Are you writing a thriller novel? There are numerous tropes you can consider for your story. Such tropes help to ensure you’re writing a book that ticks all the key boxes in terms of what readers want.
Below, we’ve included 21 thriller book tropes for you.
Enjoy!
Mystery
1. The protagonist must navigate a secret society or cult-like group.
A common thriller trope, especially for detective stories, is for the antagonist to be a secretive society or cult with mysterious and strange rituals. These rituals are the clues leading the protagonist to discover the secret society and uncover all the (often well-connected) characters involved with it.
2. Strange and threatening messages are left for the protagonist or another central character.
In this trope, the main conflict revolves around strange messages being left for the protagonist or another main character. These messages could be threatening harm or implying they know a secret. The suspense comes from trying to uncover who is writing the messages and why.
3. An unknown person arrives in town.
For this trope, the stranger generally arrives at the start of the story, causing havoc and unease in the town around them. In some cases, the stranger isn’t responsible for these actions; other characters are acting strange because this person has arrived in town unexpectedly. The story becomes about discovering identity of the stranger and their reasons for coming to the town.
4. A supposedly dead person makes contact.
Similar to the strange or threatening messages, this trope involves a character receiving a message or package from someone who has recently died or believed to have died. The story aims to unravel what the package is and why that person would have sent it to be delivered after their death.
5. A dead body appears with no obvious clues.
Thriller stories with a crime element often have a dead body appear without any idea of where it came from. This is especially true if the dead body is also a stranger to the area, which creates intrigue over its origins and who would be capable of murdering them.
6. The government gets involved.
Instead of secret societies or mystery cults, some thriller stories have the government get involved to add a sense of urgency or significance to the conflict and clues being discovered. The protagonist then has to fight both the antagonist to solve the conflict and the government for control over the case.
7. A neighbor, coworker or acquaintance causes the protagonist anxiety and fear.
This is the ‘keep your enemies close’ trope, when a new neighbor or coworker begins to act strange or menacing for no obvious reason. The thrill of the story comes from wondering what they are going to do next (and if they aim to risk the protagonist’s life), the reason for their strange behavior, and whether the protagonist eventually gets them to stop.
Escape or Retrieve
8. The protagonist is trapped inside a location and must escape quickly.
For this trope, the protagonist is often trapped somewhere, like a city or large event, and must find their way home before something horrible happens. There are often deliberate obstacles in their way, and the thrill is heightened when something personal is on the line, like their family’s safety or the release of some shady secret.
9. A vital piece of information or item goes missing and must be found.
Another common detective or spy trope, the protagonist goes on the hunt for something that has been lost or stolen. The thrill comes from uncovering the clues which hopefully lead to retrieving the item before it’s too late.
10. The protagonist is locked in a room with no obvious way out.
Much like the escape room activities based on this trope, the protagonist is locked in somewhere and must escape before they are hurt or murdered. Common locked spaces are buried caskets, basements and cellars, secret rooms, and outdoor sheds.
11. The conflict must be resolved in a tight deadline or risk dire consequences.
A ticking time bomb will always make a thriller that much more thrilling. The more serious the consequences for not beating the clock (i.e. a murder, release of information, war-like attack), the more suspenseful and exciting the story.
12. The events take place in an isolated location, away from immediate help or prying eyes.
Forcing the protagonist to escape or investigate in an exotic or isolated location adds to the suspense of a thriller novel by separating the protagonist from the rest of the world. This makes solving the conflict that much more difficult for the protagonist because they have to work in strange surroundings and circumstances.
13. The protagonist is being chased or stalked and must avoid capture.
Having the protagonist be constantly on alert because they are being chased or stalked by someone makes for a very thrilling story. Every page makes the reader wonder how close the antagonist is to capturing the protagonist and what the protagonist will do to escape and be rid of them completely.
14. A family member or very important person goes missing suddenly.
Trying to find a missing character is always thrilling because there is that underlying ticking clock of wanting to find them before it’s too late. The closer the relationship to the protagonist, the more intense and thrilling the chase to find them.
15. The protagonist must prove their innocence before being caught.
A story where the protagonist has been framed and must prove their innocence can be thrilling for all the same reasons those stories focused on hunting the perpetrator of a crime or recovering a missing person are. What clues will the protagonist discover that lead to clearing their name and why were they framed in the first place?
Archetypes
16. Is the narrator even someone the reader can trust?
Want to create doubt and unease in your reader? Tell the story from the first-person perspective, especially when it’s the antagonist’s point of view (like the You series of books). The suspense and thrill come from not only wondering how the conflict will be resolved but whether anything the reader has read truthfully happened that way in the first place.
17. Every hero has a weakness.
A protagonist with a series of fears or phobias is a common trope in thriller stories because the antagonist often uses these weaknesses against the protagonist. The suspense comes from wondering if the protagonist can overcome their fears to defeat the antagonist in the end.
18. Some heroes have a certain set of skills.
A fun thriller trope is to give the protagonist a hidden skillset that they have to use to solve the conflict (like Liam Neeson’s Taken movie series). This is especially exciting when paired with the recovering of a missing relative or proving the protagonist’s innocence when they’ve been framed for a crime. The thrill comes from wondering what else the character can do and how they might be required to show those skills in the story.
19. The best adversary is an intelligent one.
Some thriller stories have brilliant sociopaths as their antagonists like Batman’s Joker or Sherlock’s Moriarty. These characters create thrill and intrigue because there’s no predicting what will happen next. What will the protagonist have to overcome next? And how will they succeed in the end?
20. Every good protagonist needs a good supporting protagonist.
Sherlock and Watson. Batman and Robin. Bond and Leiter. For those thriller stories involving detection and detectives, partnering up the protagonists adds to the suspense by leaving the reader wondering how they will work together to solve the case.
21. Groups of suspects.
The group of suspects trope is often used in crime heist and isolated location thriller stories (like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None). The suspense comes from wondering which of the group is causing conflict with the others, and even more so, why are they doing this in the first place?