Guilt As A Hidden Theme In Spy Thrillers.

[Samuel , Director]

Recently, I've been going through a technothriller series written in the 1990's by David Hagberg. Halfway through the series, I observed that a key motivator of the main character, CIA shooter Kirk Mcgarvey is guilt. Throughout the series, he constantly sees the people he love get hurt. Believing that he failed those people because he was not there to intervene, Mcgarvey, constantly tries to make up for this by either going on vengeful rampages or running from his problems in a vain hope at finding peace.

[Samuel , Director]

After finishing that series, I noticed that the theme of "guilt" is a particularly prevalent in many popular books in the genre. Take Brad Thor's first entry. The main character sees the USSS Detail he's on murdered and believing that he failed them and POTUS, tries to make up for this failure by running an investigation which tampers with the official FBI one.

[Samuel , Director]

I'll finish the examples with the Ryan Kealey saga. A series which is basically what happens when Mitch Rapp gets forced into the real world and no longer has that aura of protection from the political busybodies in D.C.

Over the course of the series, Mr Kealey's life gets destroyed due to his guilt and desire to make up for what he considers are his failure to protect those dearest to him while doing his job in protecting the USA from international-terrorists. His boss/friend/enemy likened it to an "Atlas Complex" where the world seems to be on his shoulders. In book four of the series, he plays on this guilt complex to get Kealey to do an assignment for him.

[Samuel , Director]

Now, to kick of discussion:

1) Is the theme of guilt an intentional one or is it an unintended but inevitable product of spy thrillers with the theme of revenge?

2) Do you find the theme of guilt common in the spy thriller you have read?


3) Can this theme cause spy thriller series to become stale, with the character constantly trapped in a cycle of making up for past failures due to his guilt at not preventing them?

4) Is guilt one of the most effective motivators for spy thriller protagonists? Especially those in the counter-terrorist section of the genre?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter as always. I might even come back to this thread and add a few more questions.

[Gideon]

I think you find guilt as a common theme because in order to write fiction espionage without any experience in the field or foundation YOu don't see itin works by former operaors or authors who are part of the PR game, Clancy, Follet etc.

I do not believe that guilt exists in the real world of espionage, but neither do all the hot chicks, international jet setting and 90% of the field is simply making sure you are in the right place at the right time without being compromised.


the whole "Rogue agent" who goes out on his own is Hollywood nonsense it just never happens and even if there were a Tobin Frost out there; having no support network pretty much eliminates any threat beyond divulgence.