Breezy, light-hearted, entertaining instruction manual for wannabe thriller writers. Definitely presents the thriller formula -- the elements readers insist on in the genre -- with various warnings and discussion on avoiding formulas in the actual work. Much of the book straightforwardly promotes his other "how-to", but if you can get past that and can avoid taking any literary aspirations you might have too seriously the book is fun and worth reading for advice on structuring a plot, inventing characters, and planning your work.

If you're a reader rather than a writer, Frey's discussion of the genre provides a sense of why authors do what they do over and over again, and why we fans continue to read the genre despite the repetition. ( )

Picked this up on a whim and it became my fall asleep book for many months. I think I really wanted to know what made people like to read thrillers.

Mr. Frey's advice isn't anything you won't find anywhere else, but at least he has the common decency to not tell people to cut description ala Elmore Leonard or James Patterson.

The cannon of novels and screenplays he draws examples from were refreshingly diverse, all minor classics in their own right, and some even from the 19th century.

That being said this in instruction manual how to write a pot boiler. Good luck. ( )

Based on the excerpts, I don't think I'd like Frey's fiction very much. But that's okay, because his writing books are still amazing. He packs a lot of good information into a small space, doesn't get repetitive, and has that hardass "this is hard but do it anyway" attitude that I find hugely motivating. I thought his plotting outline in this book was a little formulaic, but that's the only real complaint I have. ( )

Presenting the map for thriller novel writing is given in examples of sequence. The main ingredient of a thriller is pulse-pounding suspense. The quality of fiction that makes the reader want to turn the pages to see what's going to happen next, is suspense. In a thriller the hero has a mission to foil evil. With types of thriller examples given, this book is informative for rise and falling tension placement. References and many examples are given to build story structure. This book is inspiring to power writers to think. I own a copy of this essential book and highly recommend it. ( )