What kinds of books thrill you? They come in many varieties – science fiction, mystery, spy, sports, romance…. You get the idea. Thrillers are as varied as the people they thrill. Take any genre and you can turn it into a thriller by following a few standard rules. Or at least you can try:
• Create a protagonist the reader cares about. With a lot to lose. Up against a formidable antagonist (the antagonist can be a person, place or thing, real or imagined).
• Add complex, believable characters with relatable traits (be they good or evil).
• Surprise with twists and turns, like a roller coaster offering two possible tracks while building moments of tension and relief as the ride progresses.
• Pace the story to reveal something new and end each chapter leaving the reader questioning what will happen next.
• Show, don’t tell. It’s all about anticipation and action, even if it takes place in the mind.
• Relate to the reader’s own sensory experiences to make the action real and intimate.
• Have the protagonist grow from the experience.
• Leave the reader with a take-away after the story ends… so it lingers in the mind and heart.

You’ll always find new thrillers on the just-published lists. They’re popular for obvious reasons. One that burst on the scene last year and broke through the competition for glowing reviews is the best-selling Descent by Tim Johnston – featured at this month’s BOOKS ‘n’ BOTTLES™.

An idyllic Rocky Mountain vacation turns into a heart-pounding page turner when a family’s teenage daughter goes out for a run… and disappears. Readers become enmeshed with the family as its members respond to events over time in this New York Times, USA Today and Indie National bestselling novel.

The Washington Post literary critic said, “The story unfolds brilliantly, always surprisingly . . . The magic of his prose equals the horror of Johnston’s story; each somehow enhances the other . . . Read this astonishing novel.” The Denver Post said, “What makes the novel unforgettable is its sense of character, its deliberate, unadorned prose and Johnston’s unflinching exploration of human endurance, physical and psychological.” NPR made this astonishing comparison: “Tim Johnston has written a book that makes Gone Girl seem gimmicky and forced.”

This month marks the expansion of BOOKS ‘n’ BOTTLES™ to two venues and we are so excited that the occasion brings this award-winning author to the Chicago area: We’ll be at TASTE Food & Wine in Chicago on Monday, June 27th and Sunset Foods on Tuesday, June 28th. Great books and great wine. Ah, the thrill(er) of it all!