Suspense Matters

By Kelly Bridgewater

What is your go-to genre to read?

You know, the area in the bookstore where you mostly travel. Yes, I head to the Christian fiction section, but I am also drawn to thrillers, suspense, and mysteries.

I adore physiological thrillers. I love when the author creates chapters from the bad person's perspective whether a serial killer or something worse into the story. My go-to author is Steven James, author of the widely popular Patrick Bower's series.

Thrillers and suspense are all about the action and the hunt for the bad guy usually told from a detective's perspective as they chase the clues and interview suspects. I love seeing if I can solve the mystery before the author reveals it. Most of the time, I'm usually pretty good at figuring who did it before the story ends.

When my family watched Wonder Woman for the first time, I leaned over to my fifteen-year-old son, and declared, "I bet Professor Lupin is Aries." He didn't believe me, so when it was proven true, he was amazed and asked how I knew. I shrugged. "Too much experience."

I have an entire eight foot bookshelf dedicated to my suspense, thrillers, and mysteries. I have them alphabetized by author then in each author I have them in order they were published.

My love for mysteries started when I was a little girl. I devoured The Baby-sitter's Club, Sweet Valley everything, Encyclopedia Brown, and Nancy Drew. I LOVED reading Nancy Drew. I read every single one of the originals in one summer. I loved when The Baby-sitter's Club and Sweet Valley started creating mystery series.

My first novel when I was twelve was a mystery novel in a haunted house when a girl had to visit her crazy aunt for the summer. It is horrible! I still have it. I loved reading stories with non-stop action. I still gravitate toward those stories. 

I love when I find a new suspense author who keeps me on my toes from the first page.

What about you? What is your first love in genre? What made you gravitate toward that genre?