Up all night on the edge of your seat

Last night I was reading in bed before I went to sleep, as I do every night. The book is a modestly-hyped new thriller that the publisher seems to be putting some energy behind. (I'm not going to mention the name, since this isn't a review; it's about a larger point.)

I've been reading this book for a couple days now and have been enjoying it overall. Interesting plot, good characters, and it's a little different from the run-of-the-mill thriller plot that frequently gets utilized these days. If I end up reviewing it, I'll have positive things to say.

Yet, I found myself last night with only 20 pages left in the book, and decided to put it down and go to sleep. I wasn't overwhelmingly tired, although it was past the time I usually turn in. I certainly could have kept reading for another 15 minutes or whatever it took to finish the book. But I didn't. And I think that's a telling reaction.

There's a certain almost ineffable quality to finely-executed thrillers that makes us want to keep reading them no matter what distractions arise. Sometimes it's a result of the pacing (as in Joe Finder's work), sometimes it's the intricacies of the plot (Ross Thomas), sometimes it's the compelling nature of the characters (Lee Child), sometimes it's the invigorating action (Barry Eisler). Whatever it is, the books have us obsessively turning the pages, hungry, desperate to find out what happens next.

This book didn't have that. It's a pleasing story, entertaining, well written even. But it lacks that "edge of your seat," "stay up all night" quality that the blurbmasters love to tout. As a result, it is less effective overall as a thriller.

As much as anything, I think it is that compulsive page-turning quality that separates the truly fine thriller from the merely good ones. And it is that quality which is hardest for authors to capture, which separates the masters from the pretenders.

If you can easily put a thriller down at any time, read it a little here and a little there, not really care what happens in the end...Well, that is as good a description of an ineffective thriller as you're likely to find.

Comments

[Steven Torres]

Wait. That was my book, right?

[Barry Eisler]

I just read the ARC of Charlie Huston's upcoming The Shotgun Rule. I've heard great things about Charlie from a lot of people and it was all deserved -- the book rocks and the suspense gets tuned tighter and tighter as the story unspools. No way could you have stopped reading 15 pages from the end on that one...

:-)
Barry

[spyscribbler]

I think that's true of any genre. Pacing, plot, character, and/or action need to keep us compelled.

If they don't? It may be a good book, but it's not as fun to read.

[Karen Olson]

Since my books are hype-less, I feel confident that it was not one of mine :)

I totally agree with what you're saying. I did that with a book that will also remain nameless recently, and to be honest, I still have yet to pick it up again. With 20 pages to go. Good, competent book. But it's now under some pile somewhere and I haven't gone looking for it...

[Tim Maleeny]

Lee Child and Barry Eisler's books are great examples of thrillers that understand pacing happens on every page and in the arc of every chapter, not simply over the course of the book as a whole. Chapters that open in the middle of a scene or thought, and which end with something about to happen or just revealed – those are the books that keep you turning to the next page in the middle of the night.

[David J. Montgomery]

I finished the book this afternoon. Definitely an enjoyable read. Yet it lacked that certain something when it came to pacing. So while I wouldn't call it a page-turner, I would still recommend it.

Assuming I told you what it was. :)

[Pamela]

I think Mr. Montgomery's just getting older and going to bed is a much higher priority than it used to be. No shame in being middle-aged.

[David J. Montgomery]

Ha! For the record, I'm only 38.

Besides, it was 3:30 in the morning! :)

[Bill Peschel]

Wait, it wasn't ... that book, was it?

You know, the one that's being pushed?

All right, seriously, I'm had a similar experience recently with a thriller, so I know exactly what you mean. I kinda wondered if other things in my life weren't interfering with my enjoyment of the book.

In the midst of this, I picked up Alexander McCall Smith's "Careful Use of Compliments" and spent several late nights happily reading it before bed, so I know it wasn't adult onset age creeping in. It was just an adequate thriller.

[Roddy Reta]

There's a BIG book being pushed that I must admit I found disappointing. Great concept, but fell short on execution.

[David J. Montgomery]

I know what you mean, Bill. Harry Potter kept me on tenterhooks, my impending dotage aside.

Roddy... the mucho-hyped books nearly always disappoint. It's almost inevitable, I think.

[Anand]

I sometimes find that a single bad sentence can put me off an otherwise very well written book. BTW, a fantastic cannot- put-it-down book I finished just yesterday is Keith Ablow's Psychopath (my review here).

[David J. Montgomery]

That would have to be a pretty bad sentence!

[Sarah]

I think all of us are describing completely different books, which is hilarious, but I had a similar experience to Roddy - read a book that wasn't just hyped by the publisher but recommended to me by two trusted people, and I thought it one of the most cliched, by-the-numbers exercises I've read in some time. It'll probably sell well, though, but I won't be on that bandwagon.

[David J. Montgomery]

I think Sarah's on to something -- from now on, I'm only going to write vague reviews of unnamed books. That way, I can kill many birds with one stone! Everyone can just fill in the blank. :)

"You know that high concept thriller with all the guns that everyone's talking about? It's a piece of shit."