I don’t generally read thrillers, but I think Chicago is a fantastic city, and this premise caught my eye. As with most cop thrillers, The Terrorist Next Door, by Sheldon Seigle, walks us through a familiar series of dead-end-suspect-interviews and red herrings, eventually circling back to finding the criminal. This book expertly offered believable and nuanced characters, and some interesting and detailed geographic and cultural history of the Chicago area; the hook & action also continued to intensify to the satisfactory conclusion. Overall, I enjoyed it, and he re-used a phrase that’s familiar and that challenges our idea of empathy: “One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter.”
I’ve been reading–and working on writing a “funny thriller.” To me, the humor is easier than the tension. You can learn more about Sheldon Seigle and his thriller-writing career on GoodReads. And if you know of any “thrillers” that made you laugh out loud, let me know!
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