Bored? Disgusted? Pissed of? Suffering from a chronic hangover from life and don’t know how to shake off those fiendish blues? You’re in serious need of a boost, a shot in the arm (no, not the needle kind) guaranteed to take you back to those youthful days when you were going to conquer the world and show everybody what they’d been missing when you weren’t around.
Losing that intoxicating feeling of raw power and demented optimism happens to the best of us. Life has a way of kicking us in the teeth, beating us up and knocking us out when we least expect it, it dents our inflated confidence and jeopardises our unbending belief in our ultimate success. We stumble back on our feet wondering what the hell we’ve done to deserve such a rotten break. We rebel against joining the ranks of those who’ve traded their wild dreams for a dull, unfulfilling life in a suburban semi, but somehow lots of us stare out of the window one day, wondering how we actually ended up in such a rut.
Truth is we can’t all rock the world like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, build empires like Richard Branson or Anita Roddick, inspire generations of idealists like Nelson Mandela or make a difference to the discarded victims of our insanely materialistic world by our unswaying generosity of spirit like Lady Di. No, we’re not all made of the stuff that dazzles crowds or knocks them off their feet. Or are we?... I’ll broach that subject another day...
Meanwhile, to pull you out of your funk and get you rocking again, you’re going to need some serious medicine... A daily dose of rich thrills guaranteed to lift your spirits and soothe your battered soul. The truth is there are as many magic potions as dudes on the planet. But I’m going to tell you what works for me and gets me through life with a buzz.
Number one: a great thriller. Every night, I slip between the sheets and enter the gripping, exhilarating world of smart, kick-ass detectives bent on nailing brutal killers rampant on the mean streets or lurking in a leafy neighbourhood near you. No, it’s not the gory mysteries, featuring psychotic, blood-curdling brutes I warm to. It’s the soul-searching, troubled detectives like Harry Bosch in Michael Connelly’s stunning, poetic masterpieces or mad-dog cops in James Ellroy’s powerful tales of sleaze, greed and insanity in America’s underbelly which keep me riveted through half the night. I defy anyone to read a book by those two giants of crime fiction and not feel their pulse quicken and their heart beat faster. Never heard of them? Man, where have you been all those years? Reading those tepid, hollow, self-indulgent novels which do nothing for you and leave you feeling oddly discontented has taken up far too much of your time. Trust me on this one, only crime fiction can provide the needed jolt. So do me a favour. If you’re blue, dejected, washed out or feel life has left you behind, grab a thriller and dig into it heartily. For a few hours, you’re in a whole new dimension, and life won’t ever be the same again.
I can’t remember the day I picked up my first thriller – probably twenty years ago - but I never looked back. It must have been Double Indemnity by James M. Cain, one of the greatest noir masterpieces ever written, but boy was I hooked!
Come on. Take a leap of faith and grab a book by Michael Connelly, James Ellroy, Peter Temple, James M. Cain or Janet Evanovich. Trust me – you won’t regret it! In fact, you’ll wonder how you’ve ever lived without those electrifying thrills before...
