AIBU to have had a gut full of "psychological thrillers"

[Notradespeopleareavailable]

Having just read yet another one with a totally ridiculous and implausible ending, I don't think I can take any more. One of my favourite authors has a kindle book at £0.00 on offer at Amazon and I don't think I can even be bothered to download it.

I think "psychological thrillers" is just another name for chick-lit, and it does amuse me to read all the redacted reviews (back-slapping and puff pieces) from other authors of the same genre eg:

"The most gripping read of 2021"
" I could not put this book down!" fast enough
" Twisty and keeps you guessing through to the end".

I can't believe these other authors really have the time and inclination to read all this similar stuff being churned out in droves. About 15 years ago, this type of book was a novelty and tightly plotted and well-written. But since then, what has happened, why is the world suddenly being taken over with this genre of books?

@severelysound oh id feel so duped if I knew 🥴
I hope i havent read any of them.

I really liked Richard Osman’s book.
I’m re reading PD James and Ruth Rendell. Nothing new grabs me. Especially not cup cakes in Cornwall.

The only decent book of this sort of genre I have read in the last few years is "We Begin At The End". I actually didn't grasp how everything hung together until the last few pages. And there were a few other surprises earlier in the book. Add in characters who were complex and likeable and unlikeable at different points and it was a very enjoyable read

I think it’s significant that a lot of men won’t read female authors (whereas women don’t tend to discriminate) so authors either initial their name or go for the female market.

I do like a psychological thriller but I hate it done badly, especially when authors go so far out of their way to create an unreliable character they just become annoying (Nikki French WTF has happened lately?!) or they spend so long alluding to a deep dark secret that the reveal is a bit of a let down.

I really enjoyed Louise Candlish The Other Passenger, so perfectly paced. I would recommend Helen Fitzgerald if you are looking for a more feminist slant. Belinda Bauer also mention on this thread is brilliant.

@StealthPolarBear

I'm starting to enjoy disaster novels, planes falling out of the sky etc

Do you have any recommendations of specific books as I like that sort of thing.

I do!
The lucky eight by Sheila bugler was OK. Not brilliant (and more like a thriller than a disaster novel as it all takes place after the event). Well worth whatever I paid for it, probably £1.99
The three by Sarah lotz was good, though supernatural which puts me off in general.
The end of men by Christina sweeney-baird was excellent.
Hostage by clare mackintosh was very good.
Then the medical stuff, outbreak by Robin Cook. Stuff by Michael palmer.
I'm waiting for falling by t j Newman but it's still more than I pay for books.

I just saw claire mcintosh's hostage recommended in the rick o"shea book club a minute ago. (But there's no discussion about being tired of the crime genre)

I read a sample of Hostage this weekend and have reserved it at the library as it had lots of promise.

I loved the ending of that book, genuinely had a twist I didn't see coming

I really dislike how every single one of these books has a prologue that starts (chronologically) at the end of the story and tries desperately to be shocking and/or misleading.

Also hate the way books don't seem to have a brief synopsis at the back anymore (although this is not the authors' fault, I'd imagine).

It's all "A twist you'll never see coming!" or similar nonsense.

I really lost respect for many excellent authors who vigorously endorse shit books.

I really lost respect for many excellent authors who vigorously endorse shit books.

Yes, could any authors please tell us what this is about? If you're not being paid for these praise pieces, is it a case of if you scratch my back I'll scratch yours?

I don’t get paid to blurb other authors’ novels, I get sent loads and only quote for the ones I read and enjoy. It’s not in exchange for positive blurbs for my books either! It’s a perk of the job to me; I get free books, I get to see my name on the cover of great books, I get to share books I love with other readers. I’m sure there are people who read books I endorse and don’t like them but that doesn’t mean I didn’t really like them either and I’m lying about it! We all have different tastes. Go on goodreads (I can’t, it’s too psychologically scarring for me) and you will see incredulous one-star reviews of books you love too professing absolute amazement that anyone could possibly like them. It takes all sorts.

And no, publishers do not buy their authors onto the bestseller lists.

I’m also not on MN for storylines; I write historical fic. I’m here for procrastination!

Assuming all authors are absolutely candid and sincere in their "reviews" and have no agenda or ulterior motive, I'm even more disappointed!

I see the constant hyperbole of "I read this masterpiece in one sitting, holding my breath and was floored by all the twists and turns", only to be offered a mediocre effort with plot holes and bad writing.

It's fair enough to say we all appreciate different things and have disparate tastes, but this goes beyond that.

Well, I can’t speak for all authors! But I guess any proof I get sent has been loved enough by an agent to sign the author, an editor to buy it, a sales team convinced enough to acquire it - a lot of people have had to be passionate about its merit to get it there. It doesn’t mean I’ll love it; I might scratch my head about how it got through the process (in which case I won’t quote for it!) though that doesn’t happen often because I’ll be offered books by people whose taste I trust. So I do think it’s very subjective.

@Notradespeopleareavailable it definitely is rich in stories and voices but mostly I use it for the same reasons anyone else does! Because I'm a normal person and I like reading it

And yes same as @NoOtherShadeOfBlue for me - mostly I endorse those I love. It's not for money and there is not a black market. Occasionally I will endorse a friend (most authors are colleagues to me - I assume @NoOtherShadeOfBlue and I know each other) as a favour. Because I'd never end a proper friendship over refusing to give a blurb

I left a scathing review for one of Peter James books….probably on Amazon and he (or someone pretending to be him) wrote a sarcastic and quite bitter response to me.

I'm sure low-ranking and mid-ranking writers must obsessively read their Amazon reviews!

I wonder if they do. I couldn’t, I’ve read some absolutely scathing reviews on goodreads and if that was my work I’d never write again! I suppose it’s a bit like performing though, you need to have a very thick skin and just think ‘oh well different strokes.’

Yes, as Brene Browne would say to those writers, all her books are the same you went in to the arena, that takes bravery! and people in the front row who criticised you, that doesn't require bravery.

Agreed; it must be truly soul destroying to have your work judged so publicly.

I'm totally fed up with the obligatory twist.

More often than not it's not a twist, it's a plot development.

Or it's a contrived twist that just irritates.

The clever psychological novel is a rare beast.

I was just reading a review of Jane Corry's "'I made a mistake'' and the reviews are so divided! Either five start or one star. And the people who gave it one start complaining that there was no twist.

If there was no twist why did it have to be marketed in the psychological thriller genre when it was a book about .... an emotional assault and its legacy on the family of a woman who was coerced in to lying in court (I think. Piecing that together from reviews).

Some of these sound great so I’m marking for the good ones!!