![]() ![]() My favorite cat-and-mouse thrillers all play around with that fundamental dynamic, calling forth unexpected resources from the characters who refuse to be prey. And Then there Were None (1939) put Dame Agatha’s own unique spin on the cat-and-mouse story, with multiple mice at the mercy of one ruthless cat. Christie made extensive use of the cat-and-mouse structure, adapting it freely to suit her purposes. ![]() One of his earliest imitators was Agatha Christie herself, who gave her characters Tuppence and Tommy a similar cat-and-mouse chase in their debut, The Secret Adversary (1922). Buchan’s novel, originally serialized in two parts, was the first of five novels to feature Richard Hannay, and has inspired three films, a TV show, a Broadway play, and countless imitators. ![]() The point is the chase, and Hannay’s uncanny ability to turn situations against his pursuers, ultimately defeating them. The underlying motive of the bad guys isn’t the point of The Thirty-Nine Steps. John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps, published in 1915, might be the first example of the cat-and-mouse thriller: Richard Hannay, returning to Great Britain after a stay in Rhodesia, becomes the target of an international manhunt by German spies who plan to-well, never mind. They can even flip that dynamic back and forth a few times before the final showdown. As variations have emerged over time, though, sometimes the best cat-and-mouse thrillers challenge the reader’s assumptions about who plays which role. In the classic cat-and-mouse structure, the predator’s target discovers himself or herself to be in danger, but doesn’t know who the predator is. It’s certainly the most useful, lending itself to all kinds of variations and permutations as predator tracks prey. Cat-and-mouse is probably the original thriller plot, in fact. I hadn’t deliberately set out to write one, even though the cat-and-mouse structure was probably my introduction to the thriller genre. I was surprised to hear someone describe my latest book, Judgement, as a cat-and-mouse thriller. ![]()
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