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 Bottom Line: A psychic thriller that ranks among King’s best. Stephen King’s latest thriller The Institute is in no way a sequel to Dr. Sleep (which itself was a sequel to The Shining), but thematically speaking, it’s a close cousin. As in Dr. Sleep, villains with terrifying psychic powers are hell bent on leveraging the powers of gifted children. In the middle of the […]
The Institute, a Terrifying New Stephen King Thriller READ MORE >
The Bottom Line: A memorable, bone-chilling crime thriller about the making of a serial killer and the intrepid private investigator determined to stop him. When Boston private investigator Drew Law is hired to look into a suspicious drowning in the Charles River, he can’t find anything conclusive that would indicate murder. Months later, he returns to the morgue to investigate another drowning in the same
Back Bay Murders, a Searing New Crime Thriller by Andrew Bonar READ MORE >
The Bottom Line: An intelligent, textured and taut thriller about political corruption through the lens of a disgraced journalist. Levi Cole had enjoyed a remarkable career as a journalist, rising from a small-town sportswriter to regular cable news contributor and charming political pundit. But he owed much of his success to an anonymous source that led to his veritable takedown of the governor of Texas.
Deep Background, a Home Run Political Thriller by Rick Treon READ MORE >
The Bottom Line: Fans of serial killer fiction will find plenty of diabolical suspense in this engrossing thriller. Tailor-made for fans of Jo Nesbo and John Sandford. Somewhere in a corrugated metal shed, Washington University grad student Dina Levins wakes up from a chemically induced sleep. She recalls the horror of being taken from her car at a service station. She’s vaguely aware of the
Outside Of Normal, an Engrossing Crime Thriller by James Shay READ MORE >
The Bottom Line: Short, surprisingly sweet, and shockingly profound. In Castle Rock – the fictional Northeast setting for many of King’s stories – a web designer confides in a retired doctor friend that he is losing weight. He’s not on a diet, nor is he really exercising. The weight is just coming off at a rate that can only be described as supernatural. By any
Elevation, a New Paranormal Thriller by Stephen King READ MORE >
The Bottom Line: A delicious book about vigilante justice that will surprise you at every turn. Most of us never have to deal with even a single stalker. What if you had a seemingly endless string of them? In the first book in James Swain’s Lancaster & Daniels series, Nicki Pearl is the perfect daughter. Almost too perfect. Wherever she goes, she’s being watched. Each
The King Tides, a Gripping Crime Thriller by James Swain READ MORE >
The Bottom Line: One of Grisham’s finest. The release of a new John Grisham book is like an annual holiday – reliable, full of intense strife, and in the end, sheer pleasure that you look forward to repeating. As usual, Grisham embraces his trademark southern gothic style here, packing the book with just enough courtroom drama to keep the attention of hardcore legal thriller fans,
The Reckoning, a New Legal Thriller by John Grisham READ MORE >
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
The Crooked Staircase: A Jane Hawk Novel by Dean Koontz READ MORE >
Bottom Line: Highly recommended. Red Stick Two is an absolute godsend for military thriller fans, in which life and death is determined by skill, not technology. When an American engineer is abducted by communist group The Shining Path, American intelligence taps two of its best to head into the Peruvian highlands: agent Richard Creole, a regional expert, and master tracker Virgil Cleary. Set in the
Red Stick Two, a Highly Recommended Action Thriller by Kenneth Kirkeby READ MORE >
The Bottom Line: One of the year’s best thrillers. Rose Edmunds proves that her Crazy Amy series is only getting better with each installment. Has a long-lost Picasso really resurfaced in Prague? That’s the hope of 84-year-old London resident George Smithies, whose father, a gallery owner, was allegedly tortured and killed by the Nazis in 1939. Having avoided his homeland since his escape to England
Restitution, One of the Year’s Best Thrillers READ MORE >
