
Thunderhead
Douglas Preston
1999 · 531 pages · Horror
How it reads
Thunderhead is horror (archaeological horror adventure, specifically), and its dominant mood is eerie. It's atmospheric and uncanny, with a sense that something is wrong. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.
It's set in the wilderness or at sea, in the present day, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are survival, secrets and nature. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 531 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something eerie
- you want a book that pulls you through
- you want a complete story in one book
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy or heartwarming
- you want dense, lingering prose
- you want something you can finish this weekend
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- horror
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- prolific veteran
- Setting: place
- wilderness or sea
- Setting: time
- contemporary
- Mood / feeling
- eerie
- Pace
- fast paced
- Tone / weight
- balanced
- Length
- long
- Narrative style
- third person, several viewpoints
- Publication era
- modern classic
- Popularity
- well known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Ending style
- resolved and happy
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
The Final Girl Support GroupGrady HendrixShares: horror, eerie mood, balanced tone, fast paced
ReliquaryDouglas PrestonShares: horror, eerie mood, balanced tone, fast paced- Breeding GroundSarah PinboroughShares: horror, eerie mood, balanced tone, fast paced
Play NiceRachel HarrisonShares: horror, eerie mood, balanced tone, fast paced
The Devil Crept InAnia AhlbornShares: horror, eerie mood, balanced tone, fast paced- Hemlock IslandKelley ArmstrongShares: eerie mood, balanced tone, fast paced, resolved and happy ending
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