Writing Craft
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Book Review: “The Debt” by Chris Young
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5) Chris Young’s The Debt is a dark, sprawling crime drama about guilt, punishment, friendship, institutional power, loyalty, and the dangerous difference between surviving trauma and actually recovering from it. The novel follows Michael Kramer, an eighteen-year-old whose life appears to be opening in front of him. He has just graduated high school,…
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Book Review: “Deadfall” by Josh Jensen
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5) Josh Jensen’s Deadfall is a lean, hard-edged neo-Western thriller about loyalty, wounded masculinity, moral debt, reinvention, and the dangerous relief of discovering that the part of yourself you thought was gone is still alive. Set in 1994, the novella follows Jack Hillman, a former Green Beret whose military career, marriage, and sense…
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Interview with Author Hiliary Amanda
We are thrilled to sit down with Hilary Amanda, author of psychological thrillers that explore the darkness hiding beneath ordinary lives. Her stories delve into fear, trauma, buried secrets, moral ambiguity, and the unsettling question of what ordinary people are capable of when pushed beyond their limits. We had the opportunity to talk with Hilary…
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Interview with Author Natalie Morrow
We are thrilled to sit down with Natalie Morrow, author of gripping psychological thrillers that explore secrets, manipulation, obsession, and the darker side of human relationships. We had the opportunity to talk with Natalie about her books, her approach to crafting suspense, and the writing process behind her twist-filled stories. Thriller Magazine: Your thrillers often…
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Book Review: “Flesh of All Sorrows” by Jeffrey J. Mariotte
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5) Jeffrey J. Mariotte’s Flesh of All Sorrows is a dark, psychologically charged crime thriller about inherited violence, family mythology, police loyalty, obsession, and the danger of building your identity around someone you never truly understood. The novel follows Daniel Mansfield, newly appointed police chief of Sossaman, Arizona, a position once held by…
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Book Review: “The Queen of Florida” by Jeff Bercuson
Jeff Bercuson’s The Queen of Florida is a sharp, darkly comic crime novel about family obligation, late-life reinvention, addiction, greed, and the strange moral compromises people make when they finally decide they deserve more. The novel follows June, a retired widow who escapes to Boca after spending years being pulled into chaos by her troubled…
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Book Review: “Three Bengal Kittens” by Philipp Schott
Philipp Schott’s Three Bengal Kittens is a charming, witty, and warmly offbeat cozy mystery that blends murder, family tension, veterinary detail, and just the right amount of feline chaos. As the fourth book in the Dr. Bannerman Vet Mystery series, the novel follows veterinarian Peter Bannerman as he is pulled into trouble when his brother…
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Protected: The Process Server by Frank Mallia
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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Thriller Submission Mistakes That Hurt Strong Short Stories
A lot of passes are not about talent. They are about friction. The story arrives with preventable issues that make it harder to evaluate, or it signals a mismatch with thriller expectations before the tension even has a chance to build. This post focuses on common mistakes in thriller submissions (and how to avoid them)…
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What Are The Best Thriller Short Story Hooks?
Editors do not need fireworks in line one. They need traction. A thriller short story hook works when it creates immediate pressure and makes the reader believe the next paragraph will matter. Most openings fail for one simple reason: they delay the story’s first meaningful problem. They start with atmosphere, biography, or explanation, then hope…