Chase Is Not a Bank When Novels Include Chases

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One way to almost guarantee a satisfying conclusion in a novel is with a great chase scene. Such a scene frequently happens in genres such as the thriller, but also occasionally in more literary fiction.

Chases are exciting; the way they unfold can be quite inventive; and they make eager readers wonder: Will the pursued person (who can be the novel’s villain or hero) get caught or escape? Also, it should be noted that memorable chases might occur in the middle or soon after the start of a novel, too.

I just finished Kate Quinn’s The Rose Code, a terrific/intricate piece of historical fiction about British codebreakers during World War II that stars three unforgettable women. The icing on the cake near book’s end is an on-foot, top-speed, ultra-dramatic pursuit in London of a codebreaker traitor who had ruthlessly framed one of the three women.

Among the most memorable chases in the history of fiction? The pursuit of a terrified Eliza, holding her young son, as she tries to escape from slavery — including an attempt to cross the icy Ohio River — in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

Also quite well known is Victor Frankenstein’s eye-opening, across-the-Arctic pursuit of the creature he created in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Hunted Past Reason chronicles the brutal hunt of a fleeing man by another man — with Richard Matheson’s novel inspired by Richard Connell’s decades-earlier short story “The Most Dangerous Game.”

Other novels with unforgettable chase elements — again, not necessarily at book’s end — include Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men, Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, William Goldman’s Marathon Man, John Buchan’s The Thirty-Nine Steps, and James Dickey’s Deliverance.

Of course, there are novels with car chases, too.

Obviously, chases in fiction don’t always involve just humans. For instance, Captain Ahab and his Pequod crew pursue a certain big white whale in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Also, there are the shark shenanigans in Peter Benchley’s Jaws.

Any other novels with great chase scenes you’d like to mention? Any general thoughts on this topic?

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89 thoughts on “Chase Is Not a Bank When Novels Include Chases”

  1. Great examples of books with vivid chase scenes. I also really enjoyed reading “The Rose Code.” Neat to learn about that part of history within a gripping story. As for other books with chases, my mind went to murder mysteries, which can have loads of chases. For a while, I was into Jo Nesbo’s mysteries, as they were exciting reads.

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  3. How about ‘The 39 Steps’ by John Buchan (he’s Scottish by the way.) It explains that Richard Hannay flees the scene of two murders in his London apartment building with a secret codebook handed to him by an American spy. As he attempts to safeguard Britain’s advance plans for the outbreak of the first world war, just under way when the novel was published in 1915, he is subject to a relentless chase. Hunted throughout the Scottish highlands, he returns to London, before his improbable ruses and derring-do culminate at the mysterious 39 steps of the title.

    Not a great novella, but a couple of films have been pretty good (as far as I can remember). I have also seen a rather good play, and just around the corner here at The Playhouse – great little theatre. What fun!

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  4. Many thanks, Dave, for your exciting book proposals of this week! I have already taken note of “The Rose Code” by Kate Quinn. If I think of Patricia Highsmith and her Tom Ripley “Her Diaries and Notebooks” come to my mind, which showed me her restles life by which she herself had been chased! With my English group we once tried to invite her because she lived her last years in Tegna/Ticino and we would have appreciated it very much, if she had accepted, but she was not interested! She probably prefered to be with her animals.

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  7. Here I go again!

    An early book of Joy Fielding – Kiss Mommy Goodbye ends in a car chase.

    I read it in the 90’s, and sill remember the chase. I think writing a car chase is WAY more difficult than showing one on film. Joy did good!

    The story is about a parental kidnapping: how the law is slow, doesn’t pursue the kidnapper per se but merely keeps a look out, slows a person down through legalities, how a parent must take it in their own hands to track down the kidnapper.

    Hmm, I was going to say more, but it could be a spoiler, if you have any thoughts about reading this short, early and excellent novel by Joy!

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  8. I want to add Stoker’s Dracula and the wild chase by Van Helsing and the vampire hunters. Bradburys novel Martian Chronicle and the many searches for the “real” Martians. In addition Karl Alexander’s novels in which Jack The Ripper is chased by HG Wells via his time machine. All of the above, rather unconventional pursuits. I would also like to mention a different type of chase and/or In Pursuit Of Love by Mark Bostridge re Adele Hugo (Victor Hugo’s daughter).

    Lastly this is rather a timely article I thought you might enjoy https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/hitler-oligarchs-hugenberg-nazi/681584/

    Great theme Dave. Susi

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    • Thank you, Susi! Several GREAT examples of this theme. I’ve read “Dracula,” “The Martian Chronicles,” and Karl Alexander’s “Time After Time.” Yes, memorable and rather unconventional chases in them. 🙂

      Until if and when oligarchs regret aligning with Trump, they’re going to make a LOT more money and avoid The Donald’s wrath. Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, etc. — greedy, amoral, all. 😦

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      • I think Musk, Bezos, et al will be facing many, many lawsuits. I do like that excerpt in the link when a close associate had warned Hugenberg that this was a deal he would come to regret: “One night you will find yourself running through the ministry gardens in your underwear trying to escape arrest.” Ha, what a sight that would be.

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  9. Here am I, a mystery writer and mystery reader, and I can’t think of a single chase scene in a novel to add to the list. I think of quests in novels that work almost like chase scenes, such as Frodo and Sam trying to get to the fire of Mount Doom to destroy the Ring and being tracked and attacked along the way. But it isn’t the same as being chased. An excellent chase movie is ENEMY OF THE STATE (1998), with Will Smith being followed without knowing why.

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    • Thank you, Kim! That happens — I know I’ve read many more novels with chase scenes than I could think of for my post. 🙂

      When writing the piece, I did consider “The Lord of the Rings,” which sort of has some chase elements but it’s more things like — as you say — Gollum sneakily stalking Frodo and Sam as they try to reach Mount Doom.

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  10. Chases do bring excitement to novels by increasing the tension and stakes for the protagonist. I recall reading novels with chases by wolves or other ravenous animals but cannot recall the book titles. Thanks for mentioning Quinn’s novel, “The Rose Code.” Just the kind of story I enjoy reading 🙂

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    • Thank you, Rosaliene! Chases involving animals can indeed be quite exciting, even as the results of them can be depressing — in fiction or real life.

      Kate Quinn is an exceptional author. I was very impressed with not only “The Rose Code” but her “The Alice Network” and “The Huntress” as well.

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  11. If tromping through the jungle counts, how about Going After Cacciato? D. Wallace Peach writes good chase scenes in the two novels of hers I’ve read: The Necromancer’s Daughter and Tale of the Seasons’ Weaver.

    Truth be told, I tend to find chase scenes tedious, particularly in movies.

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  12. Dave this post is truly serendipitous because I watched The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown last night. I will always remember Ron Howard, the movie’s director saying that “everybody likes to watch Tom Hanks think!”

    Here are a three books that speak to car chases beyond The Da Vinci Code:

    “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins: Intense final moments with high-stakes chases.
    “The Bourne Identity” by Robert Ludlum: A gripping climax featuring a cat-and-mouse chase.
    “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson: A thrilling finale that involves a race against time. These books offer exciting and memorable chase scenes that enhance their endings.

    As always, I must share a quote that I have taken from reading The Da Vinci Code:

    “Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.” Dan Brown, The da Vinci Code

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    • Thank you, Rebecca! A coincidence re “The Da Vinci Code.” 🙂 LOTS of suspense in that novel, though the writing was somewhat clunky. I’ve never seen the movie.

      I appreciate the three other excellent examples you offered! I’ve read two: “The Hunger Games” trilogy, and Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy, of which “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” is of course a part. The intensity of Larsson’s best scenes is almost unbearably compelling.

      You cited a really astute quote from Dan Brown!

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  15. I know that Bullet was based on a novel, (Mute Witness by Robert L. Pike) but I didn’t read it and I can’t imagine the chase scene being as good as the one depicted in the movie.

    The chase that is in a novel that I really like is the slow and plodding boat chase in Without Remorse by Tom Clancy. I think it’s much harder to write a good chase than it is to include it in a film.

    I have chase scenes in two of my books, one of which had several readers say they were rooting for the bad guy.

    Dark Passage by David Goodis was almost an entire chase novel, and I was certainly rooting for Humphrey Bogart’s character in the movie version.

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    • Thank you, Dan! I didn’t know that Steve McQueen movie was based on a novel! (I guess many films are.) I agree — it’s hard to imagine the “Bullitt” chase scene being as good in the book as it is on screen, even if less is left to the imagination. But, yes, writing a good chase scene for a novel takes a lot of skill. Great that you’ve done that twice! And got some interesting reader reaction. 🙂

      A novel (“Dark Passage”) that’s almost entirely a chase? Hope it came with blood-pressure pills. 🙂

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  16. As usual, a great subject, and also as usual I need to go away and think about it, Dave. I was thinking that I’d never written a chase scene in any of my books, and then I realised that I have, right near the end of one of them – I feel very ‘of the moment’, lol. But I’ll be back … 🙂

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  17. Great post, Dave! I have to say, the chase in Jaws is, in my opinion, an all-time favorite! Hard to beat, lol. Have you seen the 1950s film, The Blue Lamp? Dirk Bogarde’s villainous role as criminal Tom Riley has an amazing chase scene, involving a car chase! 😊

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