David R. Ellis Quotes

For me a thriller is a very carefully structured story.

There's a lot of similarities, I think, between a thriller and a comedy because it's all about tension. It's about building tension and setups and payoffs and misdirections and surprising people and sort of pushing the boundary.

I don't know if I necessarily fit in the action-thriller genre, but I'd love to do something where I could actually kick some butt and then tell a few jokes. That would be awesome! That would be my dream job.

I love a big, character-rich story with a dark heart, with a compelling mystery or some kind of ticking clock at its center. I want to be lured in by prose, captured by character, and bound by stellar plotting to keep turning the pages.

I've always believed that a good twist is one that, when it is presented to the audience, half of them say, 'I saw that coming.' And half of them are completely and totally shocked. Because if you don't have the half that saw it coming, then it wasn't fair: You never gave the audience a chance to guess it.

I think suspense is a big thing.

Good stories are driven by conflict, tension, and high stakes.

I'm big on having a blistering pace. That's one of the hallmarks of what I do, and that's not easy. I never blow up cars and things like that, so it's something else that keeps the suspense flowing. I try not to write a chapter that isn't going to turn on the movie projector in your head.

I'd love to make a thriller.

What would you have if you didn't have a murder in a mystery? You'd have something for the lower-level readers. When you get up into the upper levels, there's nothing that will engage you or compel you or get your emotions churning like a murder. It's the ultimate stakes.

I watched Someone to Watch Over Me the other night. I thought it was a really good movie. It's a great movie.

With thrillers, there's such a fine line between what's good and what's cheesy and corny.

It's not often a thriller keeps me wound up as well as 'Headhunters' did. I knew I was being manipulated and didn't care. It was a pleasure to see how well it was being done.

I honestly love nothing better than digging into a really good serialized show, whether it's 'Breaking Bad' or 'Game of Thrones' or 'Justified.'

In a thriller, the camera's an active narrator, or can be.

A really good horror film has a story.

Secrecy can be sexy. It's essential to any good mystery novel.

With a horror movie, you don't want to anticipate where things are going to go.

Think about scary movies: There's a fine line between horror and humor.

As for suspense, I like to write books that draw you into the hero's plight from the opening pages, where people put their lives on the line for something - a belief, a family member, the truth.

Id like to do an action film or a dark sort of independent piece.

I love caper films.

Every thriller needs a good bad guy; without a bad guy, there's no thriller.

Suspense is my thing. I think I am able to make people want to keep turning pages. They want to know what happens.

I enjoy a good cliffhanger. As a reader, I relish that nervous feeling you get when you're engrossed in a story, but in the back of your mind you're aware that there aren't that many pages left. How will it end? Everything can't be wrapped up! This can't end! Then it does, and your heart seems to stop.