Suspense Thriller Books

The best suspense thriller book reviews. While all thrillers contain elements of anticipation, suspense thrillers spend ample time building a state of mental uncertainty and anxiety in the story’s core characters, often delaying acts of violence over long periods of time to maximize the effect of the ensuing climactic scene.

The Body in the Road, an Engrossing Teen Suspense Thriller by Donna M. Zadunajsky

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The Bottom Line: This engrossing teen suspense thriller puts the fictional town of Craven Falls on the map. Fans of Natalie D. Richards’ small town mysteries may fall for this tale of a teen who makes an unfortunate turn. Seventeen-year-old Ohio girl Sara Nelson is deathly afraid of her psycho boyfriend, Brad. Fearing for her life, she takes her Grandmother’s car in the middle of […]

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At Daddy’s Hands, a Realistic and Harrowing Thriller by Jacob Paul Patchen

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The Bottom Line: A realistic and harrowing tale about children who are forced to do the unthinkable. “We’re not seriously talking about… killing dad, are we?!” That seminal line of dialogue comes in the book’s first few pages, far sooner than one might expect in a typical thriller. But in light of Jacob Paul Patchen’s heartbreaking prologue, in which he describes his experiences working in

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The Auction, a Next-Level Dystopian Thriller by Tom Galvin

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The Bottom Line: A next-level dystopian thriller that is among the year’s most exciting debut novels. What if your financial earning potential was determined solely by an auction — and your future went to the highest bidder? It’s 2050, and 22-year-old Sasha Cross is about to enter The Auction, where America’s Big 7 companies will bid on Series A candidates — considered to be the best and brightest

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Falling, a Must-Read Psychological Thriller by T.J. Newman

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In T.J. Newman’s new thriller, a commercial aircraft pilot is leaving his home just as a repairman shows up to fix the Internet. He doesn’t give it much thought, distracted by his wife’s ire over the fact that he’s missing his son’s game. What neither of him understand is that the repairman is in fact a psychopath who has already blackmailed the pilot’s colleague to

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Stadelheim: Tower of Torment, a Highly Original Thriller by Skye Smith

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The Bottom Line: A highly original thriller featuring one of the creepiest neo-Nazis in contemporary literature. Recommended for fans of serial killer thrillers and contemporary horror. Set in the early 1990s, Skye Smith’s debut novel tells the story of a wealthy neo-Nazi predator named Dale and the twisted obsessions that threaten a group of unsuspecting Minneapolis residents. The book’s title is a reference to Stadleheim,

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Stalker Stalked, a Hugely Entertaining Thriller by Lee Matthew Goldberg

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The Bottom line: Goldberg turns the conventional stalker thriller on its head with a tale that is fresh, suspenseful and hugely entertaining. Lexi Mazur is every bit as awkward, relatable and dysfunctional as Bridget Jones. Thirty-year-old pharmacy sales rep Lexi Mazur has practically made a profession out of stalking boyfriends. But what happens when the hunter becomes the hunted? The novel opens with a breathless

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Mr. Simpson and Other Short Stories, a Deliciously Ruthless Collection by Stephen Maitland-Lewis

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The Bottom Line: Deliciously ruthless predators rule in this collection of stories about deceit, deception, fraud and power. Highly recommended. Stephen Maitland-Lewis, author of the pulse-pounding financial thriller Duped, is back with a collection of suspenseful stories that succeed wildly in chronicling the relentless pursuit of success, status and survival. The book opens with a tale centered around Ernest Simpson, the American-born British shipbroker who

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Level Zero, a Chilling Horror Novel by Dan McDowell

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The Bottom Line: The Shining meets Dante’s Inferno. Level Zero is brimming with sinister surprises sure to keep horror fans up at night. Hellish hospitality awaits two men at the infamous Oak Hollow Hotel. The opening chapters of Dan McDowell’s novel are a portrait of two broken relationships. In the first, radio station manager Chris Wilkerson attempts to console his wife at her mother’s funeral

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The Girl in Cell 49B, a Wondrous Legal Thriller by Dorian Box

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The Bottom Line: A groundbreaking, nail-biting and wondrous legal thriller. In Dorian Box’s The Hiding Girl, 12-year-old Emily Calby survived a home invasion and became an unlikely vigilante. The Girl in Cell 49B finds Emily on her 16th birthday. She’s on a bus in the Ozarks where she has been living for the past three years with her mentor, ex-gang member Lucas Jackson. Her birthday

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Last Call, a Groundbreaking Thriller by Julie Clark

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The Bottom Line: A daring, high-flying thriller about escape and reinvention that will surely inspire scores of copycats. Last Call opens as Claire Cook plots her intricate plan to disappear and start a new life. The driving force is abusive husband Rory, who hails from a famous political family and is himself about to launch a senate campaign.  But getting away from Rory won’t be

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