From SRP author Mark Posey:
Big explosions are great. Kicking in doors, car chases through tight city streets, gunfire echoing in parking garages—that’s all part of the fun of reading thrillers. But if I’m being honest? It’s not the noise that gets under my skin. It’s the silence.
The moments where nothing is technically happening, but you’re holding your breath because you know something is about to.
Why Silence Works Better Than Gunfire
You can only go so big for so long before readers get numb. Bullets and fireballs are loud, but silence? Silence is personal. It gives you room to think—and that’s when the fear shows up.
Alfred Hitchcock explained it perfectly: suspense isn’t the bomb going off. It’s knowing the bomb is under the table and it hasn’t gone off yet.
Some of the Best “Nothing Is Happening and I’m Terrified” Moments
- No Country for Old Men – the gas station coin toss.
Two men in a dusty gas station, barely speaking above a murmur. No music. No violence. Just a coin, a question, and the sense that this nice old clerk might die if he answers wrong. - The Silence of the Lambs – the night vision scene.
Clarice Starling in the dark basement, breathing hard. Buffalo Bill’s right there, watching her through night-vision goggles. Not a single sound except her breath and the click of a switch. Horrifying. - The Bourne Identity – the farmhouse.
Jason Bourne staring out the window, sensing danger before it happens. He doesn’t say much. He doesn’t need to. You just know the quiet isn’t going to last. - Heat – Pacino vs. De Niro in the diner.
Two men talking quietly over coffee. No guns on the table, no yelling, no threats. Just a calm acknowledgment that one of them is going to try to kill the other. Eventually. - A Quiet Place – the bathtub scene.
Emily Blunt’s character, in labor, trying not to scream because the monsters will hear her. Nobody moves. Nobody breathes. And it’s excruciating.
And in My Own Work…
In Saving Grace, the moment that sticks with a lot of readers isn’t the gunfire. It’s when Thomas Billings is sitting in the quiet, realizing the house is too still. No footsteps. No voices. The sudden absence of sound is a warning—he knows something is about to break.
In Fall From Grace (no spoilers, promise), London has its own kind of silence. Old buildings, wet stone, fog—and power moving in the shadows where nobody speaks above a whisper. Let’s just say Thomas and Grace don’t get the luxury of relaxing when things go quiet. Silence means something is watching.
Why We Love It
Because deep down, most of us haven’t been chased across rooftops or hung off the side of a speeding train. But we have sat alone in a dark room and heard a floorboard creak. We’ve checked to see if the door was locked—twice.
Silence feels real.
So yes—give me explosions, sure…
…but give me the quiet seconds between them. The pause before the door opens.
The unanswered phone.
The breath you’re holding without realizing it.
That’s the good stuff.
— Mark
