What Are The Most Common Plot Twists In Thrillers

Everybody loves a good plot twist, the kind that makes you put your book down and think about life because that twist just changed yours. However, when you’re an avid thriller reader plot twists begin to rarely surprise you. In fact, it gets to the point where you can recognize patterns, and that’s what this article is about. Here is a list of the most common types of plot twists thrillers use:

• Red Herrings: you know when the author metaphorically draws an arrow pointing at a person. They take the time to make a character appear very guilty of the crime, only to in the end surprise you with their innocence This is a red herring and authors commonly use this to throw off any theory you might have had prior to this little twist. This revelation is usually the beginning of the end because it means that you’re about to be revealed the real criminal.
• Untrustworthy narrators: when you read a story in first person pov, you always know that the information they give you throughout the thriller isn’t always reliable. Some of the memories they have or things they see are purposely written to make you believe one thing when the twist is coming another way. Gone Girl actually played on unreliable narrators for her actual plot twist, by having her character write out a fake diary in the first half you believed you were reading an untrustworthy narrator. However, the twist comes halfway through when you realize that the character intentionally wanted to appear as an untrustworthy narrator.
• The innocent is guilty: when an author goes out of his way to make a certain character appear too good, kind and innocent for this world, you know that character is the guilty one. In fact, you can take it an extra level and think about how the character least likely to do it, did it.

These are just some of the most common plot twists in thrillers, apart from the popular ‘The butler did it’. It takes a really great book to surprise a thriller reader and there are many authors out there that can do that. If you want to explore some thriller books, don’t be scared to check out our online library www.mediakee.com and see our collection of thrillers and suspense novels.