Historical Thriller Books

The best historical thriller book reviews. Historical thrillers feature suspenseful situations set in specific time periods, in which the survival of fictional characters are threatened by the real circumstances of prior historical eras and places.

Midnight Burning is the Year’s Best Historical Thriller

By

The Bottom Line: Voted the Year’s Best Historical Thriller in the 2025 BestThrillers.com Book Awards. Midnight Burning fuses authentic history with exhilarating storytelling. Its seamless mix of fact and fiction feels both inventive and uncannily real, creating a narrative that surprises even as it rings true. The result is a bold, original thriller about a slice of American history that has largely been forgotten. Levine plunges

Midnight Burning is the Year’s Best Historical Thriller READ MORE >

Echoes of Fortune: Shadows Over Cozumel, by David L. Leng

By

The Bottom Line: Leng’s world of sunken secrets moves fast, hits hard and lands every shot.  The second installment in David R. Leng’s Echoes of Fortune series deepens the mythology of lost American civil war secrets while plunging its characters into far more perilous waters. What begins as a Thanksgiving dive vacation for three Americans quickly turns into a deadly struggle against history itself. Shadows Over Cozumel finds historian Jack

Echoes of Fortune: Shadows Over Cozumel, by David L. Leng READ MORE >

The Seventh Wonder, a High-Stakes Archeology Thriller by Andrew Siditsky

By

The Bottom Line: A fast-moving, high-stakes archeology thriller that is perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child.  The Seventh Wonder opens in 270 B.C.E., as a Macedonian warship approaches the ancient city of Alexandria. The crew believes they are seeing the impossible – the legendary lighthouse of Alexandria, thought to have been destroyed. Just minutes after its menacing appearance, the ship bursts into flames.  

The Seventh Wonder, a High-Stakes Archeology Thriller by Andrew Siditsky READ MORE >

The Summer of Haight, an Electrifying Debut Thriller by George Petersen

By

The Bottom Line: An electrifying debut that is part murder mystery, part psychological thriller, and most of all, a memorable plunge into the dark soul of the Summer of Love.  The Summer of Haight begins as British expatriate and San Francisco attorney Longfellow finds himself in the vibrant tide of the 1967 Summer of Love. While the city explodes in psychedelic colors, free love, and anti-establishment fervor,

The Summer of Haight, an Electrifying Debut Thriller by George Petersen READ MORE >

Deceit of the Manna: Nature’s Fury, a Riveting Conspiracy Thriller by Henry Cox

By

The Bottom Line: If you love secret societies, conspiracy theories and hard sci-fi, don’t miss Deceit of the Manna: Nature’s Fury. Riveting cover-to-cover, it’s like digesting an eight-course meal. The fourth book in Henry Cox’s bestselling Deceit series opens on a chilly May 1976 morning in Bozeman, Montana. In a snug, slightly ramshackle bungalow near the Montana State campus, Brice, a tall and deliriously in love graduate student,

Deceit of the Manna: Nature’s Fury, a Riveting Conspiracy Thriller by Henry Cox READ MORE >

Devil I New 666 Book

666: The Devil I Knew, The Devil I Didn’t Know by Eliade Moldovan

By

The Bottom Line: An unforgettable supernatural saga that deftly blurs fact and fiction into something truly original.  666: The Devil I Knew, The Devil I Didn’t Know is unlike any other book you’ll ever read. The concept was borne out of author Eliade Moldovan’s memoir about growing up in Romania during the Cold War. Like a songwriter creating an album, Moldovan prepared 41 stories for the original book, and on the advice

666: The Devil I Knew, The Devil I Didn’t Know by Eliade Moldovan READ MORE >

The Best Vatican Thriller Books of All Time

By

Looking for a pulse-pounding novel that involves the Vatican, the pope and perhaps a conspiracy theory or two? When it comes to high-stakes suspense, few settings deliver like the Vatican. With its centuries-old secrets, hidden chambers, and power struggles cloaked in ritual, it’s the perfect backdrop for some of the most pulse-pounding thrillers ever written. The fact that the pope is the leader of over

The Best Vatican Thriller Books of All Time READ MORE >

Born of Bombs

Born of Bombs and Bullets, a Hard-Hitting Historical Thriller by David A. Dummer

By

The Bottom Line: A welcome respite from monotonous historical thrillers, Born of Bombs and Bullets delivers a fresh, hard-hitting take on Northern Ireland’s Troubles as seen through the eyes of a vulnerable American.  After failing to stop a preventable murder in the American prison where he worked, psychologist Aaron Thornton moves to his wife’s native city of Belfast, Northern Ireland, for a fresh start. Thornton specializes in psychological trauma, including vicarious

Born of Bombs and Bullets, a Hard-Hitting Historical Thriller by David A. Dummer READ MORE >

Rescue Run, an Essential World War II Thriller by John Winn Miller

By

The Bottom Line: Based on real World War II heroes, and profoundly researched from cover-to-cover, Rescue Run is every bit as riveting and essential as anything in Clive Cussler’s body of work.  Set during World War II, Rescue Run opens as American Captain Jake Rogers’ cargo ship comes under attack from a Nazi submarine. Despite the assistance of a B-24 bomber in fending off the U-boat attack, Rogers’ battered

Rescue Run, an Essential World War II Thriller by John Winn Miller READ MORE >

Historical Thriller of The Year: The Beauty Doctor by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard

By

The Bottom Line:  Voted Best Historical Thriller in the 2024 BestThrillers.com Book Awards Aspiring doctor Abigail Platford has nearly given up on her dream to follow in her father’s footsteps to help New York City’s poor. After her father’s death and her mother’s remarriage, she fends off an attempted rape by her alcoholic stepfather – a situation that finds her agreeing to marry a man

Historical Thriller of The Year: The Beauty Doctor by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard READ MORE >

Scroll to Top