What makes a good fiction book?

In fiction, the writer’s job is to entertain, to draw an emotional response from the reader. The reader is often looking for suspense, action, and to go on a journey they have not been on before, one they will not easily forget. Readers want to get drawn into and experience the story for themselves. They want characters they can relate to and form a personal connection with. But most importantly, they want a good book. One that leaves them anxiously awaiting each turn of the page.

Here are three crucial elements of a good fiction book:

Well-developed characters: The characters in the book must be well developed and believable. The characters should remind you of your teacher, your lawyer, your doctor, or maybe even your best friend. Even though they are fictional, they come alive for us in the story.

Action: A good fiction book needs to be filled with action. The good guys are after the bad guys, the doctor needs to find a cure. From the beginning to the end, the reader can’t bear to stop reading because the action just keeps coming.

Great Plot: The writer keeps the reader guessing right to the end by using surprising, realistic plot twists. Just when we think we know “who did it” – bam – a new twist creeps up and a story involves more. As we near the end we wonder if there is time to solve it. Will it have a happy ending? Most readers long for a good ending to their story as they grow fond of the characters in the book and want to see the best happen to them.

For those looking for a good fiction book to read, one that stands out is the fiction thriller, Sledgehammer, by Paulo J. Reyes, M.D. This book has a well-developed story that takes place in an ER in Los Angeles. The author, an ER Doctor himself, depicts the ER setting perfectly as patients appear and seek treatment and case after case of medical drama unfolds. The story takes you hour by hour through life in this ER until the unthinkable happens and one of the patients appears with smallpox symptoms. What happens next is fiction at its finest and leaves you eagerly asking, “Could it happen today?”

Writers write about what they know. They can bring the sounds, colors, and images of their world to life in their story. Fiction is where writers get the opportunity to bring you into that world and keep you there until, “the end.”