Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion
Archive - General
>
Most annoying MCT cliches
message 151:
by
Kirsten
(new)
Jan 29, 2015 04:08PM
A mystery written in the first-person where the narrator is the murderer. Aaaaarrrrgghhhh!!!!!
reply
|
flag
"I'm not one to judge, but.." Then don't! *throws book*
Kirsten wrote: "A mystery written in the first-person where the narrator is the murderer. Aaaaarrrrgghhhh!!!!!"I've seen it done. Cleverly. So clever, I had to read the early part again to be sure it had been done honestly.
J - I read one years ago and it put me off first person books for YEARS!!
Let's see -- kind-hearted hooker, too much conversation (reveals) between killer and victim in a murder scene.
M.A.R. wrote: "Let's see -- kind-hearted hooker, too much conversation (reveals) between killer and victim in a murder scene."You mean, like in James Bond movies?
Conversation or exaggerated confrontations in books, TV shows, movies, etc. Do you remember the lengthly reveals in James Bond films, or do you remember the Indiana Jones scene where he faces a sword wielding attacker going through the flash/dash and simply shoots him?
Don't judge a book by its cover. Read it in a book I like but still You can't write that.
Quillracer wrote: "Then there's the Stormtrooper effect: The good guy can stand out in the open with 5000 bad guys shooting at him and never get even a scratch. Meanwhile, he fires one shot that ricochets off a wall..."Too true - and if they are shot, it 'grazes' them where someone worries about them but they're like, oh it's just a flesh wound.
I agree with what was said about every woman having to jump into bed with the detectives, and it doesn't matter what they look like--that's disgusting.But one of my biggest annoyances is when they have to reach down and touch what we all know is blood and then they smell it! I mean, seriously!
By the way, I'm new here, so Hi, everyone.
Groovy wrote: "one of my biggest annoyances is when they have to reach down and touch what we all know is blood and then they smell it! I mean, seriously!..."In SciFi, they have to make sure it's not motor oil. :)
I honestly can't think of anything to add to this discussion. Sorry
Andy wrote: "Don't judge a book by its cover. Read it in a book I like but still You can't write that."That's excellent advice but I still avoid some covers and feel drawn to others. I also notice clever titles. I love goodreads because I find books through the community. But I have to admit that covers can be great selling tool . I'll look at any book but initially I will notice covers before I really look at the rest.
Usually it's the title of the book that grabs my attention. When I open the book it's the first paragraph that gets me. I haven't been wrong so far.
Yes Marion! If a book doesn't grab me right away I don't read it.
J. wrote: "Groovy wrote: "one of my biggest annoyances is when they have to reach down and touch what we all know is blood and then they smell it! I mean, seriously!..."In SciFi, they have to make sure it's..."
Mystery and thriller writers who use firearms in their stories but don't bother to learn anything about them, such as describing the hero clicking off the safety on a Glock (which has no safety) or using the word clip instead of magazine.
James wrote: "Mystery and thriller writers who use firearms in their stories but don't bother to learn anything about them, such as describing the hero clicking off the safety on a Glock (which has no safety) or..."Or firing 15 rounds from a gun with an 8 shot magazine.
Quillracer wrote: "James wrote: "Mystery and thriller writers who use firearms in their stories but don't bother to learn anything about them, such as describing the hero clicking off the safety on a Glock (which has none..."Some writers are unaware of the extent of their ignorance. Thus they don't do the necessary research. This results in some horribly funny stories. Unfortunately, if anyone laughs, it's the reader at the agency. One new writer described a train being pursued by men on horseback. Trains have been faster than horses since the early 1800's, but these robbers capture the train, anyway. Later, the engineer reaches into a box of bullets to reload his revolver, but finds to his dismay that the box is empty.
These writers operate in a nebulous world where you can't tell a box is empty by simply picking it up, where you don't pour bullets out of the box into your hand, where bandits can go whatever speed is needed to catch the train, and so on. Many tales are published containing incredible gaffes.
J. wrote: "Trains have been faster than horses since the early 1800's, but these robbers capture the train, anyway. Later, the engineer reaches into a box of bullets to reload his revolver, but finds to his dismay that the box is empty...."Ha, ha. That's so funny. I needed that laugh today.
Also, in these horror or thriller stories the girl wakes up in the middle of the night because of some noise and she absolutely HAS to go down to the basement in her underwear calling out: "Hello, who is there? Who is there?" And of course her she gets stabbed and her head gets cut off and ....I mean what happened to hiding under the bed and calling 911?
Janet, a writer friend of mine did a presentation at a conference titled 'Too Dumb To Live' about characters like that.
When all other detectives in the entire country are idiots and the only person capable of handling the case probably should be in major therapy.
Amen! Some of the "detectives" are pros, but most are amateurs.
The word smirked can not be used more than twice in a book.In this day and age, coffee can no longer be bad, thick, or sludge.
Maureen wrote: "The word smirked can not be used more than twice in a book.In this day and age, coffee can no longer be bad, thick, or sludge."
I beg to differ. In this day and age, coffee certainly shouldn't be bad, thick or sludge. But I think it definitely it is.
At least cell phones tend to stay charged up. Probably made mystery writers crazy when cell phones became so ubiquitous.Lack of sleep. Sleep in your damn car if you must.
Overusing certain words that are fine once or twice, but no more. Examples: smirked. sourly,chagrinned.
oops just realized I haven't read the earlier pages off to do that in case I included earlier examples.
Hehhe, I was repeating myself on this page. Well that is embarrassing.
Maureen wrote: "Bad coffee. Has there ever been decent coffee in the history of offices or detective's bullpens? Absolute nonsense now, especially with Keurigs etc.At least cell phones tend to stay charged up. P..."
I watch the First 48 on A&E -- bad coffee is really a thing.
Lack of sleep. Quite true.
Cell phones. I notice many writers are finding a lot of settings that are "out of service" and batteries dying.
Federal agents shouldn't have bad coffee in their books, I can think of at least two academies that have Starbucks stashed around their facilities. So they are trained on having good coffee. heheh
Maureen wrote: "Federal agents shouldn't have bad coffee in their books, I can think of at least two academies that have Starbucks stashed around their facilities. So they are trained on having good coffee. heheh"Maybe not federal agents, but judging by The First 48, the Cleveland, Miami, New Orleans, and Louisville police do.
I absolutely refuse to believe NOLA cops have bad coffee. It would be against some sort of city ordnance. haha
Many "Cozies" have their characters have seemingly endless monies. There is no mention of bills, rents, etc. Aforementioned main character falling in love with Said law enforcement.
Mara wrote: "What does MCT mean?"Mystery, Crime, Thriller.
Not true clichés, but getting details on cars wrong drives me nuts. One author had a small two-seater sports car with a 428 liter - 26,000+ cubic inch - engine (It would have been bigger than the car!), and a back seat. I've lost track of the number of authors have characters opening the back doors on cars that are only available as 2-doors.
Gang rape. My three favorite female detective/thriller characters have all been gang raped.
Maureen wrote: "Gang rape. My three favorite female detective/thriller characters have all been gang raped."Wow. I've never read a book where that happened to the female lead. Do you mind giving me the name of the book(s)? I'm gonna try to keep an open mind when I read them, Thank you, Maureen!
This is in their past. Charlie Fox in Zoe sharp's excellent books, Vanessa Michael Munro in The Informationist series-although in Munro's case if was actually ongoing child-15? rape. In Sharon Bolton's (my favorite) four book series beginning with Now You See Me it comes out gradually about one of the female detectives.None of this is gratuitous and is very important to the character's backstory.
So I should really be apologizing to the authors for what I said, it's not really a cliche, but just made me sad about the characters. Not to mention I seemed to read those author's books at about the same time.
Where do I begin? I just finished a book where the H/h were going on 48 hours without sleep, yet still have the energy for wall banging sex and get right up to go chase the baddie. Really?
Anita wrote: "Where do I begin? I just finished a book where the H/h were going on 48 hours without sleep, yet still have the energy for wall banging sex and get right up to go chase the baddie. Really?"And never ran out of ammunition, right?
Right! I guess the stamina level for 30-somethings is a lot higher than I remember from way back when.
Maureen wrote: "This is in their past. Charlie Fox in Zoe sharp's excellent books, Vanessa Michael Munro in The Informationist series-although in Munro's case if was actually ongoing child-15? rape. In Sharon Bolt..."There's a gang rape in Shakespeare's Landlord . It's an ugly thing to read about. It is in the main characters past. It's a good series though.
Anita wrote: "Where do I begin? I just finished a book where the H/h were going on 48 hours without sleep, yet still have the energy for wall banging sex and get right up to go chase the baddie. Really?"LOL! Good diet? Little blue pills? Drugs?
Sherry wrote: "Anita wrote: "Where do I begin? I just finished a book where the H/h were going on 48 hours without sleep, yet still have the energy for wall banging sex and get right up to go chase the baddie. Re..."Argh! Fiction should still be believable. 😁
Sherry wrote: "Maureen wrote: "This is in their past. Charlie Fox in Zoe sharp's excellent books, Vanessa Michael Munro in The Informationist series-although in Munro's case if was actually ongoing child-15? rape..."Got it. I can handle it if it happened in the past and it is alluded to, not written about in gory detail. Thanks again, Maureen :)
Anita wrote: "Where do I begin? I just finished a book where the H/h were going on 48 hours without sleep, yet still have the energy for wall banging sex and get right up to go chase the baddie. Really?"And I was just complaining about this book I read where the leads have great chemistry but don't even kiss. Maybe they just have lower metabolisms considering all the other stuff they have to do stop an evil pharmaceutical CEO.
Gloria wrote: "Sherry wrote: "Maureen wrote: "This is in their past. Charlie Fox in Zoe sharp's excellent books, Vanessa Michael Munro in The Informationist series-although in Munroe's case if was actually ongoing..."Agg, I don't want to be misleading. Put it somewhere between alluded to and gory details. Here's the order of goriness starting with least- Zoe Sharp, Sharon Bolton, Taylor Stevens. But I must reiterate, these are all wonderful kick-ass strong women.
