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  1. Genres
  2. ›Thriller

Best Thriller Books

Suspense and thriller novels

1,424 summaries

Showing 673–696 of 1,424

  1. An Instance of the Fingerpost

    Iain Pears

    ★ 3.9 (21k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In 1660s Oxford, a suspicious death unravels through the conflicting accounts of four witnesses—a physician, a lord's son, a cryptographer, and an antiquarian—each weaving a tangled web of truth and deception around a young woman accused of murder.

  2. Sparkling Cyanide

    Agatha Christie

    ★ 3.9 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A year after Rosemary Barton's mysterious death, six acquaintances gather, each with secrets, to face the possibility that one of them is a killer.

  3. Secrets to the Grave

    Tami Hoag

    ★ 4.1 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    When a murdered woman's identity unravels into a shocking fabrication, a detective and child advocate must race to uncover the truth before the killer erases all traces of a life that never truly existed.

  4. The Neon Rain

    James Lee Burke

    ★ 3.9 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Haunted by Vietnam and alcohol, New Orleans detective Dave Robicheaux navigates drug lords and arms smugglers to solve a prostitute's murder, confronting the city's dark side and his own fractured self.

  5. Under the Skin

    Michel Faber

    ★ 3.7 (21k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    An alien in human form hunts men in the Scottish Highlands, harvesting their flesh while she slowly becomes more human.

  6. Salvation in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Detective Eve Dallas navigates a treacherous path of identity theft, gang violence, and religious deception when a priest is poisoned during mass, only for a second murder to shatter her investigation.

  7. The Water Knife

    Paolo Bacigalupi

    ★ 3.8 (21k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    In a dry future Southwest, water is the ultimate currency. A 'water knife,' a journalist, and a refugee race for survival amid corporate greed and shifting alliances, where the price of a single drop might be everything.

  8. Bound by Duty

    Cora Reilly

    ★ 4.0 (21k) average on GoodreadsRomance

    Forced into a marriage of convenience, a young widow must navigate the treacherous world of the Chicago Outfit and win the attention of her grieving, ice-cold husband before her own secrets unravel them both.

  9. Fantasy in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    When a gaming mogul is found decapitated in his locked playroom, Eve Dallas must navigate the cutthroat world where virtual fantasy meets real murder.

  10. The Killer Inside Me

    Jim Thompson

    ★ 3.8 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford hides a dormant 'sickness' that, once reawakened, shatters his placid facade with brutal consequences in a quiet Texas town.

  11. Sometimes a Great Notion

    Ken Kesey

    ★ 4.2 (21k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In an Oregon logging town, the Stamper family, led by a defiant father and his sons, fights a strike and their own destructive past, ending in a clash of wills and unexpected revenge.

  12. Sidetracked

    Henning Mankell

    ★ 4.1 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Haunted by a teenage girl's self-immolation, Inspector Wallander races against time to catch a scalping serial killer, all while his department is consumed by budget cuts and World Cup fever.

  13. Glamorama

    Bret Easton Ellis

    ★ 3.5 (21k) average on GoodreadsLiterary Fiction

    In 90s Manhattan, a model's celebrity-obsessed life spirals into a nightmarish conspiracy of terror and mistaken identity, blurring the lines between fame, fashion, and deadly mayhem.

  14. Kindred in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigates the brutal murder of a police captain's daughter, uncovering a killer who uses digital identities to taunt the NYPD.

  15. Nerve

    Jeanne Ryan

    ★ 3.4 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A shy high school senior plays a high-stakes online game of dares, finding herself involved with a mysterious partner and challenges that quickly escalate, blurring the lines between reward and deadly consequence.

  16. Storm of the Century

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.9 (21k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A malevolent stranger traps an isolated Maine island community during a brutal blizzard, demanding an unspeakable sacrifice in exchange for their survival.

  17. What the Dead Know

    Laura Lippman

    ★ 3.5 (21k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Thirty years after two sisters disappear from a mall, a woman claiming to be the younger sibling resurfaces. Her story unravels a perfect family's facade, leaving a skeptical detective to untangle her web of secrets before the truth disappears again.

  18. Zodiac

    Romina Russell

    ★ 3.9 (20k) average on GoodreadsBiography

    A teenage Cancerian astrologer, who reads stars through stories instead of equations, must unite a fractured galaxy against a vengeful 13th house, after a celestial attack thrusts her into leadership.

  19. As the Crow Flies

    Jeffrey Archer

    ★ 4.1 (20k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    From the fruit stalls of East End London to the battlefields of World War I and beyond, Charlie Trumper's pursuit of an honest empire is shadowed by a generational vendetta that threatens to unravel his every triumph.

  20. The Charlemagne Pursuit

    Steve Berry

    ★ 3.9 (20k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    A former agent's quest to uncover his father's true fate aboard a lost nuclear submarine unravels a Nazi-era Antarctic secret, linking ancient clues, rival heirs, and a ruthless admiral in a race to control a revelation that could reshape humanity.

  21. The Devil All the Time

    Donald Ray Pollock

    ★ 4.1 (20k) average on GoodreadsHistorical Fiction

    In the rural South after WWII, an orphaned son of a disturbed veteran navigates a world of killers, fanatic preachers, and his own violent nature, all while seeking justice and peace.

  22. Thankless in Death

    J.D. Robb

    ★ 4.3 (20k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    As Thanksgiving approaches in 2060 New York, Lieutenant Eve Dallas hunts a disgruntled son who brutally murdered his parents and plans to unleash his new love for violence upon the city, proving that some family ties are best severed by a blade.

  23. Moonlight Becomes You

    Mary Higgins Clark

    ★ 3.9 (20k) average on Goodreads

    A fashion photographer inherits a Newport mansion and a deadly mystery when her beloved stepmother is murdered, plunging her into a web of linked deaths among elderly women and making her the killer's next target.

  24. Elite

    Rachel Van Dyken

    ★ 4.0 (20k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A Wyoming farm girl wins a scholarship to an elite university. She soon learns she is a pawn in a dangerous game where the most powerful students keep their enemies closer than she ever imagined.

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