The term thriller is not part of the dictionary prepared by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE). The concept is used with reference to the literary or cinematographic genre based on the generation of suspense (expectation or curiosity charged with anxiety on the part of the reader/spectator to know what will happen in the next plot).
As a genre, the thriller tries to generate fear in the receiver and keep him away from unforeseen events. In general, the protagonist or hero is a character who generates empathy in the audience: people therefore care about their situation in the course of actions. The villains, on the other hand, are usually those who, with their actions, generate events that produce suspense (the protagonist, for example, must save his life in a trap set by the villain, rescue another kidnapped character, etc.).
The thriller is also characterized by its fast pace and the emotions that its action provokes through chases, explosions and fights. The common thing is that, at the end of the story, the hero ends up defeating the villain and fulfilling his objectives. The list of novels cataloged as part of the aforementioned suspense genre is endless, as there are many authors who have specialized in order to satisfy the taste of millions of readers around the world. However, among the most praised works of this type are the following:
– “I know what you’re thinking.” John Verdon was the one who published this work in 2010 in which a retired police officer will have to investigate a blackmail case that ends up involving a series of related murders from the present and the past. .
– “Men who did not love women”. Stieg Larsson is the author of this novel, the first of the successful “Millenium” trilogy, which revolves around the figure of an investigative journalist, Michael Blomkvist, and a hacker with a complicated life, Lisbeth Salander.
– “Misery”. One of the best novels by American writer Stephen King to date is this one, published in 1987. A shocking thriller that keeps the reader continually on edge because a fan kidnaps a writer. “Thriller”, on the other hand, is the title of a Michael Jackson album released in 1982. It is the most successful album in world history, with more than 65 million units. “Thriller” is also the title of a song from that album, which resulted in a famous fourteen-minute music video that has a short film-like structure. Rod Temperton was the songwriter for this single, produced by Quincy Jones, which was originally called “Starlight”. It is considered one of the great songs of the aforementioned American artist and has been covered throughout history by countless singers, such as Ian Brown, Ben Gibbard or Imogen Heap, among others.
