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  1. Genres
  2. ›Thriller

Best Thriller Books

Suspense and thriller novels

1,424 summaries

Showing 49–72 of 1,424

  1. Before I Go to Sleep

    S.J. Watson

    ★ 3.9 (290k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Amnesia-stricken Christine pieces together her past each day, only to uncover a chilling truth that makes her question everything her husband has told her.

  2. Into the Water

    Paula Hawkins

    ★ 3.6 (282k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    When a single mother and a teenage girl are found dead in the same river, a town's murky past of drowned women and long-buried secrets begins to surface, forcing a reluctant aunt to confront the very place she vowed to escape.

  3. Red Dragon

    Thomas Harris

    ★ 4.0 (274k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Haunted by his past and the monster he barely survived, FBI profiler Will Graham must re-enter the abyss of the criminal mind, seeking the chilling insight of Hannibal Lecter to stop a new, brutal serial killer obsessed with the Red Dragon.

  4. The Runaway Jury

    John Grisham

    ★ 4.0 (272k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    In a tobacco trial, a mysterious young woman and an odd jury lead a lawyer to suspect a plot to manipulate justice from inside the jury room.

  5. Defending Jacob

    William Landay

    ★ 4.0 (264k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A respected ADA's world shatters when his son is accused of murder, forcing him to confront the terrifying possibility that the boy he loves is a killer.

  6. Under the Dome

    Stephen King

    ★ 3.9 (257k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    An invisible dome traps a small Maine town, forcing residents to fight for survival. An Iraq veteran leads a group against a corrupt politician and the dome's mystery before humanity collapses.

  7. The Mysterious Affair at Styles

    Agatha Christie

    ★ 4.0 (255k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A recuperating war veteran's peaceful country retreat turns deadly when a poisoning at Styles Priory forces him to partner with an eccentric Belgian refugee detective to unmask a cunning killer.

  8. The Hound of the Baskervilles

    Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    ★ 4.1 (254k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Sherlock Holmes must unravel the chilling legend of a spectral hound and a family curse before the beast on the desolate moors claims its next victim.

  9. Odd Thomas

    Dean Koontz

    ★ 4.0 (250k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A short-order cook who sees the dead must race against time to prevent a disaster in his desert town, guided by silent specters and the love of his life, before a mysterious stranger unleashes evil.

  10. Killing Floor

    Lee Child

    ★ 4.0 (249k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Framed for murder, ex-military policeman Jack Reacher must uncover a conspiracy in a Georgia town where everyone is a suspect.

  11. The Green Mile

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.5 (249k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    On death row in the 1930s, a kind giant with a miraculous gift makes a prison guard question what justice means and see the wonder in the condemned.

  12. The Historian

    Elizabeth Kostova

    ★ 3.8 (242k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    A young woman unearths a centuries-old quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, plunging into a labyrinth of historical secrets, ancient evils, and her family's perilous legacy.

  13. American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis

    ★ 3.8 (242k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Behind the polished facade of 1980s Wall Street, a young investment banker's obsession with designer labels and fine dining hides a horrifying descent into depravity and murder, exposing the dark side of American consumerism.

  14. Nine Perfect Strangers

    Liane Moriarty

    ★ 3.5 (242k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Nine strangers seeking an escape at a luxury health resort soon discover their serene retreat is a psychological pressure cooker, run by a guru with a terrifying vision for their 'wellness'.

  15. Mr. Mercedes

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.0 (241k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A haunted, retired detective and his allies race to stop a killer, who previously massacred job seekers with a stolen Mercedes, from launching a deadlier attack.

  16. Ask for Andrea

    Noelle W Ihli

    ★ 4.1 (241k) average on Goodreads

    Three women, murdered by the same charming serial killer, return from their shallow graves to hunt their predator before he can claim another victim.

  17. Truly Madly Guilty

    Liane Moriarty

    ★ 3.6 (237k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A backyard barbecue among friends exposes buried secrets and guilt, changing the lives of six adults and showing the weaknesses beneath their perfect lives.

  18. In a Dark, Dark Wood

    Ruth Ware

    ★ 3.7 (226k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A secluded bachelorette party in a glass house forces a woman to confront a decade-old betrayal that shattered her friendship, as a deadly secret from their past resurfaces.

  19. The Andromeda Strain

    Michael Crichton

    ★ 3.9 (223k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A crashed satellite in rural Arizona unleashes a deadly alien microorganism, wiping out a town and threatening humanity, forcing scientists into a desperate race against time in an underground lab.

  20. The Wife Between Us

    Greer Hendricks

    ★ 3.8 (223k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    A jealous ex-wife's obsession with her replacement spirals into a twisted game where nothing is as it seems, revealing the dangerous truths hidden beneath a seemingly perfect marriage.

  21. The Drawing of the Three

    Stephen King

    ★ 4.2 (217k) average on GoodreadsFantasy

    The last gunslinger must pull three souls from modern-day New York through mystical doors to aid him in his desperate quest for the Dark Tower, battling both earthly and otherworldly demons along the way.

  22. The Silkworm

    Robert Galbraith

    ★ 4.0 (217k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Private investigator Cormoran Strike must navigate a venomous literary world to unmask a killer who brutally silences a novelist whose latest manuscript exposes the darkest secrets of everyone he knows.

  23. One of Us Is Lying

    Karen M. McManus

    ★ 4.0 (216k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Five high school stereotypes walk into detention, but only four walk out alive, leaving a murdered gossip blogger and a web of secrets that could incriminate any of them.

  24. Postmortem

    Patricia Cornwell

    ★ 4.0 (212k) average on GoodreadsMystery

    Medical examiner Kay Scarpetta must find a serial killer known as 'Mr. Nobody' in a city paralyzed by fear, battling sabotage and threats from within the police department as she races against time.

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