Five Questions about Psychological Thrillers with Daniel Kenitz

Psychological thrillers leave us on the edge of our seats, desperately wanting to know what happens next. People love reading them because they’re a safe way to experience fear – you’re not in danger, but you can live vicariously through the main characters.  

Psychological thriller novels account for approximately 45% of the thriller market in 2026. Readers love the twists and turns this genre offers – they’re looking for the challenge of figuring out not just who the villain is, but what drives them.

Daniel Kenitz, author of The Perfect Home and Don’t Look Away, shares why he writes in this genre, where he’s found inspiration, and he offers advice on how to write a gripping novel readers can’t put down.

What drew you to this genre?

I’d say a lot of things. For starters, I read a lot of the “Goosebumps” books when I was a kid. I was also naturally gravitating towards suspense/thrillers in what I read and wrote as an adult. So, it was a long process of figuring out what kinds of books I liked, what I was better at writing, and discovering what a genre like “domestic suspense” is even called. Although there was a period there where THE PERFECT HOME wasn’t getting much traction and I was like: okay, this thriller is clearly good, so if no one wants it, maybe I need a career pivot. I got about a chapter into a cozy mystery before I got offered representation on THE PERFECT HOME.

Where did you find inspiration for your first two books?

A tried-and-true writer’s exercise: going through the headlines and asking yourself “what if?” questions. I came across a kidnapping headline and asked myself: okay, but what if the person everyone suspects is actually trying to do the protecting? And that gave me the idea for THE PERFECT HOME. With DON’T LOOK AWAY, I don’t remember exactly what sparked it, but the idea of having someone like Leslie Woodhouse forced to make the choice to defend him while it simultaneously made him look guilty and was his best chance at winning the case was what attracted me to the idea. I also liked the idea of writing about an older couple, who feel underrepresented in a lot of books.

How do you immerse yourself in your villains’ twisted minds?

That’s something I struggle with. My editor has urged me to immerse myself further and think their motivations through more deeply. Something I’m working on for my next story ideas are to have villains/antagonists where they’re less unhinged and feel far more justified. It’s been too easy for me to say, “Well, these villains are supposed to be crazy people,” and hope the reader just leaves it at that, but I think readers are smart enough to want more. 

What advice would you give on how to write plot twists that the reader won't see coming?

I think a good twist has to have two elements: 1) it has to reward the reader’s time spent by casting old information in new light, meaning it can’t be a total red herring, and 2) it has to successfully guide your attention the wrong way. Anyone can write a twist where the dynamics change, but if the twist casts no new light on what you just read, you feel cheated, like the time you spent reading wasn’t worthwhile.

A good example is GONE GIRL, because Gillian Flynn successfully spends half a book piling on the evidence in the wrong direction, but it turns out all of that evidence contributes to the plot of the second half of the book. It wasn’t a red herring because once you have the twist, you have to reassess what you know, and the dynamics shift in a way that makes you want to read the second half. If you can direct someone’s attention in the wrong—but ultimately a worthwhile—direction, you’ve got the ingredients for a good twist.

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