I HAVE read three thrillers which I want to discuss in order of preference. Murders are committed in all three. Unlike in life, all questions are answered and secrets are revealed at the end. That's one of the reasons we read. I am such a seasoned armchair detective that I can just about report for duty with the SAPS. Of course, I would frequently be suspended because, like my favourite paper detectives, I am impatient and impulsive and incapable of following procedure. Like them, I would get an idea in my head and direct all my focus towards a particular suspect while overlooking the true perpetrator. Because it seems to me that detective work is like fortune-telling, gambling, or writing: Breakthroughs largely have to do with a sixth sense, and luck.
In the crime fiction genre, Linwood Barclay is a bestseller. Stephen King calls him a master of suspense. He fleshes out his characters. The protagonist and narrator is Richard Boyle, an English teacher and a good, fair person whose luck is lousy. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune rain down on him as they did on Hamlet. He has less success than Murphy. He has an exaggerated sense of duty and labours under a saviour complex. He makes poor decisions.
When from a classroom window he sees a gunman enter the school grounds and approach the door of the school building, he orders his pupils to lock and barricade the door and stay down. He runs after the attacker. At the (open) door of the building, he blocks the guy and starts talking to him. He is a former pupil who (fortunately) used to respect Linwood – but now has dynamite attached to his body. Boyle persuades the young man to walk away slowly. Unfortunately, he falls over his untied shoelaces and blows himself to pieces. No one else is injured; Boyle comes out of it with mere scratches...
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CRIME FICTION
Shadows, detours and cold riverbeds
DEBORAH STEINMAIR compares three of HarperCollins's gripping crime novels.
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I HAVE read three thrillers which I want to discuss in order of preference. Murders are committed in all three. Unlike in life, all questions are answered and secrets are revealed at the end. That's one of the reasons we read. I am such a seasoned armchair detective that I can just about report for duty with the SAPS. Of course, I would frequently be suspended because, like my favourite paper detectives, I am impatient and impulsive and incapable of following procedure. Like them, I would get an idea in my head and direct all my focus towards a particular suspect while overlooking the true perpetrator. Because it seems to me that detective work is like fortune-telling, gambling, or writing: Breakthroughs largely have to do with a sixth sense, and luck.
In the crime fiction genre, Linwood Barclay is a bestseller. Stephen King calls him a master of suspense. He fleshes out his characters. The protagonist and narrator is Richard Boyle, an English teacher and a good, fair person whose luck is lousy. The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune rain down on him as they did on Hamlet. He has less success than Murphy. He has an exaggerated sense of duty and labours under a saviour complex. He makes poor decisions.
When from a classroom window he sees a gunman enter the school grounds and approach the door of the school building, he orders his pupils to lock and barricade the door and stay down. He runs after the attacker. At the (open) door of the building, he blocks the guy and starts talking to him. He is a former pupil who (fortunately) used to respect Linwood – but now has dynamite attached to his body. Boyle persuades the young man to walk away slowly. Unfortunately, he falls over his untied shoelaces and blows himself to pieces. No one else is injured; Boyle comes out of it with mere scratches...
Register for free to read this article.
Hello! Vrye Weekblad moved from Arena Holdings to the Nuwe Vrye Weekblad Media Group on 1 October 2022. This means that we must ask you to create a reader profile again.
For October, which C. Louis Leipoldt did not call "the most beautiful month" for nothing, this will give you access to all articles published in that month.
We hope this gives Arena enough time to pay out all outstanding subscription fees to current subscribers.
From 1 January 2023 you will take out a subscription. But for now everything is mahala! Enjoy it. And thanks for being with us again!
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Next articleDeborah Steinmair
Books editorDeborah Steinmair is an award-winning author and insatiable reader. She was twice awarded as Rapport-kykNET book reviewer of the year.