The American Thriller Generic Innovation and Social Change in the 1970s

What is the American Thriller? Has it developed over time? What was it like in the past? This is a book about thrillers and gaining knowledge of what American thrillers were like in a specific period-the 1970s. Analyzing '70s texts about crime, police, detectives, corruption, paranoia and revenge, The American Thriller aims to open the debate on genre in light of audience theory, literary history, and the place of popular fiction at the moment of its production.

Paul Cobley is Senior Lecturer in Communications, London Guildhall University.