who are some big name thriller writers.

[Connavar]

I would say Deaver is pretty good.



Also you cant really blame an author for his publisher action.

 

[Fahim]

Also you cant really blame an author for his publisher action.

I don't believe anybody is blaming the author However, it is interesting to find out how the duplication of covers came to be. Did the artist/designer commissioned use the same artwork for both covers without anybody knowing? Were both books from the same publisher and if so, did this occur with the publisher's knowledge? As the original poster commented, if I was the author of a book, I certainly wouldn't want my cover to be copied or be a copy of another book ...

 

[Riselka]

In respect to the "how much control an author has over the cover of his/her book" category, I don't think they have much, if any control over what goes on the covers of their books. Now, if you're up in the echelon of say, a Stephen King, things may a bit different. At least, from what I've heard.

The same thing goes for the level of control a children's book author has over who illustrates the book for them. My understanding is, that the publisher has a number of illustrators in their "stable" and they choose which one they're going to use for what. The only exceptions being if it's a book by an author/illustrator a la Dr. Suess, or the book comes to them as a team effort by an author who has already teamed up with someone who illustrates all their books.

edited to add:

As to who published the two books in question here. Bed of Nails was published by Viking/Penguin Canada, and The Twelfth Card was published by Simon and Shuster in the US.

 

[Riselka]

Now ... getting back to the topic at hand. The term "thriller" is a rather broad-reaching term that encompasses a vast array of genres.

As you can see by the picture of Slade's book Bed of Nails, even though his earliest works (ending with Bed of Nails) usually appear on the shelves of the Horror section in bookstores, his books are actually classified as Psycho-Thrillers. Many of Stephen King's novels would fit into this category as well.

You've got Medical Thrillers (Patricia Cornwell, Tess Gerritsen, Robin Cook, Peter James, Richard Preston), Legal Thrillers (John Grisham, Richard North Patterson, John Lescroat), Techno-Thrillers (Tom Clancy is probably the master of this genre), Eco Thrillers (most recent example I've read is Frank Schatzing's The Swarm), Speculative Thrillers (Stel Pavlou's Decipher being a good example), Action/Adventure Thrillers (Preston and Child, James Rollins, James Patterson, Clive Cussler, Steve Berry, A.J. Hartley), Spy Thrillers (Ludlum, Le Carre, Deighton, Fleming's Bond books, Ken Follett, Sean Flannery/David Hagberg, etc., etc., etc.), Police Prodedural Thrillers (Ed McBain, Stephen Booth, Rennie Airth, etc.), Historic Thrillers (Follett's Pillars of the Earth, Umberto Eco, Marilyn Durham's Flambard's Confession, and a lot of what's also classified as Historical Fiction) - the list goes on.

And I'd even classify a lot of Horror novels as being Horror Thrillers, Science Fiction as Sci-Fi Thrillers, and Fantasy as Fantasy Thrillers. 'Cause, and let's face it, if a book doesn't thrill you, why read it at all?

In actual fact, this thread brings home the notion that we could probably do with a sub-forum for Thrillers, alongside the ones for Historical Fiction, and Horror.

 

[Connavar]

Would crime be in the sub forum for thrillers then? Many times you cant see the difference beteween a crime and a thriller book specially the police ones.


Also you make my urge to read Thrillers grow. Specially the horror and action/adventure thrillers. Not too keen on the idea of medical thrillers. Spy thrillers i have already mastered. Read Ludlum,Le Carre,Eisler.

By the way arent there any legal Thrillers?

Something like The Lincoln Lawyer. Have read only John Grisham years ago, didnt like him at all.

 

[Riselka]

Would crime be in the sub forum for thrillers then? Many times you cant see the difference beteween a crime and a thriller book specially the police ones.

By "crime" are you referring to police procedurals such as Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels? I've given them a reference above. Some of Stuart Woods' books would fall into this category as well, along with Michael Connelly. Connelly's Harry Bosch novels are fantastic, and what I've read of Stuart Woods' books, I've really enjoyed - they're big sellers here.

By the way arent there any legal Thrillers?

Something like The Lincoln Lawyer. Have read only John Grisham years ago, didnt like him at all.

Also see above re: Grisham, North Patterson, Lescroat - there's more, but you get the idea. I'll admit though, along with Medical Thrillers, I'm not that big of a fan of Legal Thrillers either.

Another author whose earlier works fall into the "thriller" category is Eric Van Lustbader. Not sure what sub-category I'd put them in though. He's written Fantasy as well. Seems to be doing a lot of carrying on with the late Robert Ludlum's work lately though.

 

[murphy]

Would crime be in the sub forum for thrillers then? Many times you cant see the difference beteween a crime and a thriller book specially the police ones.


Also you make my urge to read Thrillers grow. Specially the horror and action/adventure thrillers. Not too keen on the idea of medical thrillers. Spy thrillers i have already mastered. Read Ludlum,Le Carre,Eisler.

By the way arent there any legal Thrillers?

Something like The Lincoln Lawyer. Have read only John Grisham years ago, didnt like him at all.

Then to go back a few years, or more than a few, there's Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason.

 

[Connavar]

By "crime" are you referring to police procedurals such as Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels? I've given them a reference above. Some of Stuart Woods' books would fall into this category as well, along with Michael Connelly. Connelly's Harry Bosch novels are fantastic, and what I've read of Stuart Woods' books, I've really enjoyed - they're big sellers here.



Also see above re: Grisham, North Patterson, Lescroat - there's more, but you get the idea. I'll admit though, along with Medical Thrillers, I'm not that big of a fan of Legal Thrillers either.

Another author whose earlier works fall into the "thriller" category is Eric Van Lustbader. Not sure what sub-category I'd put them in though. He's written Fantasy as well. Seems to be doing a lot of carrying on with the late Robert Ludlum's work lately though.

Oh when you said police procedurals i didnt you mean police crime books. I thought you meant thriller version of them. Which to me seems like bigger world wise. When i think of a thriller like many people apparently does in amazon forums, thriller seems to on a bigger stage world, nation oriented story. Alà Da Vinci Code. Not a good exemple but i havent read that type books many times, seen more movies. Like that Clint Eastwood movie Absolute Power (1997)


Anyway i understand what you mean now.

Ed McBain i thought was British for some reason maybe cause of the name and other brit writers names i have seen.

 

[Riselka]

Connavar of Rigante:

Just thought I'd pop into this thread and recommend that, if you haven't ever really read a thriller, then maybe the place to start - and see which author(s) you may like to give a try to first - is to purchase the anthology edited by James Patterson, called "Thriller".

It's very good, and it's the very first compilation of short story thrillers ever compiled into a book.

 

[Connavar]

Thanks for the tip.

Will look into it.

I like short stories anyway.

 

[Spade]

Just remember that "big name" doesn't exactly have anything to do with quality. I read the first Alex Cross novel, and was thoroughly impressed until the last 50 pages or so when I realized the novel was just one big cliche.

 

[Connavar]

Thats why i like to try as many as i can so i know which ones are good enough to read more of.



Lee Child recently became a fav that i can trust and expect good quality of. Ian Rankin,Raymond Chandler, i read and enjoyed recently too.

Elmore Leonard is becoming a big favorit.

 

[Riselka]

Not really a big name, at least yet, but if he continues to write the way his writing is in his second novel, I imagine he's going to be big in the future - Paul Sussman.

Just finished reading The Last Secret of the Temple, and WOW, just WOW!!!

This has got to be one of the most intricately plotted, and believably written thrillers I've read in a long time. His characters are real, and complex, and very believable. The scenario is believable, the action is terrific, and the book moves along very quickly. It's one of those books where no suspension of disbelief is required of the reader, because everything in it is so feasible. So many thrillers out there have a level of ridiculousness in them - THIS is not one of them.

Now, I've got to see if I can get the mass market of his first novel, The Lost Army of Cambyses, brought over to this side of the pond.

 

[Connavar]

What kind of thriller is it ? Crime ? Political ? Spy ?

The title doesnt sound like crime book.

 

[Riselka]

What kind of thriller is it ? Crime ? Political ? Spy ?

The title doesnt sound like crime book.

I'm assuming you're referring to my post above.

Let's see ...

Present day Egyptian police detective is investigating a strange death near Karnak. Realizes the dead man is somehow connected to the murder of an Israeli woman on holiday in Egypt 15 years back. Starts looking into the man's past.

Contacts an Israeli police detective to look into the woman's life in Jerusalem before her death. He, in turn, finds out a few things about her that have him mystified.

At the same time a female Palestinian journalist living in Jerusalem is sent a cryptic note, attached to a photocopy of what looks like an ancient encrypted document and starts looking into it.

Little do they know that their individual investigations are all directed towards the same goal - uncovering some very beautiful, and powerful* ancient item that has been lost since the beginning of the first century.

An item that several different political factions in the Middle East would love to get their hands on.

So, both crime and politics - wrapped up in a bit of archaeology. With some Nazis thrown in to boot.

*note: there are numerous types of power.

 

[Connavar]

Heh sounds more interesting now than the usuall crime/political thriller set in US.

 

[Nesacat]

My current favourite would be Ian Rankin's books featuring Rebus. Also have a great fondness for Inspector Morse.

If you're into something older Ellis Peters did a wonderful job with the Cadfael books. Well worth reading and they also give you a good idea of the times they were written in.

Will throw in my vote for Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Jeffrey Deaver.

There's also some one off books such as My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk and the classic Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. There's Matthew Pearl's Dante Club as well as Poe Shadow.

 

[Allegra]

Nesa, if you haven't read The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox, I'd recommend it highly. The Victorian atmosphere, chilling first person narrative and the rich characters are truly well done.

 

[Nesacat]

Thank you Allegra. Will make a note and look for it in the UK next week, since it is unlikely that I will find it here. I looked it up with Google and yes, I'll say it sounds very intriguing. Thanks again.

 

[Connavar]

My current favourite would be Ian Rankin's books featuring Rebus. Also have a great fondness for Inspector Morse.

If you're into something older Ellis Peters did a wonderful job with the Cadfael books. Well worth reading and they also give you a good idea of the times they were written in.

Will throw in my vote for Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Jeffrey Deaver.

There's also some one off books such as My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk and the classic Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. There's Matthew Pearl's Dante Club as well as Poe Shadow.

Speaking about Eco i saw him on tv last night in the only literature tv show in sweden called Babel.

His interview was very interesting. Such a character that apparently has written alot of different stuff other than his famous historical mystery.

Best part was something i agreed with him on, he thought cause of the internet and mass information you can find easily hurts todays kids. Before you learned things from school now kids has too much info that might not be correct from places like wiki.