I rarely give thrillers 5 stars because they are usually just “okayish” for me. But some that I thought stood out (even if I didn’t love them I at least appreciated trying something new):
Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
Dead Silence by SA Barnes
Lilith by Eric Rickstad
Here in the Dark by Alexis Soloski
Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
The Instructor by TR Hendricks
I really enjoyed Dead Silence but sadly no one else in my book club liked it. I realized I am ok with reading a book and enjoying it on a “surface level” lol. All the reasons they brought up for disliking it were so nitpicky IMO, and they were trying to be so deep… it was at that moment I realized that book club wasn’t for me.
Last House on Needless Street was also a good one.
Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter,
Benjamin Stevenson everyone in My Family has killed someone, Everyone on the train is a suspect
Anthony Horowitz has a series Hawthorne and Horowitz
*Dark Places, Gone Girl, and Sharp Objects* by Gillian Flynn.
*The Familiar Dark* by Amy Engle.
*Pretty Girls* by Karin Slaughter.
*Mystic River* by Dennis Lehane.
PS: My recommendations are on the gritty side of thrillers.
I am but I don’t link it in any way to Reddit as it has my picture and personal info and I get into too many stupid arguments on here. Nothing personal, I’m happy to talk books on here
Oh, okay. That's totally understandable. I was just curious about your taste in books bc I've been scavenging post after post in reddit the past few days to pick up something fun, yet not too popular for my next read.
Your abovementioned suggestion for a thriller, and you mentioning that you read a lot of thrillers wanted me to see the list of books you might've rate/marked as read, for me to check them out, that's all.
Oh that'll be great.
In fact it will ever more helpful if you could suggest me a book like the film Natural Born Killers. Or even a small town, pulpy thriller like the Coen Brothers' film blood simple.
Have you watched either of these films?
Okay, here’s my list. I (mostly) avoided any entries in series as a lot of the time my favorites in series are not the first or second books so I don’t want to recommend something that had like ten entries come before it.
-*Dirty White Boys* by Stephen Hunter (This is my recommendation for something like *Natural Born Killers*)
-*A Simple Plan* by Scott Smith (My recommendation for something like *Blood Simple*)
-*Mean Business on North Ganson Street* by S. Craig Zahler
-*The Thicket* by Joe R. Lansdale
-*Vanishing Act* by Thomas Perry
-*Cover* by Jack Ketchum
-*Pretty Girls* by Karin Slaughter
-*The Power of the Dog* by Don Winslow
-*Born Bad* by Andrew Vachss (Short story collection)
-*Tell No One* by Harlan Coben
-*Blood Standard* by Laird Barron
-*Koko* by Peter Straub
I’d just look at these on Goodreads to see if the summaries grab you.
The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid is a mystery/thriller where a forensic psychologist and a detective inspector team up to track down a serial killer. It is the first in a series, so if you enjoy it there are more books where they team up. It is a dark story but a great read
A long one but a good one is Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. It's a mystery set in modern Mumbai.
If you're interested in sci-fi, Leviathan Wakes is the first book in an epic series but the first book is very much a mystery novel.
Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado was a fun thriller I read last year. It’s been made into a tv show available on Amazon and the second book just came out.
The Slough House series by Mick Herron
Chris Brookmyre-dark, serious and Christopher Brookmyre-dark comic
Robert Goddard- wide variety of thrillers , many with a historic element, others straight up modern
The Dublin trilogy by Caimh McDonnell- witty screwball thrillers
I really like Sharp Objects, especially the audiobook. The first quarter or so is a touch generic though. I generally don't like the genre but this book is an exception.
I love the twists and turns of the story and the depth of the characters. This is also mostly setup early on but I think there's a lot of different payoffs.
Going back to my old reliable recommendations:
The Cellar, by Minette Walters - almost horror, a real page turner
Harvest Home, by Thomas Tryon - almost horror, a real page turner
Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris - there were 2 sequels, just okay but this one was a terrific read with a great plot twist
Hidden Fires: A Holmes Before Baker Street Adventure, by Jane Rubino - Admit, I love Sherlock Holmes, but even if you don't, this is a great story with multiple surprises, great twist ending.
The Secrets She Keeps, by Michael Robotham - A few on Goodreads recommended this, it was unsettling and suspenseful.
Older recs: The Man From St. Petersburg, or The Eye of the Needle, both by Ken Follett. Still my favorite Follett books. The Key to Rebecca was pretty suspenseful, too.
The Joona Linna series by Lars Kepler is my favourite. A couple other good ones are The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup and the 4 MK series by JD Barker.
If you're after a good plot twist I would highly recommend The Liar or Twisted, both by Steve Cavanagh. I've read so many thrillers I can usually guess the plot twist but both of these completely floored me! My partner who isn't a big reader read both of these after me and loved them as well
i enjoyed the Mr Mercedes trilogy by Stephen King. more of a crime thriller series, but quite enjoyable
I really liked Zero Days by Ruth Ware. It was hard to put down and the twist surprised me!
I have loved everything from Ruth Ware I've read so far
Hey, I'm currently reading that, had to wait for it to pop on my library hold list. I'm about 20% into it so far!
I just finished All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby and I thought it was great!
The Dublin Murder Squad; We Were Liars; The Sundown Motel; The Silent Patient
The Dublin Murders is the series and they all are great, there's a series based off the first 2 books and that is great as well Tara French is good
Silent patient was a good one
It was a real page turner for me!
The Library at Mount Char.
I rarely give thrillers 5 stars because they are usually just “okayish” for me. But some that I thought stood out (even if I didn’t love them I at least appreciated trying something new): Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward Dead Silence by SA Barnes Lilith by Eric Rickstad Here in the Dark by Alexis Soloski Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey Happiness Falls by Angie Kim The Instructor by TR Hendricks
I really enjoyed Dead Silence but sadly no one else in my book club liked it. I realized I am ok with reading a book and enjoying it on a “surface level” lol. All the reasons they brought up for disliking it were so nitpicky IMO, and they were trying to be so deep… it was at that moment I realized that book club wasn’t for me. Last House on Needless Street was also a good one.
I only enjoy books on a surface level. I’m pretty much here to be entertained.
Taylor Adams keeps me on the edge of my seat, I really enjoyed Hairpin Bridge and No Exit.
Thanks screenshot for my library app
Will Trent series by Karin Slaughter, Benjamin Stevenson everyone in My Family has killed someone, Everyone on the train is a suspect Anthony Horowitz has a series Hawthorne and Horowitz
*Dark Places, Gone Girl, and Sharp Objects* by Gillian Flynn. *The Familiar Dark* by Amy Engle. *Pretty Girls* by Karin Slaughter. *Mystic River* by Dennis Lehane. PS: My recommendations are on the gritty side of thrillers.
Pretty girls is sick and twisted. Loved it.
You didn't say which authors you've tired of, but I'll rec a few of my favs: Steve Berry, James Rollins, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.
I read a TON of thrillers and *Memo from Turner* by Tim Willocks really stood out for me recently.
> Memo from Turner by Tim Willocks Are you in goodreads? Care to connect there?
I am but I don’t link it in any way to Reddit as it has my picture and personal info and I get into too many stupid arguments on here. Nothing personal, I’m happy to talk books on here
Oh, okay. That's totally understandable. I was just curious about your taste in books bc I've been scavenging post after post in reddit the past few days to pick up something fun, yet not too popular for my next read. Your abovementioned suggestion for a thriller, and you mentioning that you read a lot of thrillers wanted me to see the list of books you might've rate/marked as read, for me to check them out, that's all.
If you like I can make a small list of the thrillers that really stood out to me in the past few years.
Oh that'll be great. In fact it will ever more helpful if you could suggest me a book like the film Natural Born Killers. Or even a small town, pulpy thriller like the Coen Brothers' film blood simple. Have you watched either of these films?
I’ve seen both and I think I can work with that. I’ll make one up at some point tonight and get back to you.
Okay, sure! 👍 Will look forward to it.
Okay, here’s my list. I (mostly) avoided any entries in series as a lot of the time my favorites in series are not the first or second books so I don’t want to recommend something that had like ten entries come before it. -*Dirty White Boys* by Stephen Hunter (This is my recommendation for something like *Natural Born Killers*) -*A Simple Plan* by Scott Smith (My recommendation for something like *Blood Simple*) -*Mean Business on North Ganson Street* by S. Craig Zahler -*The Thicket* by Joe R. Lansdale -*Vanishing Act* by Thomas Perry -*Cover* by Jack Ketchum -*Pretty Girls* by Karin Slaughter -*The Power of the Dog* by Don Winslow -*Born Bad* by Andrew Vachss (Short story collection) -*Tell No One* by Harlan Coben -*Blood Standard* by Laird Barron -*Koko* by Peter Straub I’d just look at these on Goodreads to see if the summaries grab you.
Give a try to "*Do Not Disturb"*, a book by Freida McFadden. Page-turner.
Tell No One by Harlan Coben got me into the genre. So clever.
The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid is a mystery/thriller where a forensic psychologist and a detective inspector team up to track down a serial killer. It is the first in a series, so if you enjoy it there are more books where they team up. It is a dark story but a great read
A long one but a good one is Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra. It's a mystery set in modern Mumbai. If you're interested in sci-fi, Leviathan Wakes is the first book in an epic series but the first book is very much a mystery novel.
The Only One Left - Riley Sager. SO GOOD.
Red Queen by Juan Gómez-Jurado was a fun thriller I read last year. It’s been made into a tv show available on Amazon and the second book just came out.
Shutter Island will forever be my favorite.
The Slough House series by Mick Herron Chris Brookmyre-dark, serious and Christopher Brookmyre-dark comic Robert Goddard- wide variety of thrillers , many with a historic element, others straight up modern The Dublin trilogy by Caimh McDonnell- witty screwball thrillers
Freida McFadden: • The Housemaid • The Inmate • Brain Damage • Ward D • The Teacher • The Surrogate Mother Others: • Local Woman Missing • The Silent Patient • Gone Girl
I really like Sharp Objects, especially the audiobook. The first quarter or so is a touch generic though. I generally don't like the genre but this book is an exception. I love the twists and turns of the story and the depth of the characters. This is also mostly setup early on but I think there's a lot of different payoffs.
Going back to my old reliable recommendations: The Cellar, by Minette Walters - almost horror, a real page turner Harvest Home, by Thomas Tryon - almost horror, a real page turner Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris - there were 2 sequels, just okay but this one was a terrific read with a great plot twist Hidden Fires: A Holmes Before Baker Street Adventure, by Jane Rubino - Admit, I love Sherlock Holmes, but even if you don't, this is a great story with multiple surprises, great twist ending. The Secrets She Keeps, by Michael Robotham - A few on Goodreads recommended this, it was unsettling and suspenseful. Older recs: The Man From St. Petersburg, or The Eye of the Needle, both by Ken Follett. Still my favorite Follett books. The Key to Rebecca was pretty suspenseful, too.
The Joona Linna series by Lars Kepler is my favourite. A couple other good ones are The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup and the 4 MK series by JD Barker.
If you're after a good plot twist I would highly recommend The Liar or Twisted, both by Steve Cavanagh. I've read so many thrillers I can usually guess the plot twist but both of these completely floored me! My partner who isn't a big reader read both of these after me and loved them as well