Guest Review- Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night

In honor of Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention taking place this weekend, I thought it would be perfect to showcase a guest review by the queen of thrillers, Jen from Jen’s Book Thoughts! Jen is reviewing an anthology of thriller short stories, aptly titled, THRILLER!

THRILLER: STORIES TO KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT is the International Thriller Writers collection of short stories edited by James Patterson. It includes 30 short stories by some of North America’s foremost thriller writers. Most of the authors chose to work with a character from their series, whether it be their main protagonist or a minor character they wanted to
explore further.

Overall, I wouldn’t say that this was one of my more favorite anthologies, but there were several stories that I found exceptional and worth the read, or in my case the listen. And given that there were 30 short stories in this collection, the group that I found to be standouts could have been an entire collection on their own. I listened to the anthology on audio book. This may have contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for some of the stories as several narrators, for me, left a lot to be desired. I especially disliked the females reading male roles. They seemed to try too hard to take on deeper voices and the result wasn’t effective. Some of the stories combined male and female narrators, but not all of the stories. I’m uncertain as to how they decided which would have multiple narrators and which would have only one.

For this review, I’ve chosen to highlight some of the stories that I found to be especially exceptional.

James Grippando’s “Operation Northwoods” featured his series protagonist lawyer Jack Swyteck and Swyteck’s partner Theo Knight. This story deals with a timely topic related to Guantanamo Bay and the ethics and secrets surrounding it.

James Rollins “Kowalski’s in Love” may be a tad bit cliché, but the humor is fun and the nature element well developed. I found myself wanting to follow the characters’ stories beyond the end of the work.

Gayle Lynds manages to pack a punch in a short span with her “Hunt for Dmitri.” She keeps the plot moving swiftly with multiple twists, even in a short story.

David Morrell’s “Abelard Sanction” is outstanding. The complexity of the story is perfect for the short format: enough to challenge the reader but not too much for the short length. The characters are ones Morrell wrote in his longer fiction and fans continually asked about. But even if you’re not familiar with Morrell’s work, this story can be understood and appreciated for all its
strength.

Gregg Hurwitz contributes “Dirty Weather” to the collection. This short deals with a bar that serves the corrections officers from a local prison. The atmosphere of this story is perfect for a thriller.

Christopher Rice’s “Man Catch” is unique and powerfully written, dealing with the effects of homosexuality on a family.

“Double Dealer” by David Liss is probably my favorite of the shorts in this collection. This historical story is funny, complex, and catches the reader off guard. The narrator did an exceptional job taking on the personalities and dialects as well.

A good deal of this collection dealt with spy thrillers or close derivations of the spy thriller. That doesn’t tend to be my favorite subgenre of thrillers, so I tend to be a harsher critic on these types of stories. Those who find more enjoyment in spy thrillers will likely find more to enjoy in the collection than I. But as I’ve mentioned in the stories I highlighted, there is definitely a story for most any thriller lover between the covers of this book.

THRILLER was published in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-7783-229-93) by Mira in 2006 and in mass market paperback (ISBN: 978-0-7783-245-60) in 2007. It is available on audio from Brilliance (ISBN: 978-1-4233-217-74).

–Jen Forbus (http://jensbookthoughts.blogspot.com)

Thank you, Jen, for this review!  I can’t begin to explain how jealous I am that you are in San Francisco at Bouchercon as we speak, but I’m definitely planning on attending next year!!