that he isn’t who he says he is, and trust me, he usually has a secret. And vice versa, of course. A perfect example of this is seen in Gone Girl, when no one really knows who Amy Dunne is, not her husband or us the reader. Which brings me to my next point, plot devices.
This feature often can drive readers ‘nuts’, but is an important device, and that is the split timeframe. It is not uncommon to find in this flavour of thriller a story that jumps around time. Some authors will use very obvious signposting, like chapter headings with the time or date. Other authors will simply head their chapters ‘Now’ and ‘Then’ or words to that effect. Other authors make the reader work a bit harder and will use clues or motifs (recurring symbols) that indicate where the story is in the timeline. Sometimes this is on a chapter by chapter basis, sometimes time can change within a chapter (another Stephen King technique).
Have you ever noticed that the narrator is often an unreliable person? If you have picked up on this, then you are absolutely correct. In JP Pomare’s latest novel the narrator, Margot is a brilliant psychologist who has come close to losing her licence because she ends up crossing the patient/therapist barrier. But the ultimate award for an unreliable narrator would have to go to Amy Dunne (as mentioned above). Her unreliableness is the whole basis of the novel “Gone girl” by Gillian Flynn. I won’t go into too much detail lest I give away spoiler alerts, but needless to say that as a reader we are unsure what is right or wrong, truth or fiction. If you can’t trust the storyteller, who can you trust?
Another main characteristic in a psychological thriller are the plot twists that we have come to expect. We, the reader, are being manipulated as much as the characters in the story. The mark of a really good author is the one who hits us with the twist that we didn’t see coming. In some books you think you know what is going to happen, but you are being led astray. Sadly, some books in this genre are not very well written and some very canny readers know early on what is going to happen, and they are usually right.
If you are keen to dip your toes into a psychological thriller try a novel by one of these authors. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but a good place to start.
Lucy Foley (writes great character ensemble thrillers)
Alex Michaelides
Liane Moriarty (Queen of the domestic thriller)
Paula Hawkins (wrote the creepy Girl on the Train novel)
Gillian Flynn (most novels in this genre are compared to Gone Girl)
Sarah Pinborough (adds a new dimension to the genre)
Nicci French (un-put-downable novels that will have you reading into the small hours)
Shari Lapena
Daphne du Maurier
Val McDermid
JP Pomare
Nikki Crutchley
All of these novelists have books in our fiction collection, read one…if you dare…
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
Bcls.lib.nj.us/Psychological-thrillers-and-suspense
Wendy Walker – careerauthors.com/structure-and-emotionm-in psychological-thrillers
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