There is an element of suspense called the perception plot. It involves protagonists who witness something traumatic and then come to doubt what they have seen. This could be considered a subsidiary of the unreliable narrator plot with one key distinction: while the unreliable narrator intentionally deceives, the confused witness does it unknowingly. A.J. Finn’sContinue reading “The Confused Witness”
Tag Archives: Suspense
Girl, Revisited
One of the greatest disappointments of my reading life involves Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. Back in 2013, curious about this hot new title that I hadn’t yet started, I perused the Amazon reviews, unconcerned about spoiler warnings. Because of my impetuosity, I will never experience the pleasure of reading this seminal work without knowing beforehandContinue reading “Girl, Revisited”
Stepford Fantasies
I read a lot in the women’s suspense subgenre, searching perpetually for the next satisfying story. Broadly speaking, women’s suspense fiction involves a female protagonist experiencing escalating tension that arises from some kind of uncertainty. Sometimes murder or the hint of it is central to the plot, but not always. Infidelity, domestic violence, and infertilityContinue reading “Stepford Fantasies”
Books Smitten 