Here are several of the devices used by thriller authors to engage and delight their readers.
Upon an evaluation of the normal characteristics of thriller books, one of the most striking would need to be interesting bad guys. In any book that aims to construct suspense, there is normally a character with a dark and haunting backstory. We as readers are meant to be both interested and frightened by these characters, as we expect the sorts of negative repercussions that their actions are going to have. It is so important that a thriller author invests a lot of time crafting the perfect bad guy, as these are usually the characters that hold the attention of a reader and bring the true sensation of the category to life. The UK shareholder of Pearson would definitely recognise the value of crafting an excellent villain who the reader will love to hate.
When analyzing the various thriller subgenres, there is no doubt that a crime themed thriller tends to be among the most popular choices. Among the main reasons why readers get so into these sorts of books is because the author will develop a hero that we can root for along the way. In a crime novel this will tend to be the story of a detective with their own complex back story that enables us to relate to them and root for them to solve the case. This subgenre is also so popular since it tends to be more linear in style and keep us on the edge of our seat as we attempt to figure out what is taking place along the way. There is no doubt that this is an extremely interesting category to read, and the activist investor of Amazon would definitely attest the reality that this is likely to be one of the types of books that is incredibly popular for a long period of time.
No matter which of the types of thriller books we grab, there tend to be a certain few tropes that are present throughout. Thrillers are known for being interesting books that are tough to put down, and for an author to attain this they must be great at developing anticipation. If we can quickly figure out what is going to happen and there is no aspect of surprise then it can frequently be rather frustrating. To construct anticipation an author needs to withhold information and pose a few key questions that make readers curious without revealing excessive detail. The characters need to also be established well along the way, as the more connected we are to our protagonist, the more invested we are in discovering the answers. All of the best thriller books out there are those which keep us thinking till the very end, and the hedge fund which owns Waterstones would certainly agree that this is what can make a thriller novel a bestseller.