As promised in my post on Interrupting My Obsession with Thrillers, today let’s talk about what turned me into a lover of thriller books.
My curiosity began when I was a young lady under 13. My school built a new library and some very nice people donated lots of books for us to dig into. By the time I turned 13 I had read all the ones from the Enid Blyton mystery series for young readers, including The Secret Seven, The Famous Five, and Nancy Drew. Later on I moved up the ladder to Hardy Boys. I had no real interest in boys back then, so it was no surprise that I left books with boy detectives till last.
A few years later, my addiction got interrupted by author Virginia Andrews after watching Flowers in the Attic, the movie. This was during those years when I was discovering the world through my new eyes, those of a young female adult. I was curious to learn what ‘other’ young ladies were facing in places beyond my faraway island.
I read the entire Dollanganger series in less than a fortnight. Then I moved on to Andrews’ other series, including the Casteel series, the Cutler series, the Landry series, and the Logan series. Phew! Each series took me under four weeks to complete.
Whenever I found any of her standalone novels at the library, I would take the books home and read each novel in less than eight hours, go back to the library and borrow the next one. We didn’t have computers and tablets in the 1980s-90s. The only way back then for me to see into other young adults’ lives was through books. Some of those girls Andrews wrote about were facing similar dilemmas as I was: boy issues, selfish adults around us, and the difference between the social classes.
Once an investigative reporter, always an investigative reporter
When I moved to Perth in the late 1990s to study for a degree in media, my love for thrillers was revived after sitting in a Health Journalism lecture delivered by The West Australian newspaper’s Cathy O’Leary (today Cathy is their Medical Editor). My dormant investigative side woke up.
It later on helped me win the award for excellence in television production, thanks to my work as an investigative television reporter-producer checking out the issues affecting small businesses and their industries. I’m still interested in that kind of work and also love finding out how things work and why people think and act the way they do.
Thrill-seeker or just stubborn thriller-seeker?
So ever since I went into journalism, I’ve been aiming for the stories told from the point-of-view of a criminal, lawyer, or crime victim of an attack, murder attempt or imprisonment. I’ve read many books written by John Grisham and I reckon he’s my absolute favorite.
I also have a strong love for Russell Andrews and sometimes wish Grisham would take some notes from Andrews and stop beating around the bush with fluff and get straight-to-the-point. Oh, and I don’t mind Stephen King, I’ve read many of his books.
I believe that I’m the type of reader who’s interested in complex stories that cause me to think a lot. I’m not the type who gets a thrill from reading about people suffering, being tortured or dying. That’s me telling you, in a nice way, that I’m not a psychopath (yes you, psychologists checking up on what thriller lovers like or how they think!).
What are you into or have read lately?
Mystery Man source.
