Anticipation is a delightful sort of agony, and within the realms of fiction, it’s what keeps us turning pages. In romance novels, it’s the clear tension between characters, the will-they-won’t-they of it all. In fantasy and science fiction, it’s the adventure, knowing something wonderous and impossible awaits us as we…
Chelsea CicconeMay 2, 2022
Legal thrillers make for exciting reads because they combine the page-turning intensity of mystery books with the thrilling, rapid-fire back-and-forth of courtroom drama. One of my personal favorite tropes within the genre has always been the classic "guilty or not" mystery. Authors like Michael Connelly and Scott Turow are masters…
Wyatt SemenukMarch 16, 2022
It’s hard to imagine horror writing without the influence of H.P. Lovecraft. The early 20th-century writer made famous for creating the Cthulhu mythos spawned what’s perhaps the first full-scale example of “fan fiction,” with authors both famous and unknown exploring and expanding on the universe he created. From the controversial…
Cynthia ConradApril 29, 2021
For over a century, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has dominated the horror genre. His work has served as the prototype for vampire books, with the invention of the aloof vampire and his seductive power. But while the character Count Dracula has been the main source of inspiration for subsequent writers, there’s…
Cameron KimballMay 17, 2021
When seasons change, there is a sense of magic in the air. November is the start of the traditional season of gratitude, fellowship, spirituality and hope. This month's women’s fiction storylines involve magic shops, fortune-telling, astrology, psychics, magical foods and mystical intrigue. With literary spells as enchanting as this, well,…
Women's Fiction Writers AssociationNovember 10, 2021
October may seem like the best month to share a list of books, even a short list, that fall under the category of thrillers, mysteries, suspense or crime novels. You know the kind of novels I mean — something to keep you up late at night (as any good book…
Denny S. BryceOctober 21, 2021
Perry Mason. Atticus Finch. Sir Wilfred Robarts in Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution. John Grisham's Reggie Love and Jake Brigance. When a fictional lawyer captures the passion and fire of the literary search for justice, readers cannot fail but be captivated. Even Nancy Drew’s father was a lawyer, remember?…
Hank Phillippi RyanSeptember 12, 2019
On Saturday, the International Thriller Writers announced the winners of the 2020 ITW Thriller Awards. Usually part of a banquet at the climax of the organization’s annual ThrillerFest conference, this year’s festivities were of necessity as virtual as the event itself. The awards were presented in a recorded session, with…
BookTribJuly 14, 2020
It feels impossible to discuss Cold War fiction, or the whole of espionage fiction for that matter, without mentioning the master of the spy novel himself, John le Carré. As The New York Times notes in the late novelist’s obituary, his “exquisitely nuanced, intricately plotted Cold War thrillers elevated the…
Chelsea CicconeApril 5, 2022