Two requests: Literary Thrillers & gut-punching thrillers

Two requests: Literary Thrillers & gut-punching thrillers

Author
Discussion

ATV

Original Poster:

556 posts

194 months

Friday 7th March 2014
quotequote all
Hey guys, I've not read any novels for years due to work but want to jump back in while I'm off on holiday.

Two things I'm itching to read. Firstly I want to read some literary thrillers where the writing will blow me away.

Secondly I want to read some gut-punching thrillers that will have me up till 3 AM wanting to read more. I'm not massively keen on series novels so never read any of the Reacher novels etc. But I'll be willing to give anything a go.

I'll give a few of my own recommendations and hope you guys can help me out:

Literary Thrillers

"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt. Superb murder mystery set in an elite American college. Great writing.
"The Beach" by Alex Garland. Excellently controlled plot from a first person narrator who you gradually realise is unhinged as he arrives in a Garden of Eden and it becomes a murderous hell.
"The Book of Revelation" by Rupert Thomas. One of my favourite writers, but this one is his best. A world famous ballet dancer is kidnapped in Amsterdam by three mysterious women who hold him captive and then release him after weeks of torture. The book is written in a mix of first and third person and is an amazing book about the effects of violence on someone's psyche.

Gut-punching Thrillers

"The Day After Tomorrow" by Allan Folsom. Paul Osborn is sitting in a Paris cafe having a drink when he glances up and notices a man sitting across the room. With horror, he recognizes the man as the random killer who murdered his father thirty years ago in America. So begins a thriller that goes all the way around the world and reveals the twist on the final word of the final page! (don't peek, you'll spoil it)
"Vertical Run" by Joseph Garber. A complete rip-off of Die Hard but very fun. Dave, the vice-president of a conglomerate goes to his top floor office one day only to find his boss waiting there to kill him. He manages to disarm and disable his boss only to sprint out of the corridor to find more armed men waiting for him. Very cool book.
"A Maiden's Grave" by Jeffrey Deaver. Like a said I don't like series novels for haven't read any of his Lincoln Rhyme novels but this one from his early days is very sharp and tough. A trio of armed killers escape from a prison and take hostages into a remote slaughterhouse. The FBI surround them and it seems there is no escape. Great twist at the end and the fact that the hostages were all Deaf and Dumb school children out on a field trip gives the novel an extra sharpness. Great stuff.
"No Country For Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy. One of the best writers alive turns to thrillers. Great novel.

Would love some more recommendations.

zb

2,498 posts

163 months

Saturday 8th March 2014
quotequote all
Run by Douglas E. Winter

ATV

Original Poster:

556 posts

194 months

Tuesday 11th March 2014
quotequote all
zb said:
Run by Douglas E. Winter
I actually read this when it first came out. Mainly because for a debut novel it had some astonishingly good reviews on the covers from the likes of Stephen King, Clive Barker and Peter Straub

So I bought it and ...

it was awful. One of the worst books I've ever read. Full of faux-hipster dialogue and short snippy sentences copied from James Ellroy.

I later found out from some online Amazon reviews that the reason it was so well reviewed was that Douglas E. Winter had been a very influential editor and had promoted the careers of the above writers very heavily in anthologies he edited and several non-fiction books. So a case of he scratched their backs and they scratched his.

Just goes to prove the old saying, never judge a book by it's cover smile