They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter (typically military technology); only hard science fiction tends towards a comparable level of supporting detail on the technical side.
[1] One of the earliest techno-thrillers is thought to be The Satan Bug (1962) by Alistair MacLean,[3] while much of what counted for science fiction in the pre-war and early post-war Soviet Union were essentially techno-thrillers, full of technical details and featuring complex spy-rich plots, one of the most enduring example being the Grigory Adamov's The Mystery of the Two Oceans (1939).
Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy are considered to be the fathers of the "modern techno-thriller";[4] Crichton's book The Andromeda Strain and Clancy's book The Hunt for Red October set out the type example which defined the genre, although many authors had been writing similar material earlier, such as Craig Thomas, whom BBC News also credits as an early innovator.
[6][7] 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.
Since technology is always changing, that brings a fresh take on techno thrillers with advancement always on the scope.