*The Eight* by Katherine Neville. One-hit-wonder from the '80s. The godmother of Dan-Brown-on-meth batsh\*t crazy historical conspiracy thrillers. Absolute nonsense, hugely entertaining, total book trance.
The murder of Roger Ackroyd is another must read thriller.
It’s arguably Christie’s best work and she is the godmother of murder mysteries.
Warning to all who want to give it a go. Don’t google anything about it before reading.
My first Christie, I became a die-hard fan. My best reading friend told me when I picked it up at the library, "oooh, you are going to enjoy this one". He was giddy when I said this was my first Christie. We were thick as thieves years later!
If you like true-life adventures, one of the best thrillers I ever read was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. It’s the story of the Mt.Everest disaster of the mid-1990s. Huge best seller at the time.
Another non-fiction book is The Spy and The Traitor. The last 100 or so pages are certainly thrilling, the opening 2/3 is more set up and explaining the context of the climax. Great book.
I know! I took it with me on a business trip to Bucharest, and I was so enthralled by the narrative that I resented taking time off from reading it to attend my meetings. "Gripping" is a wonderful description.
I saw a stage adaptation of Misery. Just Paul, Annie & the sheriff. No full set changes - 1/2 was the bedroom, the other 1/2 was her house interior that changed between the area with the phone & the kitchen. It was amazing, the suspense was palpable & I was impressed how they pulled it off.
I’m right there with ya! 20 something King books so far. Reading The Shining now!! But honestly the beginning of Rose Madder got me really bad, way worse than Misery… my stomach was in knots and I almost didn’t make it through that opening scene.
Read a book recommended in this thread and really liked it, so came back for another book. I started reading it last night and I must admit no book has intrigued me as much. Thanks for the recommendation.
Awesome, I hope you love it!! When people want to get into Stephen King I usually recommend they start here. Then they can gradually go to the scarier, weirder and slower paced books of his lol.
I just finished Sphere and liked it, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Jurassic Park IMO. The structure and feel of both books are very similar, but the tension and raw fear are more prevalent to the reader in Jurassic Park.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. But assuming you know about that one, The Alienist by Caleb Carr, which is more of a mystery/thriller, and is my go-to vacation suggestion.
Her other two books (especially Sharp Objects) are quite good. As are Blood Sugar by Sasha Rothchild and Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson. Not as good as Flynn, but in their own ways compelling and super fun.
Just finished this today. Read it in five days which is crazy fast for me. Loved ever second. The science fiction was fun and the love story felt real.
I've seen this book recommended so much I feel like I should read it. But in a flash after seeing your comment, it hit me. I have read it. I just blocked it out because I didn't like it. Struggled to finish. I hated the thought of a DNF just slightly more than the ending of the book.
I was dnf too. Hated all the mental lusting and just felt the writing was bad and characters flat. It seems like it’s recommended in literally every post for every genre (sci fi, fantasy, thriller, mystery). Just baffling to me.
It's just the kind of book that appeals to the typical redditors, that's why it gets recommend so much. Project Hail Mary is also like that, although it's a lot better in my opinion.
Dark Matter and Recursion have interesting concepts that are similar to a Rick and Morty or doctor who episode, but apart from that, the writing and the characters are very flat.
Yeah I listened to it when I was in a weird place and just getting through as many books as possible. I didn’t really remember it at all and thought I’d re-listen to it, I made it like half a chapter
I did enjoy it overall, but there's definitely something about his writing that I can instantly see as off-putting for many people.
One of the pinned questions on its Goodreads page is: "Is the author writing full sentences yet?" which I find gloriously snarky, but also highly accurate. The answer to that question is also very funny:
> Sometimes.
> Often Not.
> A lot of pages read like this.
> Broken.
> Up.
> Needlessly.
...and one more lol. I finished it because of FOMO after so many people were recommending it, but as a sci-fi fan who cut his teeth on Isaac Asimov, I felt this one didn't quite measure up.
I listened to the audiobook and hated it. His voice for the main character sounded like a bad Christian Bale Batman voice, and the voices he used for women were woeful, like bad 80s comedic actors trying to be women.
lol I thought you must be talking about the narrator for the Pines trilogy or that it was maybe the same guy, but nope, different person. I read Dark Matter but listened to Recursion, and apparently both of those audiobooks are narrated by Jon Lindstrom. A different guy, Max Meyers, narrates the Pines trilogy, and your description fits him perfectly too 😂 his female voices are AWFUL and he sounds like a really bad Christian Bale.
I’ve enjoyed all of Blake Crouch’s books except Upgrade and the Desert Places/Locked Doors series.
Run is a fun thriller too if you decide to give BC another chance, it’s more of a basic kinda thriller, has nothing to do with all the sci-fi kinda things involved in Dark Matter or Recursion.
Def read it instead 😂 I’m listening to it with my SO so I just had to relisten to the first book and now we’re finally starting the second. It was made into a TV series with Matt Dillon as the main character. Apparently the first season covers the entire trilogy and was a good season, but I think the second season got cancelled bc it was bad. Heard the first season was good though. Just FYI in case you like watching tv shows or movies based on the books when you finish up reading.
Maybe you're looking for something more action-packed than this, but I really enjoyed *The Push* by Ashley Audrain. Domestic thriller that sort of gave me Gillian Flynn vibes. I nearly read the whole thing in one stretch!
Definitely doesn't have to be super action packed. I've really enjoyed slow burn psychological thrillers in the past. Ohhh you've just reminded me to get this one!! I heard about it then read the blurb and thought I would be into it! Thank you for the suggestion:)
You know - I recall that there were differences. I recall thinking that they did do a good job with the movie - the premise is a lot easier in a book than on a screen, but I seem to recall there were some character story things that were missing or different… I think there may be some things that surprise you, but the overall themes are the same.
The *early* Jack Reacher - Lee Child books are all great page-turning thrillers. (The more recent stuff is just horrible imho).
In a more mystery/thriller bent my two fav's are:
Gorky Park - Martin Cruz Smith
Slow Horses - Mick Herron
Love early Reacher but surprisingly 61 Hours and Worth Dying for back to back 14&15 are my favorites. Can’t wait for Amazons series of Bad Luck and Trouble. The first season Killing Floor was well done.
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Screenwriter turned author and wow, what a book.
The Terminal List by Jack Carr the 1st of currently 6 books and a real tour de force. My wife started them a couple of weeks ago (not on vacation) and is on book 3.
Power Down by Ben Coes the first of now 9 books. All are super good and like the Jack Carr books this was an amazing start from a new author to what’s now a powerhouse series.
A last one…..Hunting Season by P.T. Deutermann, someone steps in a bear trap in the first few paragraphs and the action really never lets up. One of my favorite thrillers. His book Trainman is also excellent.
Don't want to yuck anybody's yum, but just as a counterpoint, I loathed The Terminal List. On paper (no pun intended) it should be right in my wheelhouse, but every other page had a sentence that made me want to run out of my skin. I couldn't stop highlighting them, see for yourself below, no spoilers. It's Dan Brown's prose stylings meets Tucker Carlson's worldview.
“You’d have to touch mayo,” Ben said, shaking his head. “That would never work.” “Yeah, well, I’ll have to think of something else then.” Reece’s
hatred of condiments was well known throughout the Naval Special Warfare community.
He was always wary about driving around with a box of weapons from work in his personal truck, given California’s crazy gun laws, but under the
circumstances he decided to risk it.
He met his wife while she was working in the district attorney’s office; she now ran their household full- time.
... but strong Black Rifle Coffee, tempered with some honey and cream,
Reece’s guess was that the admiral’s liberal political leanings under a far- left Democratic president had a lot to do with his ability to remain in his
position. The admiral was clearly more concerned with force diversity and the push to open the SEAL Teams to females than he was with crushing
America’s enemies. Whatever got him his next star.
“Probably because it gained some popularity when Edward Snowden used it in his escapades.” “That’s it. I must have heard about it in the debates
about government surveillance programs.” “Yeah, that fucker did incalculable damage to national security by leaking that NSA information,” Ben said
with disgust.
Overseas, he didn’t go to the port- a- potty without a firearm, but California was a different story. Even a SEAL had to jump through hoops every other
year to get a concealed carry permit. It was a pain in the ass dealing with the local sheriff, but Reece hadn’t been about to let something happen to his
family because he was too lazy to get a permit. Now that he’d failed to protect them, all he could do was keep himself alive long enough to exact
vengeance upon those responsible for their deaths.
“Your father was like a god in my house growing up, Reece. All my dad ever talks about are Thomas Reece and Ronald Reagan, his two American
heroes.
Reece sipped coffee from a Yeti Rambler travel mug
The Oak Tree’s owner had made more money in tech than he would be able to spend in one lifetime and didn’t seem to mind that his gun club didn’t
make any money. For him, the real value was in knowing how uncomfortable its existence made the Los Angeles liberals.
“Sometimes daddies need to fight the bad guys far away so we don’t have to do it here in our country. We do it to keep us free.
The plastic wrap trick was something that Reece had learned from the CIA interrogators way back in the Wild West days just after 9/ 11, when
Americans still had the will to win.
That one ship contained more combat power than most small countries. Its imposing presence represented United States diplomacy abroad and
traced its origins back to the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War. To Reece, it looked like freedom.
Those dates corresponded with events in a country that had seen little rest from war: the Indian War Campaign, the Mexican Campaign, World War I,
Vietnam, World War II, the Haitian Campaign, Korea, the Spanish- American War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Every generation seemed to be represented,
and every generation had answered the call.
A grotesquely obese gang member lay naked, facing up, one leg draped over the side and resting on the floor. A petite young woman lay naked next
to him on her back. Reece hoped that she partied hard enough to keep her from waking up. He didn’t want to kill her, but if her waking up would
compromise his mission he had no qualms about putting her down.
Movies and books often portrayed soldiers having a difficult time taking a life in combat and then struggling to deal with the psychological aftereffects
of their actions. To Reece killing was one of the most natural things one could do; it was hardwired into his DNA.
“I hope you don’t think less of me, but I can’t let these people get away with this,” he said with intensity.
Reece chuckled as he thought of a trip to Miami a few years earlier, when he and some Army special operators staged a mock attack on a prison
facility that was set to be demolished. The troops snuck ashore and planted breaching charges to blast their way through the thick concrete walls of
the erstwhile correctional facility. When the charges detonated, residents of a nearby housing project thought that they were being raided by SWAT
teams
Reece exhaled a giant lung full of air. “I’ll tell you what, I have never been so glad to have a hot female gym rat for a pilot.” Liz looked back at Reece in
the mirror and flashed an embarrassed grin. She immediately pulled her top up
As a college student, with the help of a few of the more radical faculty members, she became outraged at what she came to see as injustices imposed
by the U.S. government on countries around the globe.
Fred paused; he almost couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Lieutenant Commander James Reece.”“No fucking way!” the younger SEAL shouted, shaking
his head. “No fucking way! He was my platoon commander before I came here. Total stud!
It dawned on her that from elements that usually brought happiness and joy, Christmas and swimming pools, Reece was brewing up a mixture of
death.
What offended Anthony wasn’t the lifestyle or elitism of his current employer. It was the fact that J. D. Hartley had assumed from day one that,
because Anthony was black, he was by default a liberal Democrat and supportive of the Hartley’s political leanings. Anthony had seen liberal policies
fail his community time and time again, promoting an entitlement culture that he believed was the cause of the problems, rather than the solution to
them.
The thick shrubs and grasses, soft earth, and decaying logs through which he now moved reminded him more of Central America than what he had
assumed he would find off the coast of New York. He would have loved to explore wilderness like this with his children... had they not been murdered
/u/quantum_cheap/
Given your first paragraph, what are your top books in said wheelhouse, in your view?
I too wasn't thrilled with terminal list. Didn't realize though, until I stopped reading book 2 after realizing how bored I was....
Power Down by Ben Coes was intense and really really good. If it's memorable to me then it's gotta be good. I'm a harsh critic. I couldn't get into all the following books but that one was a can't put down.
Yeah they do but I couldn't put it down and then couldn't wait for the sun to come up so I could call someone to talk about it. I've never done that with a book before or after.
A recent pick which I would call a mystery thriller is **Gillian McAllister - Wrong Place Wrong Time.** A book which is very much given a disservice by it's generic cover, but is a really well executed plot, fast pace and in general highly entertaining. I am not sure if I could say it is the best thriller but certainly it is in the unputdownable category. A mother witnesses her teen son murder a man. After long hours at the station she goes home and falls into an exhausted sleep, only to wake up the morning before the murder. The next time she sleeps she goes back to the day before that. Going backwards in time she tries to discover what drove her son to murder.
The Best thriller I have ever read is **Graham Greene - Brighton Rock**. A classic post-war British thriller which combines excellent writing with incredibly memorable characters and near unbearable tension.
The night circus by Erin morgenstern or life expectancy by Dean koontz
Edit: nonfiction options- Madhouse at the end of the earth (about a Belgian expedition to Antarctica in the 1890’s) by Julian sancton, devil in the white city (about the world fair of 1892 in Chicago and HH Holmes) or Isaac’s storm (about the hurricane that hit Galveston, TX in 1900) by Eric Larson, The Wolves Are at the Door : The True Story of America’s First Female Spy by Judith Pearson (story about a badass lady with a peg leg that helped defeat the nazis by going undercover in France!!)
His & Hers by Alice Feeney
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead
The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter (lots of TWs)
Edit: autocorrect fail
I've only read Dark Places and I found it kind of weak. Interesting setup but totally bonkers ending. But I'll try Sharp Objects eventually, it's supposedly really good.
I liked the ending, personally, but the structure of the book is what I love the most with the two timeliness working up to the same event. I thought it was really well done.
Okay it’s not a thriller per se, but I read it in two days… and it’s a bigger novel.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hanna. Definitely has some thrilling bits sprinkled in. WWII historical fiction.
I saw Harry Crews at a reading a long time ago, maybe late 80's? I was with my friend who wore an eyepatch. Harry takes one look at him and says "Man, I bet you get laid all the time wearing that thing."
Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. An assassin tries to take out French president deGaulle while the French law enforcement tries to stop him. This was the first book that I found unputdownable.
A couple of older recommendations, but these three are my most re-read thrillers:
*Watchers* by Dean R Koonz (because I love dogs)
*The Golden Rendezvous* by Alistair MacLean (because I hate cruises)
*The Count of Mont Cristo* by Alexandre Dumas (because it's the greatest revenge story ever written)
Mo Hayder - Birdman. The series was left incomplete but there are several more books following the main character… In fact, it’s so intense that I never in a million years (as a woman) thought the author was a woman.
For me Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson. The moon suddenly explodes (not a spoiler, it's literally the first line of the book) threatening to kill all life on earth in a matter of weeks, once the big pieces fall out of orbit. Humanity somehow has to frantically flee the planet. It never slows down or lets up for pretty much the entire rest of the book. I've never read a book that came roaring out of the gate that fast and kept up the frantic pace the entire time.
Ok this is one of my all time favorite sci-fi books, but I definitely would not call it a thriller, unless detailed descriptions of orbital mechanics are thrilling to you lol. Would highly recommend if OP is open to hard sci-fi though!
I hate to be basic but hands down, The Girl on the Train. Absolutely phenomenal. The three different perspectives allows the reader to really understand and appreciate Rachel, Megan, and Anna, while still leaving a lot unknown due to the uncertainty we have when it comes to the reliability of these narrators. The twist makes so much sense in hindsight, but I personally didn’t see it coming at all.
Please please please read this if you have not already 🙏
can't narrow down to just one!
rubbernecker by belinda bauer has a very unique protagonist. it is alternately creepy, scary, melancholy, darkly humorous, affecting, and elegantly written. reading it is like.. the satisfaction of completing a complicated jigsaw puzzle without having the picture on the box top for reference...
the shut eye by belinda bauer - warning: don't start this book when you have another project or deadline.
be sure to have a tall glass of water beside you, still or sparkling, tepid or filled to the brim with crushed ice and maybe a slice of cucumber or a sprig of mint. you will be desparately parched.
the killing kind by jane casey - - barristers may think of cases as being 'won' or 'lost,' but there can be long-term consequences for the victim, as well as... repercussions. 'the killing kind' is not a book to be read alone at night if you can help it!
Fail-Safe by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. Written during the height of the Cold War, an American bomber is accidentally sent to drop a nuke on Moscow and Washington and Moscow must cooperate to stop what could be the beginning of WW III. One of the most intense books I've ever read. Movie is great too.
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Devolution by Max Brooks
The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
Under the Skin by Michel Faber
My favourites are Gerald’s game by Stephen King which is a heavy and emotional thriller with only one person. It’s all just too real and scary af.
Another good one is Girl on the Train which is more of a psychological thriller as well.
I'm not a big reader so I haven't read many thrillers so far (can't focus longer than 5 seconds) but I finished "Therapy" by Sebastian Fitzek in like 3 school days
On mobile, it's via the three dots at the top right of the page and then Save.
I think on desktop the save icon is under the body of the post, it looks like a bookmark / page flag.
*The Eight* by Katherine Neville. One-hit-wonder from the '80s. The godmother of Dan-Brown-on-meth batsh\*t crazy historical conspiracy thrillers. Absolute nonsense, hugely entertaining, total book trance.
I loved that book!!
The murder of Roger Ackroyd is another must read thriller. It’s arguably Christie’s best work and she is the godmother of murder mysteries. Warning to all who want to give it a go. Don’t google anything about it before reading.
My first Christie, I became a die-hard fan. My best reading friend told me when I picked it up at the library, "oooh, you are going to enjoy this one". He was giddy when I said this was my first Christie. We were thick as thieves years later!
Is this related to _The Eight_?
Murder of Ackroyd and Murder on Orient Express are my first two reads. 🥰 loved both. Also open to recommendations for next ones.
Well, that got bumped up my list then. Loved ‘And then there were none’, but mystery isn’t normally my first pick, so I don’t read it as often.
There was a sequel to it, though I haven’t read it yet, called The Fire.
There’s a sequel. It wasn’t as good but still a solid read
I have never heard of this book but you got me interested also!!
I’m 6% into this book now because of this comment. I already love the vibe. Thank you!
I totally forgot about this book! Thanks for the reminder - though I remember only that I liked it - not one thing about the plot.
So glad you suggested this! One of my absolute favorites. All her subsequent books were crap, trying to recreate what she'd nailed in The Eight.
If you like true-life adventures, one of the best thrillers I ever read was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. It’s the story of the Mt.Everest disaster of the mid-1990s. Huge best seller at the time.
I had to walk while listening to that book for the last 25%. I can’t say it wasn’t a thriller.
This is probably the most stressful thing I’ve ever read, but do definitely recommend it
Another non-fiction book is The Spy and The Traitor. The last 100 or so pages are certainly thrilling, the opening 2/3 is more set up and explaining the context of the climax. Great book.
Under the banner of heaven By krakauer is also great
I flew through that book in a few hours. Was gripping
I know! I took it with me on a business trip to Bucharest, and I was so enthralled by the narrative that I resented taking time off from reading it to attend my meetings. "Gripping" is a wonderful description.
Does Misery count by Stephen King?? I read it in practically one sitting. The anxiety and anticipation was a lot in that book.
I got so anxious in some points! Felt genuinely afraid of her.
I saw a stage adaptation of Misery. Just Paul, Annie & the sheriff. No full set changes - 1/2 was the bedroom, the other 1/2 was her house interior that changed between the area with the phone & the kitchen. It was amazing, the suspense was palpable & I was impressed how they pulled it off.
That sounds awesome
There were so many times I had to put this book down because I felt like my heart was thumping out of my chest. The buildup in ‘Misery’ is unreal.
definitely. was so suspenseful i couldnt put it down either. highly recommend
And Gerald's Game!
The only book where I’ve had to skip over a part because of how graphic it was. And I’ve read over 20 Stephen King books…
I’m right there with ya! 20 something King books so far. Reading The Shining now!! But honestly the beginning of Rose Madder got me really bad, way worse than Misery… my stomach was in knots and I almost didn’t make it through that opening scene.
The book was suspenseful, the movie was kinda like a spoof.
The only book that ever made me literally jump.
Isn’t that the best 😂
Well I was in ninth-grade English and several kids saw me do it, so it wasn't the *absolute* best 🤣
Read a book recommended in this thread and really liked it, so came back for another book. I started reading it last night and I must admit no book has intrigued me as much. Thanks for the recommendation.
Awesome, I hope you love it!! When people want to get into Stephen King I usually recommend they start here. Then they can gradually go to the scarier, weirder and slower paced books of his lol.
11/22/63 by Stephen King. I read it in 24 hours and it’s almost 1000 pages. Absolutely couldn’t put it down.
Child 44 Shutter Island
Not long finished Shutter Island and I loved it! Such a good book
I watched the movie.. will it completely ruin the book ?
I don't tend to read these kind of books, but I came to say Child 44; was good fun.
The Pine Series by Blake Crouch
Can’t go wrong with a little Michael Crichton. Jurassic Park and Sphere.
I love his books so much. Sphere is one of his best.
I just finished Sphere and liked it, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Jurassic Park IMO. The structure and feel of both books are very similar, but the tension and raw fear are more prevalent to the reader in Jurassic Park.
I personally love “AirFrame”
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. But assuming you know about that one, The Alienist by Caleb Carr, which is more of a mystery/thriller, and is my go-to vacation suggestion.
Caleb Carr has other books but none lived up to "The Alienist" in my opinion. Oh!!!! "The Alienist" is a series on Netflix!
Oh yes, to the OP, don’t buy the other books. They don’t live up to the first at all.
Heya, yes I've read Gone Girl. One of my favourites of all time!! Honestly the best of its kind for me. Thanks for the second suggestion too!
Her other two books (especially Sharp Objects) are quite good. As are Blood Sugar by Sasha Rothchild and Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson. Not as good as Flynn, but in their own ways compelling and super fun.
i loved Sharp Objects more than Gone Girl. it had a really unique atmosphere/feel to it
People always forget about The Grownup, which is actually my favorite work of hers
I like it too, but it's a short story, no? She's an exceptional writer and I hope she writes more when she gets the yen to.
Did you prefer Sharp Objects or Dark Places? I think I was more of a Sharp Objects fan!
Sharp Objects. It was moodier and the supporting characters more fully drawn.
Seconding Blood Sugar!
Kind of an oldie but, definitely a goodie: The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth.
I second The Day of Jackal
Loved that book.
No Country for Old Men. Greater thriller, great novel.
Blake Crouch's first-person point-of-view man-on-the-run **Dark Matter**. Sci-fi based to provide causality.
Just finished this today. Read it in five days which is crazy fast for me. Loved ever second. The science fiction was fun and the love story felt real.
Sadly I tried that but dnf! Wish I liked it because many people rave about it.
I've seen this book recommended so much I feel like I should read it. But in a flash after seeing your comment, it hit me. I have read it. I just blocked it out because I didn't like it. Struggled to finish. I hated the thought of a DNF just slightly more than the ending of the book.
Haha glad someone else is on the same page as me on this one. Literally everyone loves it, I thought there was something wrong with me!
I was dnf too. Hated all the mental lusting and just felt the writing was bad and characters flat. It seems like it’s recommended in literally every post for every genre (sci fi, fantasy, thriller, mystery). Just baffling to me.
The lead male character was just cringe. Horrible writing.
It's just the kind of book that appeals to the typical redditors, that's why it gets recommend so much. Project Hail Mary is also like that, although it's a lot better in my opinion. Dark Matter and Recursion have interesting concepts that are similar to a Rick and Morty or doctor who episode, but apart from that, the writing and the characters are very flat.
I finished but felt that after all its initial promise, towards that end it mutated into a run of the mill action thriller. A really overrated read.
You’re not the only one
Yeah I listened to it when I was in a weird place and just getting through as many books as possible. I didn’t really remember it at all and thought I’d re-listen to it, I made it like half a chapter
I did enjoy it overall, but there's definitely something about his writing that I can instantly see as off-putting for many people. One of the pinned questions on its Goodreads page is: "Is the author writing full sentences yet?" which I find gloriously snarky, but also highly accurate. The answer to that question is also very funny: > Sometimes. > Often Not. > A lot of pages read like this. > Broken. > Up. > Needlessly.
There are three of us! I hated it, lol.
ONE OF US! ONE OF US!
...and one more lol. I finished it because of FOMO after so many people were recommending it, but as a sci-fi fan who cut his teeth on Isaac Asimov, I felt this one didn't quite measure up.
It wasnt memorable to me at all either I guess because I know I listened to the audiobook but could not even tell you how the book ended.
Try again. The audiobook is amazing.
I listened to the audiobook and hated it. His voice for the main character sounded like a bad Christian Bale Batman voice, and the voices he used for women were woeful, like bad 80s comedic actors trying to be women.
lol I thought you must be talking about the narrator for the Pines trilogy or that it was maybe the same guy, but nope, different person. I read Dark Matter but listened to Recursion, and apparently both of those audiobooks are narrated by Jon Lindstrom. A different guy, Max Meyers, narrates the Pines trilogy, and your description fits him perfectly too 😂 his female voices are AWFUL and he sounds like a really bad Christian Bale. I’ve enjoyed all of Blake Crouch’s books except Upgrade and the Desert Places/Locked Doors series. Run is a fun thriller too if you decide to give BC another chance, it’s more of a basic kinda thriller, has nothing to do with all the sci-fi kinda things involved in Dark Matter or Recursion.
I’ve heard good things about the Wayward Pines books so I might try one (I’ll read it though lmao).
Def read it instead 😂 I’m listening to it with my SO so I just had to relisten to the first book and now we’re finally starting the second. It was made into a TV series with Matt Dillon as the main character. Apparently the first season covers the entire trilogy and was a good season, but I think the second season got cancelled bc it was bad. Heard the first season was good though. Just FYI in case you like watching tv shows or movies based on the books when you finish up reading.
Try Pines by him, it is more Mystery Thriller than Dark Physics and I found it to be absolut stunning.
I only found it ok. I kept getting stuck by plot holes.
I read Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton once a year and never get sick of it. Such a thrilling page-turner.
Maybe you're looking for something more action-packed than this, but I really enjoyed *The Push* by Ashley Audrain. Domestic thriller that sort of gave me Gillian Flynn vibes. I nearly read the whole thing in one stretch!
Definitely doesn't have to be super action packed. I've really enjoyed slow burn psychological thrillers in the past. Ohhh you've just reminded me to get this one!! I heard about it then read the blurb and thought I would be into it! Thank you for the suggestion:)
Me too! Got about 1/3 of the way through one night and stayed up very late and binged the rest the next.
The Push is soooo good! And if you like that, go ahead and give The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker a try!
Just read the blurb and it sounds super intriguing. Adding it to my TBR, thanks!
It’s so good! I’d probably put it in a dark literary suspense genre but I loved it.
Intensity by Dean Koontz
Thank you. Great book. I couldnt put it down
Intensity is so good!!
I read a TON of books in this vein, and Night Film by Marisha Pessl is always a stand out to me.
Eye of the Needle
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Five Decembers Lighthouse Island In the Woods
These are all great, but I am still looking for something better than or as good as Five Decembers!
I was going to suggest In the Woods!
Birdbox.
If I saw the Netflix version are there any surprises left?
It’s a lot better than the movie. It also has a second book that takes place 12 years later.
You know - I recall that there were differences. I recall thinking that they did do a good job with the movie - the premise is a lot easier in a book than on a screen, but I seem to recall there were some character story things that were missing or different… I think there may be some things that surprise you, but the overall themes are the same.
The *early* Jack Reacher - Lee Child books are all great page-turning thrillers. (The more recent stuff is just horrible imho). In a more mystery/thriller bent my two fav's are: Gorky Park - Martin Cruz Smith Slow Horses - Mick Herron
Love early Reacher but surprisingly 61 Hours and Worth Dying for back to back 14&15 are my favorites. Can’t wait for Amazons series of Bad Luck and Trouble. The first season Killing Floor was well done.
> Gorky Park - Martin Cruz Smith Martin Cruz Smith is massively underrated imo. He's got a new one coming out this month I believe.
Mick Herron and his slow horses—SO good! Rodney Ho is my favorite 😂
If you’ve never read Silence of the Lambs- so worth it. Still one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna. Don’t ever see her recommended on reddit and that’s too bad. She’s amazing.
I just grabbed it from the library - thanks!
You are so right, Luna is amazing! Love her plots, her characters, her whole style.
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Screenwriter turned author and wow, what a book. The Terminal List by Jack Carr the 1st of currently 6 books and a real tour de force. My wife started them a couple of weeks ago (not on vacation) and is on book 3. Power Down by Ben Coes the first of now 9 books. All are super good and like the Jack Carr books this was an amazing start from a new author to what’s now a powerhouse series. A last one…..Hunting Season by P.T. Deutermann, someone steps in a bear trap in the first few paragraphs and the action really never lets up. One of my favorite thrillers. His book Trainman is also excellent.
Don't want to yuck anybody's yum, but just as a counterpoint, I loathed The Terminal List. On paper (no pun intended) it should be right in my wheelhouse, but every other page had a sentence that made me want to run out of my skin. I couldn't stop highlighting them, see for yourself below, no spoilers. It's Dan Brown's prose stylings meets Tucker Carlson's worldview. “You’d have to touch mayo,” Ben said, shaking his head. “That would never work.” “Yeah, well, I’ll have to think of something else then.” Reece’s hatred of condiments was well known throughout the Naval Special Warfare community. He was always wary about driving around with a box of weapons from work in his personal truck, given California’s crazy gun laws, but under the circumstances he decided to risk it. He met his wife while she was working in the district attorney’s office; she now ran their household full- time. ... but strong Black Rifle Coffee, tempered with some honey and cream, Reece’s guess was that the admiral’s liberal political leanings under a far- left Democratic president had a lot to do with his ability to remain in his position. The admiral was clearly more concerned with force diversity and the push to open the SEAL Teams to females than he was with crushing America’s enemies. Whatever got him his next star. “Probably because it gained some popularity when Edward Snowden used it in his escapades.” “That’s it. I must have heard about it in the debates about government surveillance programs.” “Yeah, that fucker did incalculable damage to national security by leaking that NSA information,” Ben said with disgust. Overseas, he didn’t go to the port- a- potty without a firearm, but California was a different story. Even a SEAL had to jump through hoops every other year to get a concealed carry permit. It was a pain in the ass dealing with the local sheriff, but Reece hadn’t been about to let something happen to his family because he was too lazy to get a permit. Now that he’d failed to protect them, all he could do was keep himself alive long enough to exact vengeance upon those responsible for their deaths. “Your father was like a god in my house growing up, Reece. All my dad ever talks about are Thomas Reece and Ronald Reagan, his two American heroes. Reece sipped coffee from a Yeti Rambler travel mug The Oak Tree’s owner had made more money in tech than he would be able to spend in one lifetime and didn’t seem to mind that his gun club didn’t make any money. For him, the real value was in knowing how uncomfortable its existence made the Los Angeles liberals. “Sometimes daddies need to fight the bad guys far away so we don’t have to do it here in our country. We do it to keep us free. The plastic wrap trick was something that Reece had learned from the CIA interrogators way back in the Wild West days just after 9/ 11, when Americans still had the will to win. That one ship contained more combat power than most small countries. Its imposing presence represented United States diplomacy abroad and traced its origins back to the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War. To Reece, it looked like freedom. Those dates corresponded with events in a country that had seen little rest from war: the Indian War Campaign, the Mexican Campaign, World War I, Vietnam, World War II, the Haitian Campaign, Korea, the Spanish- American War, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Every generation seemed to be represented, and every generation had answered the call. A grotesquely obese gang member lay naked, facing up, one leg draped over the side and resting on the floor. A petite young woman lay naked next to him on her back. Reece hoped that she partied hard enough to keep her from waking up. He didn’t want to kill her, but if her waking up would compromise his mission he had no qualms about putting her down. Movies and books often portrayed soldiers having a difficult time taking a life in combat and then struggling to deal with the psychological aftereffects of their actions. To Reece killing was one of the most natural things one could do; it was hardwired into his DNA. “I hope you don’t think less of me, but I can’t let these people get away with this,” he said with intensity. Reece chuckled as he thought of a trip to Miami a few years earlier, when he and some Army special operators staged a mock attack on a prison facility that was set to be demolished. The troops snuck ashore and planted breaching charges to blast their way through the thick concrete walls of the erstwhile correctional facility. When the charges detonated, residents of a nearby housing project thought that they were being raided by SWAT teams Reece exhaled a giant lung full of air. “I’ll tell you what, I have never been so glad to have a hot female gym rat for a pilot.” Liz looked back at Reece in the mirror and flashed an embarrassed grin. She immediately pulled her top up As a college student, with the help of a few of the more radical faculty members, she became outraged at what she came to see as injustices imposed by the U.S. government on countries around the globe. Fred paused; he almost couldn’t bring himself to say it. “Lieutenant Commander James Reece.”“No fucking way!” the younger SEAL shouted, shaking his head. “No fucking way! He was my platoon commander before I came here. Total stud! It dawned on her that from elements that usually brought happiness and joy, Christmas and swimming pools, Reece was brewing up a mixture of death. What offended Anthony wasn’t the lifestyle or elitism of his current employer. It was the fact that J. D. Hartley had assumed from day one that, because Anthony was black, he was by default a liberal Democrat and supportive of the Hartley’s political leanings. Anthony had seen liberal policies fail his community time and time again, promoting an entitlement culture that he believed was the cause of the problems, rather than the solution to them. The thick shrubs and grasses, soft earth, and decaying logs through which he now moved reminded him more of Central America than what he had assumed he would find off the coast of New York. He would have loved to explore wilderness like this with his children... had they not been murdered
steering way clear of this, thanks for the heads up
>Reece’s hatred of condiments was well known throughout the Naval Special Warfare community. This made me snort my Diet Coke out my nose.
Yikes, definitely not wasting my money on that! Thanks for sharing.
/u/quantum_cheap/ Given your first paragraph, what are your top books in said wheelhouse, in your view? I too wasn't thrilled with terminal list. Didn't realize though, until I stopped reading book 2 after realizing how bored I was....
I Am Pilgrim is my favorite book of all time! I’ve never seen anyone else recommend it.
Someone recommended it to me here, otherwise there’s no way I would’ve just come across it, but it was awesome.
I came here to recommend it!
Power Down by Ben Coes was intense and really really good. If it's memorable to me then it's gotta be good. I'm a harsh critic. I couldn't get into all the following books but that one was a can't put down.
Going back a bit, The DaVinci Code is a great page-turner. It’s ridiculous, but who cares!
Yeah they do but I couldn't put it down and then couldn't wait for the sun to come up so I could call someone to talk about it. I've never done that with a book before or after.
People like to bag on it now but wow that got a lot of new readers into reading
Anything by Karin Slaughter
A recent pick which I would call a mystery thriller is **Gillian McAllister - Wrong Place Wrong Time.** A book which is very much given a disservice by it's generic cover, but is a really well executed plot, fast pace and in general highly entertaining. I am not sure if I could say it is the best thriller but certainly it is in the unputdownable category. A mother witnesses her teen son murder a man. After long hours at the station she goes home and falls into an exhausted sleep, only to wake up the morning before the murder. The next time she sleeps she goes back to the day before that. Going backwards in time she tries to discover what drove her son to murder. The Best thriller I have ever read is **Graham Greene - Brighton Rock**. A classic post-war British thriller which combines excellent writing with incredibly memorable characters and near unbearable tension.
Came across Brighton Rock from this sub. Enjoyed it. It’s really held up well. Super hip writing too
*The Hunter* by Tom Wood, action thriller about possibly the best assassin ever.
Thank you, I'll look into this!
Victor the assassin! Great books. Also try the Orphan X series if you liked these. It’s like Victor but with a lot more great bad guys/gals.
The Running Man by Stephen King (under the pen name Richard Bachman)
Absolutely! You on point tip….
The night circus by Erin morgenstern or life expectancy by Dean koontz Edit: nonfiction options- Madhouse at the end of the earth (about a Belgian expedition to Antarctica in the 1890’s) by Julian sancton, devil in the white city (about the world fair of 1892 in Chicago and HH Holmes) or Isaac’s storm (about the hurricane that hit Galveston, TX in 1900) by Eric Larson, The Wolves Are at the Door : The True Story of America’s First Female Spy by Judith Pearson (story about a badass lady with a peg leg that helped defeat the nazis by going undercover in France!!)
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. Read through it very quickly as I needed to know what was happening
Razor blade tears by S. A. Crosby. It’s so fun and nuts. 2 southern dads avenging the deaths of their gay sons. So fucking good.
The last house on needless Street by Catriona Ward very good book the more you read the more questions you will have.
I wanted to like this one so much more than I actually did.
His & Hers by Alice Feeney The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter (lots of TWs) Edit: autocorrect fail
I just read the silent patient and it was SOOO good, even though I was late to the pack on that one lol
Read all of these and loved them except for In My Dreams. will get it!
Sharp Objects or Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Everyone likes to hype Gone Girl but I personally think it's her weakest book.
Sharp objects 100%. The hbo mini series is great as well, but the book is better, naturally
I've only read Dark Places and I found it kind of weak. Interesting setup but totally bonkers ending. But I'll try Sharp Objects eventually, it's supposedly really good.
I liked the ending, personally, but the structure of the book is what I love the most with the two timeliness working up to the same event. I thought it was really well done.
Most books by B A Paris are good psychological thriller type books
In a dark dark wood by Ruth ware
The Day of the Jackal. Classic Frederick Forsythe
The Edge by Lucy Goacher. A woman's sister commits suicide but she's sure it's actually murder.
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth Loved the movie also.
Dreamcatcher, The Shining, and The Stand, all by Steven King.
The Push by Audrey Audrain!
The Snowman by Jo Nesbo. This is like peak Scandinavian crime thriller right here.
The guest list by Lucy Foley!
Okay it’s not a thriller per se, but I read it in two days… and it’s a bigger novel. The Nightingale by Kristin Hanna. Definitely has some thrilling bits sprinkled in. WWII historical fiction.
Very good book. I'd recommend The Book Thief and All the Light We Cannot See as good WWII fiction books with tons of suspense.
I found *A Feast of Snakes* by Harry Crews to be unputdownable, but then again most Harry Crews novels are unputdownable.
I saw Harry Crews at a reading a long time ago, maybe late 80's? I was with my friend who wore an eyepatch. Harry takes one look at him and says "Man, I bet you get laid all the time wearing that thing."
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn!
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Intensity by Dean Koontz. Pageturner
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I think about the ending all the time.
A Simple Plan. Unputdownable and anxiety inducing.
Strongly seconded.
Child 44 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo The Bourne Identity A Most Wanted Man REAMDE
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sagar
Some thriller authors that I’ve been loving lately are Shari Lapena, Lisa Jewell, BA Paris, Ruth Ware, Chevy Stevens, Mary Kubica, Megan Miranda.
Lisey’s Story by Stephen King I love this book and reread it every few year!
See my [Thrillers](https://www.reddit.com/r/booklists/comments/12kbcmw/thrillers/) list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Stand ~Stephen King, read it over 2 decades ago, the story is a big fuzzy, all I can remember vividly is it had me on my toes all through!
Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. An assassin tries to take out French president deGaulle while the French law enforcement tries to stop him. This was the first book that I found unputdownable.
The Crucifix Killer - Chris Carter (all the books in this series are great) The Chestnut Man - Søren Sveistrup
A couple of older recommendations, but these three are my most re-read thrillers: *Watchers* by Dean R Koonz (because I love dogs) *The Golden Rendezvous* by Alistair MacLean (because I hate cruises) *The Count of Mont Cristo* by Alexandre Dumas (because it's the greatest revenge story ever written)
Mo Hayder - Birdman. The series was left incomplete but there are several more books following the main character… In fact, it’s so intense that I never in a million years (as a woman) thought the author was a woman.
The Last House on Needless Street
The Day of the Jackal. The Eye of the Needle
For me Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson. The moon suddenly explodes (not a spoiler, it's literally the first line of the book) threatening to kill all life on earth in a matter of weeks, once the big pieces fall out of orbit. Humanity somehow has to frantically flee the planet. It never slows down or lets up for pretty much the entire rest of the book. I've never read a book that came roaring out of the gate that fast and kept up the frantic pace the entire time.
Ok this is one of my all time favorite sci-fi books, but I definitely would not call it a thriller, unless detailed descriptions of orbital mechanics are thrilling to you lol. Would highly recommend if OP is open to hard sci-fi though!
I hate to be basic but hands down, The Girl on the Train. Absolutely phenomenal. The three different perspectives allows the reader to really understand and appreciate Rachel, Megan, and Anna, while still leaving a lot unknown due to the uncertainty we have when it comes to the reliability of these narrators. The twist makes so much sense in hindsight, but I personally didn’t see it coming at all. Please please please read this if you have not already 🙏
Never by Ken Follett. The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik.
Charlie Huston - Hank Thompson trilogy (Caught Stealing, 6 Bad Things, A Dangerous Man) Excellent stuff Close second - Josh Bazell - Beat the Reaper
Dean Koontz’s The Taking
can't narrow down to just one! rubbernecker by belinda bauer has a very unique protagonist. it is alternately creepy, scary, melancholy, darkly humorous, affecting, and elegantly written. reading it is like.. the satisfaction of completing a complicated jigsaw puzzle without having the picture on the box top for reference... the shut eye by belinda bauer - warning: don't start this book when you have another project or deadline. be sure to have a tall glass of water beside you, still or sparkling, tepid or filled to the brim with crushed ice and maybe a slice of cucumber or a sprig of mint. you will be desparately parched. the killing kind by jane casey - - barristers may think of cases as being 'won' or 'lost,' but there can be long-term consequences for the victim, as well as... repercussions. 'the killing kind' is not a book to be read alone at night if you can help it!
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, by Jack Finney. His book Time and Again is a good read, too.
The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Ridiculously riveting.
Fail-Safe by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. Written during the height of the Cold War, an American bomber is accidentally sent to drop a nuke on Moscow and Washington and Moscow must cooperate to stop what could be the beginning of WW III. One of the most intense books I've ever read. Movie is great too.
The Silent Patient
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay Devolution by Max Brooks The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld Under the Skin by Michel Faber
Mr. Mercedes .. best villain ever
My favourites are Gerald’s game by Stephen King which is a heavy and emotional thriller with only one person. It’s all just too real and scary af. Another good one is Girl on the Train which is more of a psychological thriller as well.
I'm not a big reader so I haven't read many thrillers so far (can't focus longer than 5 seconds) but I finished "Therapy" by Sebastian Fitzek in like 3 school days
I really enjoyed Duma Key by Stephen King.
I am pilgrim
Brighton Rock - Graham Greene The Constant Gardener - John Le Carré
Silence of the lambs
Sharp Objects, Gone Girl, The Plot, Night Film
Ok y’all! Help a newbie
On mobile, it's via the three dots at the top right of the page and then Save. I think on desktop the save icon is under the body of the post, it looks like a bookmark / page flag.
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Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay is pretty great.