Hey!
I’m currently working on my next project (indie author here) and I just wanted to hear from avid readers who are into spy thrillers (whether classics or modern spins).
What makes a great, thrilling, gripping spy thriller? What are tropes you’re tired of? Predictable narratives you’d like to see gone? Or new ones that should be introduced?
I’m looking forward to hearing from you all!
Happy reading.
by A1Protocol
3 Comments
Character empathy.
Honestly – I love spy thrillers and military thrillers in general but my favorites are the ones with not only a good plot but great character development. I can forgive tropes or silly twists as long as the characters are actually interesting and have depth beyond “I’m a cool spy” which is where a lot of books mess up in the genre (imo).
Two features I enjoy:
* The tension between the slow and big bureaucratic parts of the grand geopolitical battles and the sudden burst of concentrated action to get that one thing right or wrong. Although it is easy to paint the “home office” as just the boring stuff, it is what makes sense of the action stuff, and where decades of slow effort builds towards a climax in the field.
* Maps, location, maps, and more maps. No fantasy book is complete without maps. And I think good tactical spy thrillers benefit from maps, even if these maps are of invented places or sketches of actual places.