Our editors rank the top thriller and mystery books by year, decade or subgenre. These lists include legal thrillers, crime thrillers, cozy mysteries, FBI thrillers and more.
Since the debut of his first novel in 2002, Brad Thor has become the gold standard for fans of military fiction, terrorism thrillers and political thrillers. But what happens when ravenous fans polish off Thor’s terrific back catalogue? I’m often asked by our readers: what are the best writers like Brad Thor? Brad Thor novels combine political intrigue, espionage, and compelling narratives with complex moral […]
10 Authors Like Brad Thor READ MORE >
Looking for authors like John Grisham? Check out our list of authors that John Grisham fans are likely to enjoy. American novelist John Grisham has published more than 50 books and 28 have become number one bestsellers. While Grisham has plenty of literary range, he’s known primarily for blockbuster legal thrillers such The Pelican Brief, A Time to Kill and The Chamber. Many Grisham books
Authors Like John Grisham: A Ranked List for For John Grisham Fans (Updated!) READ MORE >
We love great detectives, no matter who they are and where they hail from. But at times, we crave the point of view and approach to casework that only a female detective can bring. The canon of great female literary sleuths include those from a wide variety of countries, eras and ethnicities. However, thrillers featuring female sleuths are still a little harder to find, which
The Best Female Detective Books, Ranked (Updated!) READ MORE >
FBI thrillers are pervasive throughout the entertainment landscape. Almost since the FBI was founded during the Teddy Roosevelt presidency in 1908, novelists and filmmakers alike have been cooking up fictional episodes of the legendary G-men. Some of these classic tales are tributes, and many more are conspiracy theories. More often than not in books about the FBI, the feds are positioned as the outsiders that
The 19 Best FBI Thriller Books (Updated!) READ MORE >
With more than 100 novels published and a reported 450 million novels sold, is it any wonder that Dean Koontz is one of the most popular writers of all time? Koontz is listed at #2 overall in Amazon’s Author Rank, behind only the inimitable J.K. Rowling. But if you’re new to Koontz’s work, where do you start? Koontz’s books are primarily thrillers, but commonly incorporate
The Best Dean Koontz Books (Updated for 2023) READ MORE >
The results are in for the BestThrillers.com Book Awards, the award series that recognizes the year’s top English-language books across 15 major categories: Action Thriller, Crime Thriller, Conspiracy Thriller, Fantasy, Historical Thriller, Horror, Legal Thriller, Medical Thriller, Military Thriller, Mystery, Political Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Romantic Suspense, Sci-Fi and Spy Thriller. The Book of the Year honor goes to Girl Missing by Kate Gable, a murder
The Best Thriller Books of 2022: The Complete List READ MORE >
This time of year, screens across the globe are filled with Hallmark Christmas movies, modern classics like Elf and old gems like It’s a Wonderful Life. But readers need classics too, and there’s no shortage of great holiday-themed books that warm the hearth while getting your blood racing. Here are three that are just about guaranteed to put you in the holiday spirit. Hercule Poirot’s
Best Christmas Mystery Books for the Holiday Season READ MORE >
The 2010s was a decade chock full of amazing mysteries and thrillers. In particular, the crime thriller genre – inclusive of detective fiction, FBI thrillers, serial killer fiction, heist thrillers, police procedurals and many other whodunnits – has burned brightly. While the genre’s old guard continued to crank out plenty of winners, the decade’s best crime thrillers arguably came from relative newcomers like Gillian Flynn,
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It’s with great pleasure that we announce the winners and finalists of the 2021 BestThrillers.com Book Awards. This award series is devoted to recognizing the year’s top English-language books across 15 major categories ranging from Action Thriller to Spy Thriller. While many more great books are deserving of recognition, these fantastic books represent the best of the best in each category. As you’ll see in
The Best Thriller Books of 2021 READ MORE >
2019 was an amazing year for fans of mystery and thriller books. An abundance of endlessly entertaining choices came from all categories, including crime thrillers, medical thrillers, legal thrillers, psychological thrillers, fantasy novels and more. Narrowing the list down from the hundreds of books our team has read this year to just a handful was daunting. In terms of authors, our 2019 list of the
FLASHBACK: The Best Thriller Books of 2019 READ MORE >
