Techno-thriller

Techno-thrillers are a hybrid genre, drawing subject matter generally from spy thrillers, war novels, and political narratives, and including a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical detail on its subject matter; only science fiction tends towards a comparable level of supporting detail on the technical side. The inner workings of technology and the mechanics of various disciplines (espionage, martial arts, politics) are thoroughly explored, and the plot often turns on the particulars of that exploration.

Techno-thrillers tend to have a broad scope in the narrative, and can often be regarded as contemporary speculative fiction--world wars are a common topic, and techno-thrillers often overlap, as far as the genre goes, with near-future science fiction.

Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October is often regarded as the first techno-thriller.

Techno-thriller authors and works

• Tom Clancy
  • The Hunt for Red October--submarine technology, espionage
  • Red Storm Rising--a (conventional) third world war fought in Europe between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces, military technology
  • Clear and Present Danger--the drug trade, special forces, espionage
  • Patriot Games--terrorism
  • The Cardinal of the Kremlin--espionage, laser based missile defense systems (U.S. and Russian) (SDI)
  • The Sum of All Fears--post-cold war nuclear disarmament, terrorism, nuclear weapon engineering
  • Rainbow Six--anti-terrorism operations
• Larry Bond
  • Red Phoenix--a (conventional) third world war centred on the Korean peninsula.
• Philip Kerr
  • The Grid--architecture, smart-building technology, feng shui
  • A Philosophical Investigation--speculative neuropathology, philosophy, gender and criminal investigation
  • The Second Angel--social effects of plague, security systems
  • Dead Meat--law enforcement and economics in post-glasnost Russia
• Michael Crichton
  • Jurassic Park--cloning, dinosaurs
  • The Andromeda Strain--plague
  • Congo--great apes, diamonds
  • Rising Sun--Japanese business/politics, and their effect on the American economy, digital imagery
  • Prey--distributed computing, nanotechnology, biogenetics
  • Timeline--time travel
• Clive Cussler
• Caleb Carr--Carr is unusual within this list insofar as two of his novels below are set in late 19th century New York; the techno-thriller aspect comes from the intensive exploration of psychology and then-current psychological theories (such as William James') as a means to catch criminals.
  • The Alienist
  • The Angel of Death (sequel to The Alienist)
  • Killing Time (set in mid-21st century)