I love thrillers. The fast-paced ones, the slower mystery-style ones, the international spy ones, the action-packed military ones.
The hardest to pull off (in my opinion) is a quality adrenaline-fueled, balls-to-the-wall fast-paced thriller. The kind that hits the ground running and rarely lets up. One that immediately comes to mind is INTENSITY by Dean Koontz.
These books are hard to get right because you have to have a plot that’s believable, yet surprising and fun. You have to have characters that feel real and have personality, without spending too much time talking about their traits. This is a thriller, after all, so the pace needs to be quick. You can’t spend a whole chapter having a character eat cookies in bed and think about how she’s sad about her cat dying.
It’s really hard to do. I sometimes get part way into an adrenaline-type thriller and give up because I can’t relate to the characters or some plot twist happens that is too ridiculous for me to swallow.
And that’s why I’m happy to talk about Sean Costello’s SQUALL. I took a chance on this author I didn’t know because the book was free (it may still be free now, I dunno). And I loved it. The story unfolds at a breakneck pace, yet he still takes the time to make you invest in what happens to these characters. The plot twists are surprising but not too crazy to be believed.
Plus, it’s a novella, which means it’s a short read. I appreciate that. I know it turns some people off, but I ain’t got time to read your 600-page thriller. I just don’t. So I appreciate stories in the 150-300 page range, since I get so little free time to enjoy fiction these days. Sigh. Don’t you feel sorry for me?
Anyway, if you’re looking for an intense thriller, pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed.