Shocking "Novel" Endings

[Dawn M. Kravagna]

Hi. I was reading the back copy of a novel on CD. To paraphrase, it said "a thrilling adventure with a shocking ending." I read this type of hyped-up copy on quite a few novel jackets but can only think of one mystery novel (or novel, period) that had an ending that truly shocked me: Anne Perry's, "The Twisted Root," which elicted a loud "EWWWW" from me. Anyone else read a novel which had an ending which truly "shocked" you? A truly "novel" ending? Pun intended.

[Elizabeth Zelvin]

The first instance that sprang to my mind was not a novel but the ending of the first season of "24." I watched the first season over about a week on CD, because I'd heard so many writers and readers talk about how brilliantly it kept ratcheting up the suspense. Later seasons, even before the show jumped the shark, didn't have quite the same shock value, because by then viewers knew that anything, absolutely anything could happen. My second thought is a mystery, Reginald Hill's Dialogues of the Dead. The ending shocked because it revealed the unreliability of a sympathetic point of view character--but it didn't convince, so I wouldn't call it successful, much as I admire Hill's work. Still, what shocks me as a reader is more likely to be an unexpected revelation or an unreliable narrator rather than some gruesome torture or sadistic murder: Joanne Harris's Edgar-nominated Gentlemen and Players comes to mind.

[I. J. Parker]

Ah! I have a dim memory of having the same reaction to DIALOGUES OF THE DEAD. The reader felt tricked, and that's quite different from introducing a red herring. Characterization is so important to the overall quality of a novel that we consider that sort of twist a massive flaw in the novel itself. Mind you, I'm a fan of Reginald Hill, but I have increasingly developed doubts, thinking that his control is slipping..

[L.J. Sellers]

I know it's not fair to mention my own novel, The Sex Club, but many readers and reviewers have commented on the ending. They've called it pulse-pounding, stunning, and unbelievable (in a good way) to name a few. I'm struggling to think of the last book I read that truly surprised me. There have been some, but my memory is too cluttered.

[Dave Zeltserman]

Hard to beat The Getaway by Jim Thompson--completely different ending than the movie versions, and as brilliant an ending as any crime novel I've seen.

Spoilers below about my thought on the ending of Shutter Island







A quarter way through, I started hoping the ending wouldn't be what it turned out to be. I found it a cheat--there's no way a prison hospital would would give this dangerous inmate free reign like they did.

[Jessica]

The only ending that really surprised me was The Poet by Michael Connelly. That was a twist I hadn't seen - mostly because I was half-asleep when I was reading it... but still! Twisty!

[sue kelso]

To me the most shocking ending was the last Lee Corso book "Blown Away" by GM Ford. Can't say too much as I don't want to spoil it, but I read the last page with my jaw hanging open.

[helen black]

I loved the ending of 'We need to Talk About Kevin.' There was a great twist but also the sense of ambiguity in the narrator that made me question the entire book
HB x

[BrianLindenmuth]

"I know he said, and died."

Six words that are near the end of Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane that blew me away then and still does. I can think of them and a flood of emotions hit me even now.

Its the equivalent of Lehane taking your chin in his hand, gently leading it to a certain position, then pulling back and punching the shit out of you.

He takes one of the two biggest assholes from the first novel, cleans him up and humanizes him creating a sympathetic character then kills him. Just devastating.

[Cynde L. Hammond]

Absolutely! This was one of those novel endings that made me so upset that I went to bed and rewrote the ending in my dreams so I wouldn't feel so bad. Very upsetting--but that's what a good novel's all about, right?

[Dawn M. Kravagna]

Thanks to everyone who responded to the discussion on "shocking endings". I didn't respond right away as I took a vacation to Egypt for two weeks and didn't have time to log back onto CrimeSpace before I left. It was an awesome trip; I highly recommend to anyone out there in the ring to take a trip to this amazing country of contradictions. However, avoid the summer months. I huddled in the shade most of the time as it was often over 100 degrees F. However, it was fun swimming in the pool the last few days of my trip with the pyramids in the background.

Also, if you go, please don't try to drive around in Cairo. Try a tour. I saw a lot of wonderful and awesome monuments, but what I will remember the most was the scary traffic. Mule carts, horse buggies, pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, truck overloaded with hay, and many buses made four lanes into five, or three into four. We did a lot of screaming on the minibus: several times persons walked right in front of us, even on the freeway, one was a lady carrying a baby. The govt. had to take out the traffic lights as no one was obeying them, and put in roundabouts and u-turns instead. I wish I had my video camera as it was nearly unbelieveable.

I missed my dog, Buster, however.

[carole gill]

The only time I can remember just about dying from shock at an ending was many years ago reading Sidney Sheldon's the Other Side of Midnight.
Don't want to give anything away--but that ending-I think it was in the epilogue--a second ending to the main ending! well, it blew me away like totally!
btw, I think I've always been in search of more shocking endings, and haven't found any. although a novel can be great without loosing a few years of your life!