What are the best thriller books of 2024? Our editors pick their favorites from the dozens of books they’ve devoured so far (watch for updates to this list throughout the year).
It’s been a huge year for mystery and thriller fans worldwide, with new releases by contemporary masters like Sarah J. Maas, Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Lucy Foley, as well as plenty of brilliant releases by new voices. In what can only be described as an embaressment of riches, our mid-year picks for the best thrillers of 2024 came down to the books that proved to be the most memorable. We can’t get two historical thrillers out our head — one by Leigh Bardugo and the other by Alvaro Enrique. And while Stephen King continues to work at the top of his game, his latest release may be the first time a collection of short fiction has landed on one of our lists.
What will stay on our list at the end of the year? Stay tuned for updates.
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Bardugo’s latest and (and best) novel is set in a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid.
Heroine Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to improve the family’s social position.
What begins as simple amusement for the nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against the Queen of England’s —and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king’s favor.
Few novelists are as gifted at world-building as Bardugo, and this time, she delivers mightily on action as well.
Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the lines between magic, science, and fraud are never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition’s wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santángel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.
Those Empty Eyes by Charlie Donlea
The author of Twenty Years Later has one-uppoed himself with the spellbinding thriller Those Empty Eyes.
Alex Armstrong, whose family was massacred when she was a teenager, has changed everything about herself—her name, her appearance, her backstory. That girl, Alexandra Quinlan, nicknamed Empty Eyes by the media, was accused of the killings, fought to clear her name, and later took the stand during her highly publicized defamation lawsuit that captured the attention of the nation.
It’s been ten years since, and Alex hasn’t stopped searching for answers about the night her family was killed, even as she continues to hide her real identity from true crime fanatics and grasping reporters still desperate to locate her. As a legal investigator, she works tirelessly to secure justice for others, too. People like Matthew Claymore, who’s under suspicion in the disappearance of his girlfriend, a student journalist named Laura McAllister.
Laura was about to break a major story about rape and cover-ups on her college campus. Alex believes Matthew is innocent, and unearths stunning revelations about the university’s faculty, fraternity members, and powerful parents willing to do anything to protect their children.
Most shocking of all—as Alex digs into Laura’s disappearance, she realizes there are unexpected connections to the murder of her own family.
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue
This literary masterwork is also a white-knuckled suspense novel that will have readers on the edge of their seat.
One morning in 1519, conquistador Hernán Cortés enters the city of Tenochtitlan – today’s Mexico City. Later that day, he will meet the emperor Moctezuma in a collision of two worlds, two empires, two languages, two possible futures.Cortés is accompanied by his captains, his troops, his prized horses, and his two translators: Friar Aguilar, a taciturn friar, and Malinalli, an enslaved, strategic Nahua princess.
After nearly bungling their entrance to the city, the Spaniards are greeted at a ceremonial welcome meal by the steely Aztec princess Atotoxtli, sister and wife of Moctezuma. As they await their meeting with the emperor – who is at a political and spiritual crossroads, and relies on hallucinogens to get by – Cortés and his entourage are ensconced in the labyrinthine palace. Soon, one of Cortés’s captains, Jazmín Caldera, overwhelmed by the grandeur of the place, smells a trap.
What follows is no ordinary tale, and one that readers won’t soon forget.
The Orphanage By The Lake
For crime thriller fans, Miller’s bestselling novel is comfort food of the highest order.
Miller’s heroine Hazel wants a new life. She’s thirty years old, single, and her private investigation business is months away from folding.
Her luck takes a turn when Madeline Hemsley, a mysterious socialite, pays Hazel a visit with an offer too enticing to resist. An orphan girl has disappeared from a children’s home, and Madeline wants Hazel to find her.
At first glance, it appears to be a standard runaway case, but as Hazel plunges into the investigation, she finds signs of something more: unexplained blood stains, cryptic symbols, sinister figures shadowing her every move.
The more she digs, the more she realizes that the orphanage holds terrifying secrets. Need we say more?
While the plot may sound familiar, Miller’s execution is sublime. Trust us on this one.
You Like It Darker by Stephen King
Experience Stephen King’s latest collection of short stories now, before the inevitable adaptations start popping up on your favorite streaming service.
Some of the best-known Stephen King adaptations for film and TV are based on his short stories and novellas: Children of the Corn, Stand by Me, The Night Flier, Mercy and many others. Throughout his career, King has routinely published story collections in between novel-length works.
You Like it Darker, King’s excellent new story collection, is sure to spawn many adaptations (See how You Like it Darker ranks among the best Stephen King books of the 21st century).
In an interview with NPR, King confessed that one of the stories, “The Answer Man,” has been a work in progress of sorts since he was 30 years old. The story, which will rank among King’s greats, was apparently lost for decades until King’s nephew suggested he finish it.
“Two Talented Bastids” is the story of two creatives: an author, and a painter, and the dark secret about how both acquired their talent. Readers who have ever fretted about having car trouble in a remote area may confront their own fears in “On Slide Inn Road,” the tale of a family that meets the worst kind of roadside assistance.
Many of King’s collections feature a mix of short stories and at least one novella-length work that serves as the main course. One of the best examples from recent years is “Mr. Harrigan’s Phone,” from his If it Bleeds collection, which was also turned into Netflix movie. In You Like it Darker, the novella perhaps most deserving of screen adaptation is “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a story about a man’s strange dream and an obsessed detective. Fans of King’s forays into crime fiction, such as Mr. Mercedes, have a lot to look forward to.
