What Makes a Book A Thriller?

[Jude Hardin]

I think the word is used a bit too liberally these days. Some mystery/suspense authors label their books thrillers because thrillers sell better than mysteries.

I think we all know a thriller when we see one, though.

Here's my definition:

A fast-paced drama pushing the envelope of credibility with situation and character (the protagonist often possessing or attaining nearly or downright superhuman qualities and/or a super sense of duty/morality, pitted against a villain of equal or greater strength), where the stakes are increasingly raised and ultimately include a large group of people or even the entire world.

As opposed to the gritty realism of the harboiled/noir detective or the cute incompetence of the cozy's amateur sleuth, where one or a handful of lives are at stake, thrillers play more with suspension of disbelief and global consequences.

James Bond, for example, is the perfect hero. He's fast, witty, clever, a chick magnet, physically strong, an expert at EVERYTHING...

He's a super man, his world has a completely different set of rules than ours, and he's thrown into battles that are seemingly impossible to win.

That's what makes a thriller, IMO.

Thoughts?

What makes a book a thriller?

[I. J. Parker]

Yup, that works for me, Sandra. Good definitions. Heaven forbid I should stray into "suspense" territory. Du Maurier's REBECCA was supense. And any number of romantic suspense novels follow that format.

I prefer working with politics, assassins, and seductresses. Overt lust and violence, in other words, and none of that tiptoeing around family secrets and locked rooms. (By the way, has anyone pointed out that REBECCA is influenced by JANE EYRE?) :)

[Sandra Ruttan]

And romantic suspense again blurs the genre lines. Ultimately, I try not to pay too much attention - like you, I think I'm happier if things are elastic.

Although when it comes to pitching work, it's a bitch if you can't categorize it easily.

[Jude Hardin]

I love suspense novels, I.J. I just don't think they're all thrillers, necessarily, although for marketing purposes they're often given the label.

[Jude Hardin]

As an all-encompassing term, I prefer "crime fiction" over "thriller." Their definition of technothriller is spot on, though, IMO.

[Eric Christopherson]

Here's a comparison of mysteries and thrillers (by Carolyn Wheat) that I find interesting. It was written at least a decade ago, but I think it still works today:

A mystery concerns itself with a puzzle. Suspense presents the reader with a nightmare.

A mystery is a power fantasy; we identify with the detective. Suspense is a victim fantasy; we identify with someone at the mercy of others.

A mystery can be likened to a myth. Suspense is more like a fairy tale.

In a mystery the hero or heroine already has the skills he or she needs to solve the puzzle. In suspense, he or she must learn new skills to survive.

In a mystery, thinking is paramount. In suspense, feeling is paramount.

The most important action in a mystery takes place offstage. In suspense, the important action happens onstage.

A mystery usually takes place within a small circle of friends. The hero or heroine of a suspense novel often finds him or herself thrust into a larger world.

Readers of mysteries are looking for clues. Readers of suspense are expecting surprises.

In a mystery, information is withheld. In suspense novels, information is provided.

The ideal reader of mysteries remains one step behind the hero or heroine. Those who read suspense should be one step ahead of the hero or heroine.

Mystery readers expect a series. Those who read suspense know a book can be a one shot.

The hero or heroine in a mystery is looking for suspects. The hero or heroine in suspense looks for betrayers.

A mystery hero or heroine must confront a series of red herrings. The suspense novel hero or heroine faces a cycle of distrust.

Mystery endings must be intellectually satisfying. Suspense endings must provide emotional satisfaction.

Mysteries are usually three hundred manuscript pages. Suspense novels can be longer.

[Jude Hardin]

That's what she says about mystery vs. suspense, Eric. Wheat contends that not all suspense novels are thrillers, and I agree. For her definition of a thriller, see page 91 of How To Write Killer Fiction.

[Eric Christopherson]

Yeah I slipped up, here, Jude. Probably because I personally don't make a distinction between suspense novels and thrillers. I wonder: do agents and editors have a fetish about categorizing crime fiction--making even more distinctions than we are doing here--or conversely do they just lump it all as "crime fiction?" (I've heard that in Britain "crime fiction" is a more popular term than it is in America.)

[I. J. Parker]

Old definition of mystery! It need not be that way. In fact, recent mysteries (I like crime novel) may include all sorts of things and go to all sorts of places (literally and figuratively). And not all violence needs to take place off-stage. The definition sounds cozy to me, actually.

Frankly, I think that the whole thriller genre (and ITW) has come into being because MWA was operating under much too narrow definitions and ignoring novels that were striking out into new fields and shying away from formula.

[John McFetridge]

Mystery endings must be intellectually satisfying. Suspense endings must provide emotional satisfaction.

I suppose I could just let I.J. say something about being too boxed in, but it seems to me this is the exact kind of talk we don't want. I guess "satisfying" can have a few different meanings to different people but it can't mean everything. It surely can't mean ambiguous or even non-happy endings where the detectives don't solve the case and the bag guy gets away.

This sounds a lot like Ayn Rand's Screen Guide for Americans, with the advice:
"Don't Deify the Common Man," and "Don't smear the free enterprise system."

I like the page length stuff, though.

[I. J. Parker]

I think that line came from Wheat. I'm guessing at what it means. I suppose the solution to the mystery puzzle should be logical. And "emotional satisfaction" in suspense probably refers to a happy ending. :)

It certainly can mean, in my "book" anyway, that the detective may be proven wrong, or that he may arrive at a solution through happenstance, or that the bad guy commits suicide, or that the kidnapped child is found dead, or that the detective ends up losing something of personal value while he serves the common good. In other words, it's high time that mysteries become a tad more realistic. I'm against deifying the protagonist.

[Daniel Hatadi]

Here's my take:

A thriller makes the heart beat faster.

That's it.

Most of the time this is achieved through a fast paced plot, but I don't think it's limited by genre and I don't think any particular genre or sub-genre automatically qualifies a book as a thriller. It's just a particular way of presenting any story. Take a look at the ITW's must-reads for a good list of examples and discussion on what makes a thriller.

For me, a mystery has the goal of its puzzle solution clearly defined from the beginning, ie, find out who killed this person. Suspense is more about 'what's going to happen next?', so it only needs to hint at what might happen. But it's easy for a book to cover all these genres in one.

I still think it's hard to say for certain whether a book is a thriller or not, and with some books you'll find that people easily disagree over genre or definition. Even an ITW judge isn't sure what a thriller is, even if Ian Fleming is.

Ha. I just looked in the comments section to that last link, Jude. Now I know where this post comes from. ;)

[Sandra Ruttan]

A thriller makes the heart beat faster.

So, does that mean erotica falls under the thriller label? ; )

The fact that the ITW can't even define thriller is why I don't stress about this. Plus there are so many who truly are not thriller writers in the ITW I'm not sure what the point is, other than stressing the label thriller. Ultimately, I prefer the British way, "Crime Fiction" as the label. The only reason it even came up for me this year was when the sale was being listed with PM. I had to decide between thriller or mystery/crime. I went with mystery/crime. The book will still be shelved in "fiction/literature" here, at least, in the chain bookstores. I've just decided not to lose sleep over it, it's just a label.