Is imagination enough for writing or are real life incidents also important to act as inspiration? This question is mostly asked about fiction novels in which crime stories and romantic stories are in great demand. Novels written about the past make a lot of headlines and create curiosity among people. But a novelist has shocked everyone by saying that writing good novels is becoming difficult due to the lack of serial killers.
Renowned crime writer Harlan Coben believes so. The American author has released several hits about maniac killers which have been turned into TV dramas, including Fool Me Once and The Stranger. But he believes it is becoming increasingly difficult to make the plots of the stories realistic because of modern policing.
Coben, 62, has written a new novel called Think Twice. He argues that there are very few serial killers now. America used to be full of them. It’s not that we’re getting any healthier, that’s for sure. But isn’t the lack of serial killers or their not being in the headlines as much as before a sign of the decline in popularity of such novels?
The lack of serial killers can be seen as a sign of people losing interest in these crimes. (Representative image: Canva)
Is it possible that Cobain’s statement is an attempt to create curiosity to gain popularity? But regarding the lack of serial killers, he said that it is simply because now it is really difficult for any criminal to escape. Everyone has a phone, everyone is being monitored, there is CCTV everywhere.
“It’s interesting how to write a serial killer novel that I like and that works in today’s world.” In the 1970s, there were 300 known serial killers in the US, but by 2010, the number had fallen to just 50. A similar trend has been observed in Britain. But another question is: does the popularity of crime novels depend only on the abundance of criminal incidents in society?
Tags: Amazing news, Bizarre news, OMG News, Weird news
FIRST PUBLISHED : June 4, 2024, 11:49 IST
