8 thrillers that pack an emotional punch
Sam Lloyd, author of the chilling, moving and unputdownable thriller The Memory Wood, has recommended eight thrillers that pack an emotional punch.
"We read thrillers for excitement, but some of them leave an emotional imprint far outlasting the thrills. The Memory Wood follows two incredibly gifted kids who find themselves playing a life-or-death game of deception. Elissa, a thirteen-year-old chess prodigy, is snatched from a world-ranking tournament on the most important day of her life. Hours later she wakes in darkness, tethered to a metal post. When twelve-year-old Elijah discovers her underground cell, Elissa thinks she’s saved. But Elijah thinks he’s found his first true friend, and is reluctant to give her up.
I knew how Elissa and Elijah’s relationship would end before I even put pen to paper. And while there are twists and turns aplenty along the way, reaching that denouement was what motivated me to start. If readers feel anything of what I felt as I wrote their final scene, the effort will have been worthwhile. Below, I've listed some of my favourite stories that are both page-turners and memorable emotional experiences." Sam Lloyd
11/22/63 by Stephen King
While helping a dying friend, teacher Jake Epping discovers a time portal in a disused diner. Travelling back to 1963, he tries to prevent the murder of President John F. Kennedy. While Epping’s hunting of Lee Harvey Oswald takes centre stage, it's the effect on his personal relationships that makes this book so special.
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton
A mother runs into a burning school to save her daughter. Afterwards, she tries to identify the arsonist and permanently end the threat. The beautiful and devastating conclusion made me a Lupton fan for life.
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Koontz's tale of a short-order fry cook who sees dead people spawned five sequels, three graphic novels and a Hollywood film. But it's the first book of the series which truly stands out, with an ending that's different to anything Koontz had written before.
Room by Emma Donoghue
Jack is five. He lives with his mother in a single locked room, and has never set foot outside it. At night, she shuts him in the wardrobe, to keep him safe during the visits. A book that’s memorable for so many reasons, but particularly the examination of love in the most difficult circumstances.
The Whisper Man by Alex North
A widower and his young son move to a new village and try to rebuild their lives. But sleepy Featherbank has a dark past. Fifteen years ago, five boys were murdered by the killer known as 'The Whisper Man'. When another boy goes missing, the father and son discover something horrific in the garage of their new home.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
In 1973, Susie Salmon is murdered. From heaven, she witnesses the impact of her death on her family, and does what she can to put things right. Published in 2002, the book became an international sensation.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
In the aftermath of an apocalyptic event, a man travels across America with one goal: keeping his son alive. Terrible, heartrending, shocking; it’s not an easy read, but once started you cannot look away.
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
A grieving mother walks into a coffee shop and meets an enigmatic stranger. As their relationship develops, he introduces her to his nine-year-old daughter, who’s the spitting image of the daughter she lost years earlier.
About The Memory Wood by Sam Lloyd
Elijah has lived in the Memory Wood for as long as he can remember. It’s the only home he’s ever known.
Elissa has only just arrived. And she’ll do everything she can to escape.
When Elijah stumbles across thirteen-year-old Elissa, in the woods where her abductor is hiding her, he refuses to alert the police. Because in his twelve years, Elijah has never had a proper friend. And he doesn’t want Elissa to leave.
Not only that, Elijah knows how this can end. After all, Elissa isn’t the first girl he’s found inside the Memory Wood.
As her abductor’s behaviour grows more erratic, Elissa realises that outwitting strange, lonely Elijah is her only hope of survival. Their cat-and-mouse game of deception and betrayal will determine both their fates, and whether either of them will ever leave the Memory Wood . . .
