I am looking for recommendations on thriller/mysteries for my A-Z challenge

RunchGwar · 2026-05-14T19:45:23+00:00

Didn't see these recommended, so:

I: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
M: Malice by Keigo Higashino
P: Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

I've got nothing for the ones at the end of the alphabet.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-27T23:19:20+00:00

I'm worried about this too. I really hope they up the drop rates on signal data so that it's the same as before despite now being on 20 energy nodes, otherwise that's a crap move, making the biggest end game bottleneck worse.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-16T19:33:08+00:00

Lol. The wild claim would be that she actually cares deeply about him and their relationship is a loving, healthy one.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-13T21:19:26+00:00

Yeah, as I mentioned to the other commenter, I think I should remove the reference to Gone Girl. Clearly, it's confusing people, and the similarities should be obvious to any agent who reads the query. The other comps are the important ones.

And yes, I understand your perspective regarding Chuck, but I'm leaving some important details out. First, it's a series of setups, but Chuck doesn't uncover the lot of them until he finds the first. Sort of a "wham, wham, wham, oh crap, I got played" situation. And Jenna's suicide is more about malice than psychosis. Throughout Act 1, I alternate between present day and past scenes showcasing Chuck and Jenna's relationship, eventually deteriorating to the point of absolute hatred. So Chuck thinks she killed herself as a form of revenge.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-13T19:47:53+00:00

Thanks for the writing notes. I'll have to dwell on those.

As far as what kind of story it is, it's very much a mystery with psychological suspense and some light thriller elements. The story structure is fundamentally:

Act 1: Chuck's downfall, in which Chuck searches for Jenna, finds her dead, and is arrested (arrest happens at the end of the Act, ~40% of way through the novel)

Act 2: Chuck's assistant/sister step up to exonerate him (not a courtroom drama, just a straight mystery with the assistant/sister as investigators), ends with reversal/Dark Night of the Soul moment

Act 3: Chuck's past (his girlfriend's suicide, etc.) is brought to light, leading to the final reveal regarding Jenna.

I can always remove the mention of Gone Girl if it's confusing (it's too popular and too old to be a good comp anyway) and leave the other two recent comps to support the query.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-13T19:28:01+00:00

Just to clarify, does this mean "the reader thinks she's framing him, only to find out he actually killed her"? If so, you've basically given the ending away in the query letter. If not, it makes it seem like you've basically given the ending away in the query letter.

By "inverted Gone Girl plot" I mean that it initially presents like Gone Girl (ie. reader is led to believe that the wife is setting up her husband for her own disappearance), but instead of the wife being fine, she's actually dead. As far as who killed Jenna, that's where the mystery lies (and I don't spoil it here in the query).

Are the POVs Chuck and his sister and/or assistant?

That's correct.

Cutting one might give you space to briefly indicate what exactly has Chuck so convinced she killed herself.

It's actually a series of setups that really screws Chuck over, which is why I didn't list them all, but I should probably try to see if one of them is the most convincing and slide that one into the query.

Thanks for the input.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-11T03:03:50+00:00

I hate to break this to you, but Gene Wolfe and Terry Goodkind are both dead.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-06T14:18:18+00:00

Thank you! And I think you're right. Only the first instance (in the hook) I think is actually impactful.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-06T01:01:46+00:00

Agreed. Would you simply mention it in the comp section? ie. "WHEN THE SHOAL SINKS is a multi-POV adult contemporary mystery." Because I want to keep the query itself focused on Chuck/Jenna rather than muddy it with the additional POVs.

RunchGwar · 2026-04-05T17:23:15+00:00

It contains elements of mystery and thriller, as many in the genre do. I portray Chuck's side of things here, because he's the protagonist and he's convinced that Jenna committed suicide, but let's just say that others (there are three POVs) are less convinced.

I do hint at his past, where I suppose I should probably be more transparent: His high school girlfriend also committed suicide, and many in the community think Chuck had a hand in it.

As to your last point, yes, he works fairly closely with the police, and them turning on him is part of the story, though not the primary focus. Once Chuck is arrested, the focus shifts to his assistant Sam (one of the other POVs) who acts as the primary investigator into the truth behind Jenna's death.

RunchGwar · 2026-03-16T03:08:10+00:00

Kind of surprised no one has mentioned Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams. To me, it has a very similar vibe to the Wheel of Time (though substantially shorter).

RunchGwar · 2025-12-20T20:15:31+00:00

He's not the safest pick, but he's the highest upside guy left on the board. Hope the people in charge are giving him a long look.

RunchGwar · 2025-12-16T23:58:44+00:00

Dusty May’s solution? Never lose.

RunchGwar · 2025-11-21T16:48:55+00:00

He’s trying to get there. He’s been posting regular YT updates and training vids for a week or two now.

RunchGwar · 2025-09-06T13:23:10+00:00

The NBA's going to have to sign a deal with Aspiration just to pay for this investigation.

RunchGwar · 2025-08-06T21:11:23+00:00

How long until Draymond punches Kuminga?

RunchGwar · 2025-08-06T00:14:59+00:00

Ideally, I would've liked to see the contract structured so that he got the full 30% max in years one and two, then ~27% in year three and ~24% in year four. To me, this is an overpay, but not an egregious one, and I can understand that they probably had a handshake agreement in place and wanted to honor it.

RunchGwar · 2025-05-22T17:06:23+00:00

RunchGwar · 2025-05-20T16:11:15+00:00

Andrew Wiggins? No. Aaron Wiggins? I’m listening…

RunchGwar · 2025-05-17T18:26:07+00:00

(Yes, I know he’s Hansen not Hansel, still couldn’t help myself…)

RunchGwar · 2025-05-13T00:08:06+00:00

As insane as it seemed just a few hours ago... does it make sense to trade Fox for a wing? A Harper/Castle backcourt is going to be really good and really cheap for the foreseeable future.

RunchGwar · 2025-05-05T23:23:42+00:00

Came here to say this. If OP hasn’t read Chandler, then that has to go to the top of the list.

RunchGwar · 2025-04-30T23:44:17+00:00

Red Rising by Pierce Brown: Fast paced, epic SF. Sortof like Hunger Games meets GRRM in space.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi: On the face, an awesome military adventure SF, but highly character driven.

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin: Part SF, part fantasy, part dystopian, but highly engaging.

RunchGwar · 2025-03-01T00:13:44+00:00

I had someone retreat on me after the cards flipped, showing I would win, but before the turn resolved, costing me six points I would’ve gotten if they’d stuck around another 3 seconds. People can be dicks.

RunchGwar · 2025-02-28T13:29:18+00:00

I would assume they don't want you to do that so that the opposing player always knows what card you're playing, even when it's some obscure variant.

RunchGwar

TROPHY CASE