Monday, November 10, 2008

The Thrill of the Thriller

The "Special Thriller Issue" of the Romantic Times Book Reviews has a lot of great info. So we here at Libraryland Roundup have decided to summarize. You simply must get a hand on the full issue to get the scoop. Good news? Paranormal is not the only crossover genre out there (like we didn't know.) Thrillers and Suspense are a romantic pair waiting to happen.

"Fasten Your Seatbelts: RT Looks at the Growing Thriller Phenomenon." Romantic Times Book Reviews. December, 2008, pp. 10+

Summary of Lee Child's remarks at the 2008 ThrillerFest convention (from the article): "...in a thriller time is of the essence. The story unfolds at such a breakneck pace that a protagonist barely has time to stop for a cup of coffee, let alone check his email."

Lee Child's words at the 2007 ThrillerFest convention "Thrillers are really why we all learn to read in the first place...The love stories...the danger, peril, fear, with a guaranteed resolution at the end - the restoration of order and safety. It's the universal human arc, and thrillers are the only place you can get it."

Romantic Suspense and the Thriller market are becoming linked. A romantic suspense book simply adds a resolution to a romantic relationship to the mix.

Some currently hot types of thrillers and examples

Mideast Terrorist: Daniel Silva, The Messenger; Thomas Harris, Black Sunday

Eco Thrillers: Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park

2012 or Bust (Doomsday spinoffs - having to do with the current theory that the Mayan calendar, which forecasts doomsday as being on 12/21/2012):
Whitley Strieber, 2012; Roxanne St. Claire, First you Run

Spies: John Le Carre, Mission Song; Vince Flynn, Extreme Measures

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