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Genre help???
I need some feedback! I am working on what I’ve been calling a thriller (COUNTING ON DEATH), which some might have read excerpts from in other forums.
But whether it’s a ‘psychological‘ thriller, I don’t know. If not, does that mean it doesn’t fit in one of the sub-genres he gave us? I must admit, I’m much more at home with a cozy mystery, but don’t think I can write one!
There are deaths, but none of them are unexplained, or need to be solved, so not a crime/murder fiction, per se.
OK… The premise is a 65 yo accountant, who has been working for the mob for the last 12 years, but didn’t realize who they were working for at first. The mob boss dies, and the MC has to decide if now is the time to make a run for it, by faking death… so I think that is certainly a dilemma… check
And it is mainly written in first person (which he said PT usually are), check.
The reader DNK if the MC if male or female for over a third of the book, then he/she could be 1 of 8 people for another 1/4, so a puzzle for the reader to solve, check.
There is jeopardy, in escaping undetected – then when the mob accidentally discovers the truth, check
I hope my character is credible and relatable, and the plot certainly stretches reality, but I hope its plausible… (check?)
And the ending is satisfying, w/o cheating… at least according to those who’ve read it! (check)…
But when I think of PSYCHOLOGICAL thrillers, I tend to think of stalkers and mind games… go I’m torn!
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1 Reply
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Hi Jo
Similarly confused here!
Mine is more ‘domestic suspense’ – will Kate reveal what she did in her past, what happened, before she can tell Richard he suffers life changing injuries….will he even survive. Both Kate and Richard have been affected in different ways by a fraudster/sexual predator. Big reveal of her troubled past, resolution and heading to a happy ending but then an unexpected twist at the end.
But domestic suspense is not an accepted genre it seems. Thriller it maybe, psychological elements it may have, but like you I don’t think it has the weird/stalking/tense vibe of a true PT. I could not even say it was a thriller. But it’s not just plain women’s fiction and it’s not simply romance. Book club is so general but with all sorts of issues raised within the book it might qualify, but doesn’t describe the novel.
So I feel you pain! and worse still have not useful answers. Rx
