Trending Thriller Books
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Released: January 2005)
Author(s): Stieg Larsson
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.06 (1354 Ratings, 120 Reviews)
Pages: 465
The disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, gnaws at her octogenarian uncle, Henrik Vanger. He is determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. He hires crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, recently at the wrong end of a libel case, to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance. Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old, pierced, tattooed genius hacker, possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age--and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness--assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, an astonishing corruption at the highest echelon of Swedish industrialism--and a surprising connection between themselves.--From publisher description.
Genre(s): Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Murder, Comics, Spanish, Detective and mystery stories, Missing persons, Blomqvist
Gone Girl (Released: January 2011)
Author(s): Gillian Flynn
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.95 (1310 Ratings, 189 Reviews)
Pages: 415
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer? Source: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/196906/gone-girl-by-gillian-flynn/
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, General, Thriller
And Then There Were None (Released: January 1939)
Author(s): Agatha Christie
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.25 (1208 Ratings, 115 Reviews)
Pages: 116
And Then There Were None is the signature novel of Agatha Christie, the most beloved work of the world's bestselling novelist. It is a masterpiece of mystery and suspense that has been a fixture in popular literature for more than sixty years, a brilliant tale that remains as compelling today as ever. First there were ten—a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the-coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to any of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal—and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder, and one by one they begin to fall prey to an unseen hand. As the only people on the island, unable to leave and unable to call for help, they know that the only possible suspects are among their number. And only the dead are above suspicion. Also published as "Ten Little Indians"
Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Classics, Suspense, Traditional Detectives, etc, English fiction, Islands, Juvenile Fiction
The Silent Patient (Released: January 2018)
Author(s): Alex Michaelides
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.81 (1226 Ratings, 216 Reviews)
Pages: 336
Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in a grand house with big windows overlooking a park in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening her husband Gabriel returns home late from a fashion shoot, and Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then never speaks another word. Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London. Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....
Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Realistic Fiction
The Girl on the Train (Released: January 2014)
Author(s): Paula Hawkins
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.52 (1144 Ratings, 173 Reviews)
Pages: 325
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good? A compulsively readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, or Before I Go to Sleep, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across markets and categories (Goodreads).
Genre(s): Suspense, Women's Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Psychological, Thriller & Suspense, Foreign Language Study, Fiction, Murder, Juvenile Nonfiction
The Secret History (Released: January 1992)
Author(s): Donna Tartt
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.06 (877 Ratings, 158 Reviews)
Pages: 578
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably—into evil.
Genre(s): Fiction, Murder, Mystery, Thriller, LGBTQ, Friendship, Spanish, Coming of Age, Genre Fiction, Classicists
Yellowface (Released: January 2023)
Author(s): R.F. Kuang
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.91 (868 Ratings, 156 Reviews)
Pages: 336
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena’s a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks. So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I. So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree. But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves. With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
Genre(s): Fiction, Thriller, Asian Americans, Satire, Technology & Engineering, Publishers and publishing, Drama, Psychological thriller, Racism, Race
Sharp Objects (Released: January 2006)
Author(s): Gillian Flynn
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.78 (680 Ratings, 110 Reviews)
Pages: 290
NOW AN HBO® LIMITED SERIES STARRING AMY ADAMS, NOMINATED FOR EIGHT EMMY AWARDS, INCLUDING OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims--a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story--and survive this homecoming. Praise for Sharp Objects "Nasty, addictive reading."--Chicago Tribune "Skillful and disturbing."--Washington Post "Darkly original . . . [a] riveting tale."--People
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, General, Thriller, Murder, Children, Domestic fiction
The Guest List (Released: January 2020)
Author(s): Lucy Foley
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 3.61 (623 Ratings, 101 Reviews)
Pages: 320
The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
Genre(s): Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Contemporary, Murder, Literary Collections
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Released: January 1)
Author(s): Stieg Larsson, Reg Keeland (Translator)
Ratings and Reviews from Hardcover
Rating: 4.07 (602 Ratings, 43 Reviews)
Pages: 563
The stunning third and final novel in Stieg Larsson's internationally best-selling trilogy. Lisbeth Salander - the heart of Larsson's two previous novels - lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.
Genre(s): Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Thriller, Political corruption