What makes a good psychological thriller: A readers perspective with Becky Paroz

1.       What is it about psychological thrillers that keeps you coming back for more?

It’s the mental gymnastics that the author puts you through. I love trying to guess, to watch for the clues, to attempt to beat the author to the reveal. I’m a bit competitive, so it’s really the challenge of seeing through the author’s attempts to divert my attention. I guess I also have a high tolerance for horror, so I do enjoy a good goose-bump-inducing read after dark in bed alone! I find the psychology of the twists and turns intriguing.

2.       When reading a novel do you prefer a neatly tied up endings or a cliff hanger?

Hmmm, its tough one. If it’s a serious, I can deal with a cliff-hanger, but if there is not further information forthcoming, I hate being left without a nice neat finish. I don’t read real-life drama, so I guess I am always looking for the nice finish at the end where the answers are given to me. I don’t necessarily need for the bad guy to lose, but I do need to know what, when, how and who. 

3.       Why do you love to read?

That’s like asking why the sun shines! I was a self-taught reader at a very young age and was reading Dickens and Sherlock Holmes by age 8. It was an escape from my awful childhood, and a way of staying out of socialising. What became avoidance became an addiction as I started to live more with the characters in the books I loved, and aspired to become someone who could be their friend (if magic ever happened and I could really disappear into books!)  I read most genres as a way of learning more about the world, the ideas we can create, and to give myself a break from all that I do in my reality!

4.       What type of hook grabs your attention? A slow burn or right into the action?

Hmmm, another tough one! I like a good intrigue right at the start. It doesn’t have to be action, but it does need to make me want to know more, or realise that there is much more to be revealed. I read widely, so both have their appeal, but the slow burn needs to keep dropping enough bait off the hook throughout the story progression for me to want to keep reading. 

5.       Do you read the book before the movie adaptation is released? If so, which do you prefer?

My friends bought me a fridge magnet that says, “The Book was Better”. Apparently I said it enough for them to notice 😊 I try and read the book first, which isn’t hard given how much I read.  However, most movies are not like the book, so if I see the movie first, I am not really worried about reading the book and suffering from knowing the reveals. A good book always offers good value (and is always better!)

6.       If you like a particular book, do you search out other works by the same author and read them too?

Absolutely! I glut myself on them. I have been known to read their entire collection from the first discovery if I love them enough. And then suffer from withdrawals until my next big find comes along. Sometimes that is not possible, there are authors I am still searching for more of their books to read (out of print, hard to source, etc) and I really get cranky at my library when they don’t have the entire series for me to borrow! The only one I haven’t been able to do that with is Tara Moss. Her fiction series is so dark I can only read one at a time, and then need a break. And that is a compliment given I have binged on James Herbert and Graham Masterson, Stephen King, Agatha Christie, or similar, for days and books never-ending.

7.       Do you devour a good psychological thriller in one sitting or do you tend to savour each moment of reading, drawing out the suspense?

Oh no, instant gratification for me! If I can’t put it down, I literally don’t put it down. I will sacrifice sleep for a good book. There is no reading it in bits and savouring the flavour, there is only bingeing and then the satisfaction of it all in one sitting…. until the next one!

8.       Do you prefer a plot driven book or a character driven book?

Again, I read so much, if it’s well written, I don’t mind. Some books are the best because they delve into the character and allow me to see everything. Some are just all action and pure intensity because the plot movement is relentless. I don’t discriminate when it comes to books. If it is well written, I’m into it.

9.       What is your favourite part of a book? For example, the beginning, the revelation or the characters?

AHHHH, all these questions that I can’t pick just one thing! If you make me narrow it down, it’s the reveal! That moment when you sit there (especially if I didn’t guess it) and go… HOLY S*#%…. and hate/love the author for such a mental trip, or a complete unseen twist, or whatever it might be. I think if you held me down with straps under bright lights in a basement, and forced me to answer, I would have to say that moment, where you just have to stop and admire, marvel, and just sit with the moment of “WOW” is the best. Everything else is a build up to that point. 

10.   Finally, what is your favourite book in the psychological genre?

Kirsty, you are killing me.  Haha #sorrynotsorry I can’t even pick one author, as each of them bring something to the genre that others don’t. So many to choose, but I am going to support an Australian female author and say one of the more recent ones I read was Krissy Kneen’s “Wintering”. It’s the first book I have read in a long time that gave me real goose bumps at 3am when I couldn’t put it down but was totally creeped out by the book, and the noises outside that I definitely heard… 😊 It is not a traditional psychological thriller, but it has so many of those traits, I think it deserves the mention.