So many modern thriller books follow this format.
There is an unreliable narrator, who is a woman most of the time, and she has some short of trauma from her past.
She either takes too many pills, or she takes none even though she has to. If she takes any, she combines them with alcohol.
This causes her to question her view of reality, have visions, be so sleepy all the time, and have a foggy mind.
The unreliable narrator trope is one of my favorites, when it's done well. There are thrillers that have an unreliable narrator and are phenomenal. We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn are some of them, just to name a few.
However, in thrillers nowadays, the unreliable narrator is mostly used as a cheap device to create suspense.
Some books that follow this format heavily are The Woman In The Window by A. J. Finn and A Flicker In The Dark by Stacy Willingham, to name a few. There are more, but these follow the format to a ridiculous degree.
As a big thriller fan, I so wish authors would go back to being creative, and finding other fresh ways to create an interesting atmosphere.
Thrillers are supposed to be thrilling by definition. These cheap thrillers are just not it.
Thanks for reading, let me know if you agree or disagree!
by themostbluejay
6 Comments
I am going to tell you about a crime. By the end, you will understand why facts came to happen as they did…
Cheap, predictable thrillers are candy for a lot of people. They’re not going anywhere, just look for better fiction and move on.
I call them fast food books
100% agree. Read thrillers by Dr Sohil Makwana for unexplored ideas and themes that are not only fast paced but also mind bending— Fresh narrative style and multilayered meandering logical twists.
I don’t read thrillers for this exact reason. They’re all so formulaic and boring.
I used to think thrillers would be thrilling… big
Mistake