Medical Thrillers

[WannabeWriter]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone read novels of the medical thriller genre? I'm just wondering isince this is the genre I think I want to break into. Any thoughts on this, or anyone else also trying to write this kind of novel?

[aadams73]

Tess Gerritsen and Robin Cook are both excellent writers of this genre. I think it's one where it is beneficial to be in the medical field to get mood and details correct. Both Cook and Gerritsen are/were physicians.

[WannabeWriter]

I'm almost done with med school, so I'll be in the same field soon. :)

[aadams73]

I'd say you'd be more than qualified to do so then. I love medical thrillers, so hurry up and get writing so I can buy your book!

[WannabeWriter]

Still, don't rush me, or else the book will suck. :) Other than that, I'm brainstorming my first novel, and the process is rather fun, especially when I get closer to finally getting the whole story together.

[FirstOffClub]

Tess Gerritsen! I read all of her books in one big binge. Stephen King stuck his neck out and wrote that she is better than Michael Crichton and Robin Cook. I always had Crichton up on a pedestal, but I must agree with King on this. I don't really like Cook's stuff very much. Anyway, I will be looking forward to reading your book :)

[edfrzr]

Great story line --young med student starts to write a novel about his experiences and stumbles onto a nefarious plot of mind control via electronic impulse implants starting at the infancy stage; i. e., the maternity ward.

Go get 'em.

[WannabeWriter]

Suddenly, I have an idea for a fun game: guess the plot of my first novel and all the other novel ideas I have. :D

But the following hints are so vague that I don't think anyone will guess. :)

- I'm writing about topics related to the medical field that have not been done yet or have barely been done.
- The medical thriller genre has some rules and conventions, some of which I may break.

Though I do love to share things about myself, I'm still protective of my work. :)

[aspiringwriter]

I've never ventured into the medical thriller genre...mainly because I don't know much about it...and I tend to like horror/suspense!!...

Bill

[WannabeWriter]

You don't need to know much about medicine to get into it. A medical thriller author's job is to write an entertaining story incorporating medical stuff and telling it in a way a layperson can understand it. :)

Although keep in mind that, in my opinion, some novels in this genre have been said by some to be a little too technical for the layperson. In fact, I've seen a lot of books in this genre on Amazon.com that haven't sold too many copies. This might be why.

I hope to write something that would thrill the reader and also really put him or her in the mind of a doctor to appreciate this unique profession. :)

[edfrzr]

Hmmm, "medical stuff", huh? Let me pull out the old PDR and look that one up. Just kidding. I put medical stuff on my infected stuff all the time. On the other hand, its the technical stuff that really gets my mental stuff going.

Huh? What dear...do what?

Gotta go guys. I think I'm about to get my stuff stuffed.

[l.stormgaye]

I read medical suspense thrillers, many of which delve more into forensic science. I've read "The Inquisitor" and "Critical Condition" by the same author (Clement), which was too ambiguous to recommend; "Stillborn," which I absolutely couldn't put down; and, "Vaxxine," which was a snooze here and there, but the ending was the book's salvation.

Good luck with your endeavors.

[WannabeWriter]

I now have a question for all of you interested in this genre, and please excuse if I do get a bit annoyed since this issue is one that has just started to bother me for once.

If you're familiar with Tess Gerritsen, you'll know that she's one of the big names in the medical thriller genre. In addition, if you look at her photo, you'll find that she is of Chinese descent. At her web site, she mentioned this in her latest blog entry:

-----

As for why I write about mainstream characters, and not Asians, I must make a confession here: I'm a commercial writer. I support my family with my writing. Some years ago, I spoke candidly with an editor from my then-publisher and asked her about the prospects of my writing a book with Asian-American characters. Her frank answer: those books don't sell. Her publishing house had done extensive market research and discovered that books with Asian American themes were big disappointments in the marketplace. They had tried, again and again, and the experience was always repeated. She knew she risked offending me by her honesty, but she felt she had to share that.

And I listened.

You'll still find Asians throughout my books -- from Vivian Chao in HARVEST to Yoshima in the Rizzoli series. I try to include the full ethnic rainbow of America. But I'm not sure the American readership is ready for a thriller series with an Asian in the lead.

A sad, but not sharking, truth.

-----

Why does this concern me? Because one, I'm of Asian descent, and two, I created a main character who is Asian, yet pretty much living like an American like any other.

Assuming that everything else about my first novel is done well after numerous drafts, would you still read this book if the main character were an Asian guy in his early 30s instead of a Caucasian guy of the same age?

[edfrzr]

It wouldn't matter to me if the jacket got my attention.

Now an opinion. I may not represent middle America and their buying habits, but if the market research has been done, it is what it is. It may not be fair and it may not be right, but unfortunately, until it changes, it may be reality.

Eventually someone (maybe you) will break through with a strong Asian character and story. Remember, it was only one publisher.

Personally I think it's sad that we have to label everyone's ethnicity. If you were born in America, you're American; plain and simple (just an opinion).

good luck. I wish you the best.

[l.stormgaye]

If there is enough suspense and the subplots blend in with the main theme, I would totally read it. For me to love a novel -- any book at all -- it has to grab me with first the synopsis on the cover, then the first paragraph, then I'll buy it. What keeps me from selling it on eBay or donating it to the local library is the depth of multi-dimensional characters irregardless of the main character's nationality. What keeps me from leaving it in the breakroom at work with no signs of ownership is a character-driven, original story. What would make me buy the series is a homemade recipe of all of the above.

[FirstOffClub]

I would read it and not think twice about it. If the plot revolved in some way around the protagonist's race, I would find that quite interesting. Amy Tan did quite well eg. The Joy Luck Club.

[WannabeWriter]

My idea for the first novel would not revolve around the character's race at all, but I still chose that race to, you know, make things a bit different. :)

[cwfgal]

I think an Asian lead character would be fine as long as the rest of the story is compelling enough.

That said, let me also introduce myself briefly since I haven't posted in this area before. My name is Beth Amos. I'm a big fan of Crichton and Gerritsen (and know Tess through some online connections we had in common years ago and an interview/review I did of her book Gravity--still my favorite of all of hers--when I was a reviewer for b&n.com.) Cook, though he comes up with great plot ideas, isn't a great writer, IMO, and I quit buying his stuff years ago.

I'm a nurse and a writer. I have three novels that were published by HarperCollins in the nineties. All three had a medical thriller element to them, though they varied from the standard medical thriller "recipe" just enough not to be classified as such. The plots for all three rely heavily on some aspect of medical technology and one of them actually included a made-up technological advance for blindness that now exists in real life. My current ms, which I'm shopping around to agents, also has a plot that revolves around medical technology and an MD as the main character.

Beth

[WannabeWriter]

I agree. Robin Cook, though I still collect his books, is a dull writer who just cranks out each book based on the same formula. Michael Palmer is somewhat of a step up, but he, too, gets a little bit dull after reading a few of his books. I like Gerritsen, and I think she's the best in the genre so far. I e-mail her a couple of times for advice on writing, and I really like getting replies from her.

Hopefully, I will make it to the top of the genre and maybe exceed what's been done so far. :)