Serial killers, depravity, warped sensibilities, scary people… If I’m being honest, I’m kind of tired of seeing the dark and twisted side of things.
There are people I know who really enjoy exploring the dark side of life. They are interested in really understanding the psyche and figuring out what makes people tick…particularly bad people.
I’m not one of those people.
The happily ever after that is built into romance–and romantic suspense–is the core of what I like about the genre, and when I read it, the happily ever after is the thing that keeps me turning the pages. The dichotomy between the extremes of dark suspense and happily ever after, while highlighting the importance of love and the renewing spirit of humanity, still illustrates the evil that permeates our everyday lives, even on the periphery. It can be so disturbing that it sucks the happiness right out of me. I begin to fear who lives next door, wonder if there’s a lunatic watching my kids’ schools, worry that something dark and awful will befall someone I love.
I don’t like those feelings. At all.
I know evil exists. I know misfortune exists. I’ve been touched by it. What I’ve found, as I grow older, is that I don’t particularly like being reminded of it in the books I read. Don’t get me wrong…I don’t live with my head buried in the sand. I’m socially conscious, believe in serving, and put myself out there to help and be part of the world around me. I work hard to emphasize social awareness and servitude to my kids so that they understand the lottery they won by being born in the United States, the privilege they live with, and the fact that they are blessed in a world where not everyone is so fortunate.
I don’t take my life, or my good fortune, for granted.
So why do I shy away from books that highlight the dark side of humanity? In my books–both those that I read, and those that I write–I want to escape. That’s not to say that the books I read and write are fluff; they’re not! I read a wide range of books with a wide range of themes. Many are character driven books that explore personal journeys. They’re not all romances. They just don’t typically have to do with serial killers. The bottom line is that I like to see the more positive side of life, and sometimes fiction is the only way I can get there.
Hurricane Ike can be raging all around me–as it just did for so many, but in my fiction world, it’s sunny and bright and through the struggles, there’s always a rainbow. I reach out to help, care about the people who are suffering, and at the end of the day, a book that sees life in a more positive light is the thing that keeps me going.
At RWA’s National conference last year, Lisa Kleypas gave the keynote address. I remember her telling a story about her ravaged town and the destruction of her house. She talked about how she and her mom visited Walmart to stock up on basic supplies. When they met up after their shopping at the checkout line, they both had–as part of their necessities–a romance novel. The uplifting spirit of such a book is renewing and we all need that every now and then, especially in the face of our own everyday tragedies and struggles. So, in general, the dark, dark suspense is not what I turn to anymore.
I know that SO many people LOVE romantic suspense and get the renewal talked about above from those books because there is a happily ever after. There is love and redemption and people who survive at all costs. If you love romantic suspense, how do you separate yourself from the darkness in the books and the darkness in our lives and in our world?
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Suz Brockmann fangrrl here. I think her book Into the Storm would be my favorite if it weren’t for the dark gruesomeness of the serial killer in it.
Generally, I like her books because in them, we get to see the good guys winning. Same with Robert Crais. They don’t win at no cost to themselves, but the overall good wins out. I see so little of that in our current political climate, I need to get it from fiction. That’s what makes me happy to read Romantic Suspense.
I’ve also noticed that in the last few years there seem to be a lot more movies featuring “vigilante justice”. I wonder if this has increased or if my perception of it has. Because I identify glorification of vigilantes with feelings of powerlessness. Romantic Suspense books give back that feeling of power.
But there are times when I don’t want to read about bad stuff happening to people that is outside the scope of odinary. Yes, serial killers exist, but if there were as many as there were novels about them they would be the only ones left. I often don’t read mysteries because I just don’t need to read about people dying; even when the case is solved, the victim is still dead.
I see no problem in reading books where no one dies!
…how do you separate yourself from the darkness in the books and the darkness in our lives and in our world?
I don’t watch the news, which is the most depressing bombardment of the spirit ever conceived.
Fictional serial killers and worse (paranormal girl here—the villain in what I’m reading is just as likely to be Satan himself) are manageable badness. I know they’re going to be overcome. That’s why I seek out the gruesome in books—Good is guaranteed to triumph over Evil, which is too often not the case in real life.
My sentiments exactly!
One of my favorite quotes is from President Theodore Roosevelt:
“There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction.”
As I always tell my writer friends who question my reading choices, if I want real life, I’ll just turn on the six o’clock news. “
I agree — I like knowing the bad guy will get his due. However, I prefer mystery-themed books, not serial killers or dark, evil villains. I like to solve a puzzle, not deal with people who torture. But that’s a preference, and I know so many books now are the dark, horrendous killer type. I’d rather not be in their heads, which is why, although I LOVE Suzanne Brockmann (and just read Into the Night), I also didn’t care as much for Into the Storm because of the frequent hops over to the torture scenes. I never like knowing more than the h/h (or in Suz’s case, the mulitple h/h’s) do. If they’re going to find a mangled body, I want to be shocked along with them.
I write what’s considered romantic suspense because someone named the sub-genre, but I write them as mysteries more than suspense-thrillers.
After 9/11, after being glued to the TV watching the news hour after hour, day after day, I escaped into a Robert Parker novel. Not a Romance in this case, but a Mystery. And I chose it for the same reasons I might have chosen a Romance–to get away.
In this kind of Mystery, the good guys and bad guys are pretty well defined–and the good guys kick the bad guys asses.
I need that just as much as I need the celebration of love. Romantic Suspense often appeals to me just for that reason.
That’s why I love traditional Regencies. The worst wound happening is the cut direct.
That said, my next book (Invisible out in February) is pretty darn dark (for me). No serial killers but one supremely messed up heroine.
Though I thought Breach Of Trust was a serious piece of fiction and one reviewer called it a comedy.
Misa,
as you know, I worked 20 yrs in Law enforcement, and have seen and experienced such evil that I have yet to read anything that has even touched the surface of what I felt during that time. I stay away from books that explore such things. I like comedies, some romances, and historical. Humanity is both a combination of some the deepest evil in the universe, and some of the best things that keep us going. I’ve seen both, and like the sunshine, and the happily ever after.
Retired for 4yrs, there are some criminals I knew that still give me nightmares. If I think about certain experiences, if someone comes up behind me, while I’m in that memory, they are likely to get knocked out, or at least taken down. Yes, from seeing all that I have, I have PTSS.
But unfortunately there is a market for thse types of stories. People buy the books, make the authors wealthy.
In the end I believe in my fellow man or woman. There is actuall more good in this world then bad. Its just that we seem focused on all that is evil. In a book it’s just more interesting. Not for me.
I’m always asked why I don’t write about my experiences. My answer is simple, I don’t want to relive it.
Give me something that makes me smile anytime.
I have always read to escape. Oh, I read for other reasons, too, but the need for mental and emotional vacations motivates my book selection process much of the time. I’m a guy who reads romances because I like the happily ever after they offer. And while some suspense is good, I don’t like things any darker than a business-like grey.
It’s SO interesting to hear that suspense offers that reprieve from reality for many people in the same way that a straight romance or other type book will. The simple fact that good will triumph over evil in fiction is enough of an escape for some.
I still tend to prefer my escapism watered down *sheepish grin*, though I do understand other people’s choices.
“There is quite enough sorrow and shame and suffering and baseness in real life, and there is no need for meeting it unnecessarily in fiction.â€
Great quote, Chicki Brown! Love it. Explains why there’s that unspoken rule about kids dying in women’s fiction being taboo. If women are the majority of readers–and if even half of the reader makeup are parents–then that type of scenario is a little too close for comfort. It’s too scary in real life to face in our fiction.
That being said, I do think tough topics can and should be written about. They should be explored and they can help those who need it understand. There’s something for everyone.
Sometimes a darker world is part of the escape I need. I like romantic suspense for many of the the same reasons I enjoy scary movies and true crime. It’s exciting and dangerous and completely different from my real life.
I live in San Diego. It’s sunny. I’m happy. Life is good.
Give me some chills! Throw in a creepy villain, a few life-or-death situations, a sexy hero, and some angst.
All good reasons to go for the thrill, Jill!
In the end, as Nora said, “the good guys kick the bad guys asses” and that’s the biggest difference between fiction and reality. Justice doesn’t always happen in real life. Makes sense why we go for that justice in our fiction.
Thanks for all the comments, y’all!
Chicki,
Fantastic quote! It hits the nail on the head.