*UPDATE!!
In 2021, I read some GREAT Thrillers that I wanted to mention here!
We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz is easily one of my favorite thrillers now. It has murder, distrustful friendships, and a nice twist at the end. I was on the edge of my seat the whole book. If you love thrillers, you gotta read this one!
56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard is set in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. It’s a slow burn but I found it really interesting and could not figure out the twist.
Survive The Night was Riley Sager’s newest book and even though it didn’t seem to be a favorite of his fans, I really enjoyed it!
Every We Didn’t Say by Nicole Baart is a great thriller if you’re looking for something a little more low key. I would call it more of a murder mystery than a thriller, but I absolutely loved the characters, storyline, and writing. Highly recommend!
I’m not sure why but I’m a HUGE fan of thrillers. I’ve always loved reading but was never into anything scary growing up. I think it was around the time that Gone Girl came out that I started to really get into this genre. I loved Gone Girl but other cult favorites tend to disappoint me. The Woman in The Window and The Girl on The Train are two examples of books that were insanely popular, but a huge let down for me. They were such a blow burn. Can anyone else relate?
Anyway! I went through my Goodreads accounts today and picked out my TOP 10 thriller novels I have read over the past few years. It was kind of hard to narrow them down to 10 so I threw in a couple honorary mentions too LOL. I’ll start at 10 and finish with my number 1. Hope you find your next great read on this list!
10. Pretty Girls – Karin Slaughter
I ranked this one last in my top 10 because it’s kind of… a lot. I haven’t read any other Karin Slaughter books but this one is very intense. It should probably come with a trigger warning and a note that it’s fairly graphic. Now that I’ve made it sound terrible, go read this book LOL. This one is incredibly written and definitely had me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning.
9. The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides
This book came recommended by a few friends and it’s super popular right now, so I gave it a read. I felt like the story was pretty slow leading up to the very end and then WOW. The ending made the whole book worth it. So I’ll say just trust me and keep reading this one. It’s a pretty quick read.
8. Lock Every Door – Riley Sager
You’ll see Riley Sager’s name on this list a few times because I LOVE his books! I read each one when it comes out and anxiously await the next one. This one had a really interesting storyline and I don’t think I’ve ever read anything similar. The ending was so bizarre you just have to read it for yourself to see!
7. The Whisper Man – Alex North
I recently listened to this one on audiobook in just a few days, it was so good! The ending was a nice twist that I didn’t see coming. I will say it kind of has you thinking there’s more going on the whole time. Some said it was slow so maybe it was better as an audiobook – just a tip!
6. The Chalk Man – C.J. Tudor
It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel for the author because it’s so incredible. I was invested from the very beginning and through the very end. It’s intense and creepy but I highly recommend!
5. The Wife Between Us – Greer Hendricks
This one had my head spinning – I could not figure it out for the life of me! I kept going back and forth on what I thought was happening. Such a good storyline and I enjoyed the characters and ending as well.
4. The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena
This story was just wow. So, so good. I couldn’t figure it out the whole time and even at the end my mind was like what?! Go read it.
3. The Woman in Cabin 10 – Ruth Ware
Ugh so many good books up here in the top 3. This is an older one I finally picked up and I could honestly read it a second time and still be intrigued. I’ve read another popular Ruth Ware book that didn’t live up to the hype for me so I didn’t have super high expectations with this. I was very wrong, however, because this one had my mind questioning EVERYTHING at the very end. I actually had to do some googling after I finished because I was still so confused about what actually happened… in a good way.
2. Final Girls – Riley Sager
This and number 1 should really be tied for me because they’re equally amazing in my mind. This was Riley Sager’s debut novel and one of the best thrillers I have ever read. It keeps you hooked from the very first chapter and hits you with a massive twist at the very end. I always recommend this book to readers wanting to get into thrillers.
1. The Last Time I Lied – Riley Sager
And this one… wow. I can’t even wrap my mind around writing this story because it was so wild. I never would’ve figured it out in a million years. Now I want to go read it again.
Honorable mentions…
- Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
- The Girl Before by JP Delaney
- Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (technically not a thriller but should scare you)
- Bonfire by Krysten Ritter (yep she’s not only an actress and knitter but also an author of a book)
- A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena
Have you read any of these books and do you agree with my ratings?! Let me know!
Looking for historical fiction recommendations? Check out this post!
