Jeffery Deaver: Master of the thriller genre shares the method to his madness
The Bone Collector author Jeffery Deaver is considered a magician of the thriller. Focused on telling the story of a new crime hero, he shares the method to his madness.
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Jeffery Deaver is considered to be a magician of the thriller.
He’s responsible for giving life to one of the most popular characters of the genre, Lincoln Rhyme.
Rhyme, the quadriplegic crime investigator who features in majority of Deaver’s novels,
became a household name when The Bone Collector received the movie treatment.
Rhyme’s ‘distinctively Deaver’ story has been told in 17 of his books since the 90s including 2018’s The Cutting Edge.
It was these books that gave Deaver the title of master of suspense.
The author’s life behind the books is just as unpredictable, with as many twists and turns as his novels.
Before making it big as a writer, eventually writing his own contribution to the James Bond series, Deaver worked as a journalist and then a lawyer. He also tried his hand as a folk musician at one point too.
Despite his multiple careers, he said his goal was to be a crime writer — inspired by Ian Fleming’s Bond book From Russia With Love.
While his job may be to deceive and terrify you, he loves a happy ending.
“In my books crime actually doesn’t pay, (I think) it’s important to create the most emotionally engaging experience you can … that means a happy ending, that justice prevails,” he said.
“At the end of a book I want to feel exhilarated and smile, even if I’ve shed a tear … my job is never to make the reader feel uncomfortable. It is to make the reader feel ecstatic and enjoy the experience and the story.”
Deaver’s latest The Never Game introduces new character Colter Shaw, an expert tracker.
Where Rhyme was more of a reclusive character, Shaw is more social. Rhyme dealt more with forensic crime fighting, while Shaw gets into the psyche of the criminals he’s chasing.
Never Game is the first Colter Shaw series and Deaver hopes Shaw will be as popular as Rhyme.
“The reason Rhyme is so popular is he is his mind before he is his body. He has to use his mind to out-think villains. Because he is quadriplegic he’s not able to pull out a gun and not able to karate kick the villain. I think we’re all our minds before we are our bodies. Everyone has a failing in physical form at some point, in some way and I think we rely on our spirit, our heart, our mind to get through life,” he said.
Deaver said there’s a method to his madness which has allowed him to pen more than 35 books.
He spends most of his time outlining the story, a process which usually takes eight months, then he fills in the story.
“The Never Game outline was 150 pages. I know where all the characters enter the story, I know when they leave … the books are written over a short period to everything has to be choreographed early. Once the outline is done I write the book very quickly,” adding it takes him about two months to write a 110,000 word novel.
“I don’t produce a certain amount of words a day, I simply write until I don’t feel like sitting on my butt anymore.”
For Deaver, most of his time is figuring out how to surprise his readers time and time again.
“Twists are very, very important to me. It’s hard to explain how to come up with that. I’m a bit like a magician or an illusionist. I have my readers concentrate on my left hand when my right hand is doing something entirely different. But when the twist is revealed they say they knew that the right hand was in plain view the whole time, (but) they weren’t paying attention to it.”
Although he’s a big fan of deep diving into crime and the police process, he stops short of providing the gory details.
“I prefer the Hitchcock model, I write suspense I never write specific violence. I never hurt children, I never hurt animals (in his books). My job is to keep the audience in suspense, not to shock them,” he said.
“I’ve found books and movies that rely on excessive gore or scenes that are particularly troubling to be a bit of a creative failure. They are not focused on creating a genuine cathartic suspense like a roller coaster ride, they are simply trying to shock for the sake of shock.”
Never Game was inspired by a non-sinister encounter, a game of Minecraft with his niece.
“She loaded it on my phone and I said what do I do now? She said basically you die! (it was the survival mode of the game.)”
“We laughed, not long after that I had the idea what if someone took a video game that had a violent motive and took it into the real world. It took me a few years to come up with Never Game but I finally did.”
Deaver said video games worked in a thriller as they’re something that is found in everyone’s home.
“They’re something that many people are familiar with. (Part of his research involved playing hours of Doom and World of Warcraft.) I was very inspired by the fact that there’s people playing in Korea against someone from New Jersey. We can reach right into someone’s home.”
Aside from developing Colter Shaw plots Deaver’s also awaiting the TV series ‘Lincoln’ which follows Rhyme’s character.
He has no desire to be involved in the screen scripts, but he’s looking forward to see his character come to life on screen once again.
The Never Game is out now via HarperCollins Australia.
SISTERS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Her sister Liane is everywhere right now with attention on the second TV season of her smash Big Little Lies — but the critics have an eye on Nicola Moriarty ahead of her new release.
The Ex, published by HarperCollins Australia, has captivated the lucky few who have received review copies; and that’s why it is our Book of the Month for June.
Readers can pre-order the fast-moving, attention-grabbing novel (which, as the title suggests, is about a past relationship and its impact on the present) for a 30 per cent discount at Booktopia by using the code BCBT19.
And remember to come and mull over Moriartys and more at the Sunday Book Club group on Facebook.
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