Tell us what you think makes a good thriller - to win a copy of crime novel The Darkness Within plus £100 voucher. Now closed!

It's difficult for a writer to achieve but I enjoy a thriller that is not predictable. I think with both books and films it's hard to write an unpredictable plot twist or ending that hasn't already been done to death. One of my favourite thriller writers is Dean Koontz because his stories take me to places I'm not expecting to go. The secret is to get your reader comfortable and then pull the rip-cord!

Twists and a plot that keeps me glued to the book

A plot that keeps you guessing is a must. And it's even better if you've started to think you know what happened and there is a plot twist that completely throws you and you didn't see coming.
If you struggle to put the book down when you really have to stop reading and do something, that's a sign of a great book.

I like a thriller which tells the stories of several seemingly unconnected events and people and then slowly brings them together to be connected in a way you couldn't imagine. This is perfectly illustrated in the book 'I Am Pilgrim' by Terry Hayes.

Really good descriptions of the environment, characters and a really good sense of place does it for me. It all helps build the atmosphere and make the book immersive. I remember Peter Hoeg's 'Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow' making an impression on me and was one of the first Scandi Noir books that I loved - the first of many.

Good characters and a bit of noir

A great twist or two! Character development, good pacing and descriptive writing.

a story that thrills you from the beginning with lots of twists and turns and no idea who or what the end of the story is

A great thriller is a book that grips you by the heart and keeps you thinking and guessing, with interesting and flawed 'human' characters you care about, building to a gobsmacking climax.

The sign of a great thriller is my slowing down reading towards the end... as I don't want to finish

I like thrillers that are a little bit different. Plot twists that you don't see coming. Many thrillers on the market at the moment seem to be formulaic, and blend in to one another. Good writing is also important; many seem to be "wordy" just for the hell of it. Finally, for me, the mark of a good thriller is not being able to put it down until finished.

Pace, plot and petrified people!

Tension, from page one, so that you have to keep turning the page! I love it when I can't put a book down and race through it to the end! (and then I have 'book bereavement' when it's finished). I don't mind the odd twist as long as its credible. Anything that's too far-fetched puts me off the book. I also like a strong and beliveable main character that I can really root for.

The kind of book where you can barely finish the page because of the anticipation, the one where you go to sleep at 1am (when your normal bed time is 9pm!) and that book that almost makes you relieved when you finished reading it!

A good thriller for me means, simply, that I can't wait to turn the page to find out what happens next, it is keeping me in suspense and second guessing all the time.

A good thriller has to be totally unpredictable. I'm a terrible "peeper" so for me, I know it's a good thriller when I'm fighting the urge to peep ahead because I can't cope with not knowing how it will turn out.

Being lead so far down one path that you are sure you know how it is going to end before - boom! Huge u-turn that turns everything on it's head.

I like to be kept guessing, but have the reveal be one that makes sense with hindsight. Too obvious and the enjoyment is clearly spoilt! But ridiculous twists and turns make me put the book down sharpish!

A story so captivating that I can't put the book down and one that challenges my brain cells!

I love Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers novels I have read them all and they cant release a new novel quick ebough for me!!! , their Books are mainly set around gangs and families and once you start them you cant put them down as their are twists and turns on every page. I particularly like it when a a novel has multiple points of view and you get inside the heads of many characters, I also think a good thriller needs a fast pace storyline.

I like when the narrative shifts voices so you are left in the dark until the end about how it actually pieces together - good example: Gone Girl.

For me, a great thriller has lots of twists and turns and towards the end leads you to a conclusion that all the clues are pointing to... before throwing you a massive curveball and ending with a completely different ending to what you were expecting.

A roller-coaster read.
Draws you in, then, just as you think you know where it's going, throws in a whole new load of shocking twists and turns.

Thillers that appeal to me most have intelligent, believable characters that I can relate to and unpredictable plots (maybe the odd twist). Have read and love most of the Jack Reacher novels

Strong character development. I hate it when a character has no proper storyline or life and you can just tell they are the bad guy from the very beginning!

Lots of twists in the story line.