There is no clearer, or more dynamic, thriller plot than a protagonist desperate to stay alive in a lethal game of survival, and the five thrillers listed below deliver that ‘in spades.’ These authors have taken the thrill and fun of the games, and sports, we all love and subverted their innocent pleasure into life-threatening competition.
In my latest book, Look in the Mirror, two women, in separate timelines, desperately try to win their freedom from a dream house that has suddenly locked down around them. If you like the sound of that, here are five more to keep you going!
The Long Walk – Stephen King (1974)
Predating, and arguably the inspiration for, all of the books below, it is set in a dystopian America where the main form of entertainment is The Long Walk where 100 boys walk without rest. They must stay above 4mph and if they drop below, after three warnings, they are shot. The game, and cash prize, is won by the only survivor.
The Running Man – Stephen King (1982)
Another King, but then he is. The Running Man is the story of a deadly game show that rewards players’ families with cash prizes based on the length of time players can remain alive. Similar in feel to The Long Walk but with more challenges and scope, and brought up to date and televised.
Battle Royale – Koushun Takami
A 1999 classic about a class of Japanese high-school students forced to battle to the death to gain their own freedom. And you thought Lord of the Flies was terrifying! A book that no doubt inspired Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games and Hwang Dong-Hyuk’s Squid Game.
Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins (2008)
A story of gladiatorial survival games in a divided and stratified society. The dystopian world of The Hunger Games is invoked almost every Met Ball to highlight the disparity between classes, but you can’t deny, in The Hunger Games, the Capitol’s fashion game is never not on point.
House of Leaves – Mark Z Danielewski (2000)
A found footage style thriller about the book itself. It contains notes written by a family, and others, who have discovered that the house they are living in is much larger on the inside than on the outside. As you read each person’s notes you discover that each inhabitant tried to map the ongoing space they found beneath the house, and they document their findings. Chilling, with the feel of a true crime.
***
