It’s February. Many of us are in the grip of a polar vortex. Most of us are isolating at home. All of us are anxious and uncertain about what COVID-19 might inflict upon us. You might think the last thing you need is something to make you even more nervous. Even if psychological thriller novels aren’t part of your quarantine reading, consider these four reasons why a good psychological thriller novel may just be the perfect antidote to pass a difficult period of time in our global history.
Home Alone
These days most sensible people are spending a great deal of time hunkering in place. We’re not going out to restaurants, movies, concerts, and other forms of recreation. We’re not socializing much. We crave novelty and stimulation and that’s where quarantine reading – specifically thriller and domestic suspense novels fill the bill.
The Great Escape
Especially during quarantine reading, a good thriller novel commands your attention, compelling you to keep turning the pages. The story offers a great diversion from the harsh or humdrum realities of everyday life. Like a suspenseful story, all quarantine reading is safe. It won’t make you sick or drain your bank account.
Things Could Be Worse
In a well-crafted thriller, the reader takes a vicarious journey to the edge, which helps put everyday travails – even a pandemic – into perspective. As quarantine readers, we are reassured by conflicted fictionalized characters who prevail against overwhelming odds. They give us hope that we may also survive our current crisis.
In a thriller novel, the main character is typically singled out by an antagonist, determined to drive her to the limits of endurance to get what he wants. The protagonist is beset by escalating crises and must make difficult, irreversible choices, with no guarantee of a safe outcome.
As Shawn Coyne points out in his book The Story Grid the thriller protagonist confronts a fate worse than death. She faces damnation, in the form of losing all she holds dear, bringing harm to others, or becoming morally bankrupt.
Heroes Wanted
A thriller protagonist by nature is heroic. He or she becomes an unwitting victim forced to make painful sacrifices. By the end of the story, the protagonist has faced both external and internal demons, growing into someone worthy of our respect and admiration. We all need unlikely heroes to remind us we have greater inner resources than we imagined and that we can get through this pandemic with resilience, grace, and courage.
In my new domestic suspense novel, Suffer Little Children a nurse is forced to take extreme measures, risking her career and relationship, to protect the children in her life from a ruthless adversary. I hope she’ll entertain and inspire you!
Now is the ideal time to dive into a suspenseful read. Stretch your imagination. Expand your world. Stimulate your brain. Escape into a good thriller novel.
If you’re curled up with a book, kudos! Reading in the evening has so many health benefits mainly it helps get you to sleep! Order Suffer Little Children and you’ll have a dynamic (and suspenseful) read before bedtime!
Not sure if the psychological thriller genre is right for you?
Click here to enjoy this excerpt from my third psychological thriller Suffer Little Children and then click here to order your copy.