Crime Thriller Books

The best crime thriller book reviews. “Crime thriller” is a catch-all term for thriller subgenres that feature a struggle for dominance between criminals and law enforcement, such as mafia thriller, police procedural, detective fiction, true crime, serial killer fiction and others.

The Death of Vultures, a Dark Psychological Thriller by Susan Wingate

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The Bottom Line: This grim mystery about guilt, loss and the dark allure of vigilante justice is unlike anything you’ve read this year. Set on an island in the rural Pacific Northwest, Susan Wingate’s The Death of Vultures tells the story of a heartbroken middle-aged woman, Meg Storm, and her struggle to come to grips with the deaths of her husband and daughter. Both died […]

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The Thin Blue Sliver, a Hardboiled Crime Thriller by Troy Adami

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The Bottom Line: A delicious helping of contemporary noir from an exciting newcomer to the genre. Fans of hardboiled crime fiction legends Dennis Lehane, Jo Nesbo and Raymond Chandler will love The Thin Blue Sliver. Troy Adami’s crime novel opens in a Fort Lauderdale bar circa 2005, as former Miami-Dade Police Department homicide detective John Moss takes up his usual place at the bar. An

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The Outsider, a New Paranormal Thriller by Stephen King

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The Bottom Line: Although not officially a part of King’s Mr. Mercedes series, there’s enough left of the original trilogy’s magic here for one more good story. King’s marriage of the police procedural and horror genres pays off once again. In The Outsider, a small town is rocked when a longtime little league baseball coach is publicly arrested for the rape and murder of a young

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Digital Velocity, a Steamy Crime Thriller by Reily Garrett

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The Bottom Line: A steamy, seductive police procedural about a cyber predator whose deviant mayhem originates in the dark web. Set in the fictional city of Callouston, Digital Velocity follows a pair of police detectives, Ethan and Larrick, as they follow an anonymous tip that points to a possible serial killer. As the book begins, the detectives enter a murder scene that quickly devolves into

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A Fan of Death and Shakespeare, a Psychological Thriller by Rick Lacey

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The Bottom Line: One of the decade’s most original and surreal psychological thrillers, Lacey has crafted an impossible-to-put-down murder tale while skewering corporate dysfunction and deftly exploring a rare twin psychopathy. Rick Lacey’s new thriller opens in 1994 – the same day as the O.J. Simpson murders – as BP employee John McCall discovers his boss’ body in his office. McCall calls Cleveland homicide detective

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Nemesis, a Winning Psychological Thriller by Julie Hodgson

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Bottom Line: A blistering psychological thriller that will have readers begging for a sequel. Buy it. When it comes to her clientele, psychologist Kathy Smith – who is also a gifted psychic – has become something of a specialist. Smith takes on murderers, rapists, pedophiles, thieves, violence, junkies and other “generally nasty people.” But she’s taking a year off from her practice to take on

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Bring Me Flowers, a Small Town Murder Mystery by D.K. Hood

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The Bottom Line:  Fans of small town murder mysteries may love this intense, under-the-radar gem. Told with the alluring, foreboding darkness of a Dean Koontz novel, this second installment in D.K. Hood’s Kane and Alton series is a perfect entry point for newcomers. Hidden deep in the forest, schoolgirl Felicity Parker is found carefully laid out on a rock with nothing but a freshly picked

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The Watching, a Must-Read Legal Thriller by Michael Donovan

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The Bottom Line: Chock full of psychological suspense, and gloriously infused with dread throughout, The Watching is a must for legal thriller fans. London criminal defense attorney Kate Walker has plenty of reasons to be paranoid. Her clientele is packed with repeat offenders who, despite Kate’s astonishingly good track record, are rarely grateful for her efforts. In some cases, they are openly menacing. As Walker’s

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Where the Hurt Is, a Sensational Crime Thriller by Chris Kelsey

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The Bottom Line: This sensational small town crime thriller is a perfect beach read. Set in 1965, Where the Hurt Is tells the story of a tough but inexperienced Oklahoma police chief who chooses to investigate a brutal murder that most would rather forget. Written from the point of view of police chief Emmett Hardy, Chris Kelsey’s novel opens on a horrendously hot Oklahoma night,

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The Crooked Staircase: A Jane Hawk Novel by Dean Koontz

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The Bottom Line: Koontz lives up to his reputation as one of the most reliable crime thriller novelists of our time. In Koontz’s latest outing, his fierce heroine Jane Hawk picks up right where she left off in The Whispering Room. That’s great news for Koontz completionists, but this won’t be a great entry point for anyone not already invested in the series. With that said, this

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