The State of the Thriller: A Roundtable

Ahead of Thrillerfest 2018, a national conference for writers and fans of the thriller (July 10-14, 2018 in New York City), we asked nominees for the International Thriller Writers Awards to answer a few questions about the genre, their influences, and their community. In short, we wanted to know about the “State of the Thriller.” We compiled their answers into a roundtable discussion that hits on many of the genre’s most exciting developments and pressing issues and reminds us how we fell in love with these books in the first place. (Answers have been condensed and arranged by CrimeReads editors.)

Thanks to the Thrillerfest team and to all the authors / nominees who participated in the conversation: DAN CHAON, nominated for Best Hardcover Novel; LAYTON GREEN, nominated for Best Paperback Original; JEFF GUNHUS, nominated for Best E-Book Original Novel; K. J. HOWE, nominated for Best First Novel; GREGG HURWITZ, nominated for Best Young Adult Novel; ALAN MCDERMOTT, nominated for Best E-Book Original Novel; CAROLINE MITCHELL, nominated for Best E-Book Original Novel ; GIN PHILLIPS, nominated for Best Hardcover Novel; LORI RADER-DAY, nominated for Best Paperback Original; RILEY SAGER, nominated for Best Hardcover Novel; RYSA WALKER, nominated for Best Young Adult Novel; DIANA RODRIGUEZ WALLACH, nominated for Best Young Adult Novel.

__________________________________

What is “thriller” literature? Where is it headed?

__________________________________

CrimeReads: First the most controversial question of all. How do you define the “thriller” genre? 

DAN CHAON: My definition is pretty broad.  I think it’s any work of art that is designed to instill a feeling of anxious dread in the reader.  

LORI RADER-DAY: There are no distinct lines between subgenres, in my opinion. Usually a mystery is about solving a crime that has occurred, while a thriller is about heading off a crime, maybe even a catastrophic event, but sometimes the label thriller is used for quieter, smaller stories, too. Maybe it’s a matter of “thrilling elements” rather than a hard and fast rule?

CAROLINE MITCHELL: For me, the definition of a thriller is a book that keeps you turning the pages, a real heart-racing twisty tale that leaves you desperate to know more.

DIANA RODRIGUEZ WALLACH: Initially, the differences between “thriller” and “mystery” felt as subtle as the differences between “Episcopalian” and “Presbyterian.” Now that I’ve written a novel that’s been very specifically categorized as a “young adult international spy thriller,” I’ve learned a lot about the not so subtle, and important, differences. I see a mystery as a Who Done It? Like Agatha Christie—a crime occurs in the opening pages and the driving force of the plot is who committed the crime. Thrillers, on the other hand, tend to focus more on the why. Sometimes readers know who committed the act right away, sometimes they don’t, but what keeps us turning the pages is why events are unfolding as they are.

RILEY SAGER: Because the thriller genre encompasses so many different styles of storytelling—one of the things I love about it, by the way—it’s very hard to pin down. I think any story that involves some form of crime or mystery and gets a reader’s pulse racing qualifies as a thriller. That can include nonfiction and literary fiction and the classics. Hamlet, to me, is a thriller. So is Killers of the Flower Moon. And Frankenstein. And, well, the list could go on and on. 

CrimeReads: What development in the thriller world has you most excited? 

LAYTON GREE: I love the growing number of international crime writers. Besides traveling, there’s no better way to absorb a foreign culture than by sinking into an atmospheric mystery or thriller.

K.J. HOWE: I’m passionate about strong female characters. Gone are the days where women were only sidekicks, girlfriends, and victims. Talented authors like Brad Thor with his Athena series are realizing the power of the alpha female.  Growing up, I loved adventure stories, but most were told via male protagonist, yet some of the strongest people I know are women.  This inspired me to create Thea Paris, an elite kidnap negotiator with type 1 diabetes. Couldn’t the world use a few more female action heroes?

CrimeReads: What are the most important issues the genre is facing right now?

LORI RADER-DAY: Diversity and piracy—killing the incentive for people to read and then for people to buy, which then of course cuts down who gets published even further. I also wish we could stop having the argument over what’s “worth” reading and just make sure that young people are encouraged to read for whatever reason they might read.

__________________________________

Paying Homage to a Rich Tradition

__________________________________

CrimeReads: Which author or book first got you hooked on the genre? 

DAN CHAON: Readers of a certain age will recall Thomas Tryon’s 1971 bestseller The Other,  but I don’t think it gets enough love these days.   It’s one of the books that meant the most to me as a kid—and maybe the one that taught me the most about narration and surprise.   I would list that book, along with Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Ira Levin’s A Kiss Before Dying as the three books that blew my mind the most when I was at an impressionable age.

STEPH BROADRIBB: The first proper action thriller I read was Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher book—Killing Floor. I’ve recommended to everyone ever since!

ALAN McDERMOTT: Tom Clancy was the biggest influence, I think.  Reading is such a subjective experience, and many might disagree with me here, but I think he is the standard to aim for when it comes to the modern action thriller.  I would love to one day write a story he’d have been proud to call his own. I’ve written ten novels to date (well, 9.98, just about to finish number 10) and they have just been practice.  I’ve seen my own development over the years, and I believe I’ll soon be ready to produce something that I can truly say I’m happy to share with the world. At the moment, release day is probably the most depressing time for me.  After weeks and months of anticipation, I watch my book climb the Amazon rankings painfully slowly, knowing that, once again, it isn’t going to be the one that makes me. I hope that will change one day soon.

CrimeReads: Which authors paved the way for your style of thriller? 

RYSA WALKER: Both of my series sit at the nexus of multiple genres and, in that sense, I owe a huge debt to writers like Ray Bradbury and Stephen King, who never let the constraints of genre get in the way of telling the story as they envisioned it. In terms of style, present tense comes far more naturally to me than past, and while there are many writers who have used first-person present, Suzanne Collins reintroduced it to YA audiences with The Hunger Games.  The popularity of that series made sticking with the style that works best for me a much easier decision than it might otherwise have been.

ADRIAN McKINTY: So many influences. I think Jim Thompson is the first. I’d read Chandler and Hammett but those guys seemed so sophisticated and that cool California world was so untouchable. But Thompson’s small time hoods and grifters were like the people I knew in my neighbourhood and I loved that. Next up I think are James Ellroy and Don Winslow whose big sprawling crime masterpieces seemed to capture all of America in epic Tolstoyian fashion. I love those guys for their ambition, intelligence and their style.

CAROLINE MITCHELL: For me, Mel Sherratt was one of my biggest influences starting off. I remember reading about her in the early days. She worked as a housing officer before giving up her job to write full time. I was a detective in the police and I admired how she used her insider knowledge to write gritty crime. Her success was a huge inspiration when I was working long hours and trying to find time to write. She was and still is so very supportive of my work and I’m proud to say we’re now the best of friends. My advice to other writers is to find someone who inspires you and keep them in your thoughts. You need a very positive outlook to keep your head above water in the early days when you’re trying to obtain a book deal.

STEPH BROADRIBB: I’ve always loved the action thriller genre, and so writers like Lee Child and Michael Crichton, who I love to read, have had an big influence on my writing in terms of style. Until more recently though, there’ve been fewer female led action thrillers. I think writers like Sue Grafton, with her fantastic Kinsey Millhone series, and Zoe Sharp, with her kick ass Charlie Fox series, have really opened this up. Both Kinsey and Charlie are modern women, juggling life alongside a career in a profession largely dominated by men.   

LAYTON GREEN: Dennis Lehane taught me how emotional a work of crime fiction could be. The imagination of Dan Simmons, Stephen King, and Michael Gruber has always been an inspiration. Charlie Huston and Don Winslow opened my eyes to how much pace a quality crime novel can sustain. In terms of prose and character and tone, James Lee Burke and Barry Eisler are modern masters. The list goes on.

DIANA RODRIGUEZ WALLACH: Young Adult Author Christopher Pike has been the strongest influence on my writing career. Growing up as a child of the ‘90s, I devoured his books—from Chain Letter to Fall Into Darkness to Remember Me? I bought every single one of his YA thrillers the day it was released. My love of his books inspired me to become a young adult author and to write a YA thriller myself.

CrimeReads: Have thriller films influenced your writing? 

GIN PHILLIPS: If I’m talking to beginning writers, I always say to think of a written scene like a movie scene. Let the camera pan around the room…what details do you see? What do you hear? (In a book, unlike a film, of course, you can also expand to taste and touch and smell.) I think a strong scene in a book should be as visual as a film scene, so a great movie can definitely have a lingering impact. The ones that stick with me the most are ones I saw when I was young. I think of Jaws, because it was one of my earliest memories of suspense. It’s still a master class in how not seeing the monster—waiting for it—is scarier than standing face to face with it. I love Silence of the Lambs because, well, character. The plot works just fine, but Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins make that movie etch itself into muscle memory. That’s what great characters do—they burrow in deeper than plot. And, speaking of great characters, I have to throw in Alien and Aliens, even though I’m not quite sure they’re technically thrillers. (I’m not big on labels anyway.) But Ellen Ripley was like no other heroine I’d ever seen—strong and brave and smart and selfless and just so comprehensively kickass. I always like a strong heroine.

ADRIAN McKINTY: I saw French Connection when I was about ten years old and it blew my mind. It was just on TV one night and I didn’t know what it was and I started watching it and I was captivated by the camera work and the kinetic performances and the story. This was my first real cinematic experience of the genre and it was a great place to start. A couple of years later I saw Millers Crossing and I loved the Hammettesque dialogue and cross talk and the Coen brothers black humour and visual story telling grace.

GREGG HURWITZ: Absolutely – though writing screenplays requires some different muscles. Tony Scott’s MAN ON FIRE is my favorite contemporary film. He takes a full hour for his first act (which you can do if you’re Tony Scott) – building character and the central relationship. So when the shit goes down, you’re all in emotionally. Films influence the visual aspects of writing. When I’m writing well, I’m seeing the story like a film inside my head and transcribing.

STEPH BROADRIBB: I’m a huge fan of action films. Maybe this is due to growing up in the 80s when all the cool tv shows and films seemed to be action oriented! So films like Die Hard, Terminator, Speed, Point Break, the Bourne films, the Mission Impossible films and Bond—anything with a lot of fast paced action and a good hook—are films I’ll watch again and again. Probably my two favourite films, are Thelma & Louise and True Romance. As well as action, both have comedic moments, and tragedy. Both have two people pushed to their limits by circumstance. And the writing, and actors, create such engaging, flawed nuanced characters that I can’t help but root for them.

RILEY SAGER: I take great inspiration from film. Final Girls was all about playing with horror movie tropes, and my latest, The Last Time I Lied, was inspired by Picnic at Hanging Rock. My two favorite thriller films are Rear Window, because of the brilliant way Hitchcock transformed James Stewart’s character from a spectator into a participant, and Jaws, which just might be the most perfect movie ever made.

__________________________________

A Message to New and Aspiring Thriller Authors

__________________________________

CrimeReads: What advice would you give thriller writers who are just starting out?

LORI RADER-DAY: Join the associations. All of them. Writing could be a lonely business, especially if you’re writing from the great wide open spaces of this country, but it doesn’t have to be.

GREGG HURWITZ: Don’t worry about agents or publishing houses or editors. Just get your ass-in-chair time and put out the best conceivable story you can write. Then make it better. I meet a lot of people who want to be writers but fewer who actually want to write. You gotta love the process. And it’s better to write sixteen drafts of one novel than sixteen first drafts of different stories. Keep raising your game on your first manuscript so it really sings.

ADRIAN McKINTY: Stephen King says the words don’t matter; that what’s important is story and character. This is good advice for the beginner. But actually the words do matter. Style is important. Look at Ellroy and David Peace—there’s a reason people talk about them in hushed tones and why they’ll be read 50 years from now and it’s because they invented a new way of telling stories through an innovative and original style. I despair when I read those motherfuckers on twitter saying “I wrote 8,000 words today!” Eight thousand words in a day? You’ve got to be kidding me. Chekov considered it a good day when he cut 1000 words out of a story. I B Singer reminds us that the “writer’s best friend is the waste paper basket.” The words matter.

CAROLINE MITCHELL: Develop a very thick skin, stay positive and remember that a ‘no’ may be just a ‘not right now’. It’s all about timing in this game. I self published my first book to get a feel for the industry and how everything works behind the scenes. I’m now very fortunate to have a brilliant publisher and the best agency I could ask for at the helm. I never take anything for granted, I make an effort to be a nice person to work with and help others on the way up. Work hard, believe in yourself and never stop learning. It’s the best advice I can give.

K.J. HOWE: I would recommend finding a subgenre and topic you are absolutely passionate about.  Publishers tend to love series, so if you’re going to write multiple books with a set of characters in a certain setting, it’s important to love that world, as you’ll spend a lot of time there.  Also, embrace criticism from reliable sources and be hungry to learn. Writing is a lifelong journey, so be kind to yourself while you strive to improve.

GIN PHILLIPS: Don’t confuse a first draft—or a second or third—with a finished product. (Oh, how I wish someone had told me that during my chronically impatient twenties!) Write a version you’re happy with, and set it aside for a few weeks. Pick it up again and read it start to finish. I think you can be so focused on the ins and outs of plot during those first couple of drafts that you forget about all the other ways you need to flesh out a compelling. So after you’ve gotten some distance from it, read through your manuscript and think about fleshing out your characters, about sharpening your dialogue, about making every line sing. Don’t be in such a hurry to send something to an agent—take your time making sure what you do send out is as strong as possible.

JEFF GUNHUS: Join. Whether it’s a writer’s group, a class, an organization like ITW or MWA, find where other writers are and join in. Meet people. See that they are just like you. Have the same fears as you. The same doubts as you. But they still write. And so can you.

CrimeReads: Which is more important to master: plot or pace?

GREGG HURWITZ: This is always a tricky one. I think character reigns supreme—if we don’t care about character, we just feel like we’re getting punched in the face with plot for 400 pages. Of the choices given, I’d say pace. The key to a thriller is developing character and plot while hurtling forward, like building a Ferrari around you as you’re traveling 120 mph.

GIN PHILLIPS: On the face of it, plot.  It’s easier to fix pacing, whereas if you screw up your plot, you’ll likely have to tear it apart and start from scratch. That said, I think pacing takes more work to master.

LAYTON GREEN: While pace is very important to a thriller, I’m going with plot. If a reader is intrigued by the premise of a novel, as born out in the intricacies of the plot, they will forgive a slower pace. Tom Clancy hardly wrote mile-a-minute novels! And there are many other examples of thrillers that “thrill” at a slower pace. That said, for most books and most authors, plot and pace are both integral components to a successful thriller.

RILEY SAGER: Character. Because without compelling ones, plotting and pacing don’t matter. You can make your story as twisty as a silly straw, but if I don’t care about at least some of the characters involved, then I’m not going to care what happens to them.

STEPH BROADRIBB: For me, I think it’s a combination of the two, and I’d also throw fully rounded characters into the mix as well. To ramp up the pace you need to have enough going on plotwise to keep the reader hooked in terms of action and suspense, and through creating characters that readers invest in (either because they want them to be okay, or they want them to have justice served on them) you create emotional tension, which hooks the reader in further increases the page-turner quality.

“If things slow down too much, plot pinholes start looking like gaping plot chasms.”—Rysa Walker

RYSA WALKER: Pace. This one isn’t even close for me. Readers will usually forgive minor issues with plot if you keep the story moving at a rapid clip. If things slow down too much, however, plot pinholes start looking like gaping plot chasms.

ALAN McDERMOTT: For me, pace just shades it.  A good plot is essential, of course, but you have to keep the reader engaged.  You might have the best idea imaginable, but if the reader gets bored, the impact lessens.   If a book has an intriguing opening scene, but then spends three or four chapters detailing a domestic situation, I’m afraid you’ve lost my attention.  It might be integral to the story, but by that time I don’t care. What I enjoy most is short, punchy chapters that drip-feed information and make me want to read just one more chapter.

__________________________________

Psychological Thrillers, Action Thrillers, or Serial Killers?

__________________________________

CrimeReads: What do you think of the massive popularity of psychological thrillers right now?

LORI RADER-DAY: I’m interested in why a “psychological thriller” is somehow a deviation from a norm. What’s the norm? Calling out this specific kind of thriller as a trend seems like someone wants the trend to be over soon so we can all get back to reading what a thriller used to be*. I think one of the reasons this “trend” is so much discussed is because the really successful purveyors of the subgenre are all women (or men hoping we won’t notice they are). I’m not sure I see the trend as all that different than the norm. Mary Higgins Clark was writing the same kinds of stories before I was born. Am I happy readers seem to be devouring them right now? Yes, because it’s what I write. But it’s what I’ve always liked to read. *Which is?

CrimeReads: What’s your favorite type of thriller?

DIANA RODRIGUEZ WALLACH: I write YA, so unsurprisingly my favorite subgenre is the young adult thriller. Also, as a traveler, I love international settings. That’s why my books are set everywhere from Italy to Brazil to England to Poland to Prague. I’m a sucker for those glamorous settings. I also love thrillers written by women featuring women. I feel that the mystery and thriller genres were, for a long time, dominated by men, featuring often misogynistic male leads. Authors like Lisa Scottoline have shown that female characters can equally build suspense and connect to a whole new crop of readers.

GIN PHILLIPS: This answer is the same for all my favorite books, thriller or not. I want characters that feel real. I want to care. I don’t have to entirely like the character, but I do have to care.  Plot, pacing, clever twists—none of it matters much to me if I don’t feel like the characters are living and breathing and worrying and hoping and trying. The murderer stepping out of the closet or the bullet coming out of nowhere doesn’t move me if I don’t care whether or not a character lives or dies.

ALAN McDERMOTT: I’ll read anything in the thriller genre.  Action thrillers are probably my favorite (because that’s what I write) but I do enjoy a good serial killer story.  In truth, anything that grabs me from the get-go and never lets up is going to have me looking for others by the same author.  There are some authors whose books I’ll buy without reading the blurb, simply because I know I’ll have a great reading experience with their work.

CrimeReads: Let’s talk serial killer novels. For, or against?

LORI RADER-DAY: Not a great fan of these, thought there exceptions. Serial killer nonfiction, now you’re talking

“I’m very much pro-serial killer, but then again, since I came of age in the 1970’s and 80’s I grew up on the stuff like it was mother’s milk.”—Dan Chaon

DAN CHAON: I’m very much pro-serial killer, but then again, since I came of age in the 1970’s and 80’s I grew up on the stuff like it was mother’s milk. But it’s been a while since we’ve had a really memorable one, I’m not sure why—maybe because the formula has become so familiar. Still, the structure of this genre has a kind of wonderfully compelling symmetry,  and it was definitely on my mind when I wrote Ill Will.

ADRIAN McKINTY: Against. You need to be a genius to write one of these that isn’t hacky and utter shite. And most writers are not geniuses so if you want to avoid shame and embarrassment and me throwing your book out the window and endangering life and limb of passing pedestrians, avoid.

RYSA WALKER: Since my first novel, Timebound, featured serial killer H.H. Holmes, you can mark me as adamantly for…and this is a long-standing conviction. Much to the dismay of my eighth-grade teacher, I wrote a book report on Bugliosi and Gentry’s Helter Skelter, about Charles Manson, who both horrified and intrigued me.  I think part of the attraction of serial killers in fiction (and in real life) is that they present two different puzzles to solve. As with any murder mystery, there is the puzzle of the protagonist trying to piece together the clues that lead to finding and apprehending the killer. In the case of serial killers, however, there’s also the psychological puzzle of why they kill without a typical motive. Most people never have the urge to kill, but we can still understand how an individual might be driven to the point of murder by specific circumstances. We have a much more difficult time, however, understanding how someone could be driven to kill simply for the thrill of killing.  That’s why I think so many readers are drawn to these stories—we’re looking for answers to that second puzzle, for some thread of logic to explain acts that we find unfathomable and unconscionable.

CAROLINE MITCHELL: Having written several myself, I’m definitely for. People commit crime for many reasons but in my personal experience of dealing with perpetrators, I have never met one who was motivated to do so because they read about it in a book. As long as the subject is handled well then I have no problem with it. I portray both male and female victims and killers alike in my books. I also like to empower my female characters as much as I can. In one of my books, the victim not only saved herself from the killer, but rescued the investigating detective too. Even in my darkest of books I like to portray a small positive message. The majority of readers want good to prevail in the end.

__________________________________

The State of the Thriller Community

__________________________________

CrimeReads: The thriller community seems so supportive—why do you think that is?

K.J. HOWE: As executive director of ThrillerFest, I’m honored to be surrounded by such supportive people.  There is a warm collegiality in our genre, perhaps because we share a common passion—murder and mayhem!  Authors come from all walks of life, but as soon as we start talking about crime writing, there is an immediate bond.  And, let’s face it, readers are voracious and need copious books, so why not help other writers find their audience. It’s a win-win for all.

“We’re much more in touch with our Jungian shadows so we’re less likely to fall prey to the constellation of evils that emerge from repression—passive aggressiveness, envy, secret rage.”—Gregg Hurwitz

GREGG HURWITZ: Because we’re much more in touch with our Jungian shadows so we’re less likely to fall prey to the constellation of evils that emerge from repression—passive aggressiveness, envy, secret rage. We vent that shit out in our guts and then on the page.

ALAN McDERMOTT: Most authors realize that writing isn’t a competition.  I don’t expect someone to read my latest book and then not pick up another until my next release.  I know most readers will consume at least one book a week, and it’s usually about 40 weeks between releases, so that’s 39 books waiting to be discovered.  When I send out a mailshot to announce future releases, I try to include at least 10 titles by other authors to keep my readers going until my next book comes out.   Last time it was books by Russell Blake, Simon Toyne and Rob Ashman, and I’m already compiling another list for August. I also recommend books in each of my novels. One of my characters has a kindle and has mentioned a selection of books to date.  I’m currently trying to decide on number ten. There’s one main reason for doing this, and that’s paying it forward. Number one bestseller Rachel Abbott was once asked to recommend other self-published authors in an early newspaper interview, and my name came up.  I later discovered that an editor from Thomas & Mercer read the article, and that led to them publishing nine of my novels! If I can help just one author get the recognition they deserve, I’ll be happy.

CrimeReads: Which books are on your nightstand right now? 

K.J. HOWE: First Blood, by David Morrell.  I’m rereading it for the first time in a long while.  It’s a brilliant novel, even more so when you consider that it was published 50 years ago and still resonates as a cutting edge thriller.  Scintillating dialogue, breathtaking pacing, powerful characterization. What David has done creating Rambo would be a dream for any author.  His character has become part of our culture, a new word in our language. And even though Rambo dies in the book, he’ll live on forever in the movies.

ADRIAN McKINTY: I’m reading Jim Holt’s When Einstein Walked With Godel. Next up is Michael Benson’s Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke and the Making of a Masterpiece then a book in galley by Lou Berney called November Road.

GREGG HURWITZ: Megan Abbott’s Give Me Your Hand. And Tumor, a graphic novel by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Noel Tuazon.

DAN CHAON: Megan Abbott is one of today’s masters of the genre,  and I’m super excited about her new one,  Give Me Your Hand.

RILEY SAGER: Right now, reading has taken a backseat to getting my next book finished in a timely manner. But when it’s done, I have The Outsider by Stephen King and The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware waiting for me.

ALAN McDERMOTT: I have Chris Ryan, Jo Nesbo, Lee Child, Simon Toyne, Tim Weaver and Frederick Forsythe in paperback or hardback, but most of my reading is done on the kindle these days.  I have around 300 books to get through at the moment, and some of them have been in my library for over 5 years! I’m currently reading The Speed of Sound by Eric Bernt, and after that will be This Little Piggy, the latest offering from Rob Ashman.

CrimeReads: And a summer travel oriented question: what’s your favorite bookstore?

ADRIAN McKINTY: No Alibis in Belfast which has been an institution for twenty five years. Belfast’s only independent book store that hosts crime writers, poets, jazz evenings, literary readings and actually pretty much every genre of fiction under the sun. The book shop opened in Belfast during the Troubles when every other business was fleeing the city and has become a hub for Ireland’s Celtic Noir school of crime writing. Dave Torrans is the man responsible. He’s a bald bastard and he owes me twenty quid but he’s done the Lord’s work.

LAYTON GREEN: Here’s two: Bookshop Santa Cruz, and  McKay’s Used Books in Knoxville, TN (my second home growing up).

RILEY SAGER: There are so many great indie bookstores out there that it feels wrong to single out just one. But, if held at gunpoint, I’d have to go with The Strand. That place is heaven on earth.

DIANA RODRIGUEZ WALLACH: I love that I get to give a shout out to this bookstore—Head House Books in Philadelphia! This indie bookstore has supported me since my very first YA novel came out in 2008. They’ve sold the books at all of my launch parties, and even let me close out the store with wine and food for the last one. It’s located in an old Philadelphia home with a brick-and-shutters exterior and old wooden floors that you can imagine the forefathers walking on. Plus, it hosts the best events in the city—from writing groups to books clubs to author signings. Shop local!

JEFF GUNHUS: Old Fox Books and Coffeehouse in Annapolis. It’s a perfect, charming store with bookkeepers who know how to point you in the right direction. A great place you lose yourself for an afternoon.

__________________________________

For more on your favorite thrillers and authors, check out Thrillerfest XIII, now underway.