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The Best Thriller Books for Chill-Chasing Readers

Thriller books are characterized by the suspense, excitement, and anxiety they elicit in their readers. Good thrillers books are action packed and full of twists and turns to keep readers on the edge of their seats. The stakes are always high and the characters are usually determined to complete a mission or goal before time runs out, whether due to an actual countdown ending or just increasing danger. 

There are many subgenres under the thriller umbrella, including domestic thrillersscience fiction thrillers, and legal thrillers. Sometimes thrillers also contain mysterious elements to form the subgenre of mystery thriller books. Across the genre, the best thriller books feature a palpable sense of urgency, as characters race against the clock.

From tales of political spies trying to shut down conspiracies, to books about husbands attempting to outwit murderous wives, the thriller genre covers a range of topics so you can pick one up, no matter your interests. 

These are our best thriller book recommendations to get your heart racing.

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The Quantum Thief
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by Hannu Rajaniemi
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by David Ignatius
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by Glenn Cooper
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by Robert McCammon
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by Dale Brown
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A Small Death In Lisbon
A Small Death In Lisbon
by Robert Wilson
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The Chemistry of Death
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by Simon Beckett
A Simple Lie
A Simple Lie
by Mary Bush
Splinter the Silence
Splinter the Silence
by Val McDermid
In the Lake of the Woods
In the Lake of the Woods
by Tim O'Brien
How the Dead Speak
How the Dead Speak
by Val McDermid
Payback
Payback
by Fern Michaels
Nerve
Nerve
by Dick Francis
The Old Man
The Old Man
by Thomas Perry
A Cold Dark Place
A Cold Dark Place
by Gregg Olsen
The Perfect Marriage
The Perfect Marriage
by Jeneva Rose
The Night Before
The Night Before
by Lisa Jackson
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The Lathe of Heaven
The Lathe of Heaven
by Ursula K. Le Guin
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Weekend Warriors
Weekend Warriors
by Fern Michaels
Come Closer
Come Closer
by Sara Gran
The Two Faces of January
The Two Faces of January
by Patricia Highsmith
The Rome Prophecy
The Rome Prophecy
by Sam Christer
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Live Flesh
Live Flesh
by Ruth Rendell
A Case of Need
A Case of Need
by Michael Crichton
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas
The Thirty-Nine Steps
The Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
Oil and Marble
Oil and Marble
by Stephanie Storey
The Other Side of the Sun
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by Madeleine L'Engle
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World's End
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Our Man in Havana
Our Man in Havana
by Graham Greene
The Dark Place
The Dark Place
by Aaron Elkins
Hard Target
Hard Target
by Alan Jacobson
The Eight
The Eight
by Katherine Neville
The Moneychangers
The Moneychangers
by Arthur Hailey
The One-Eyed Judge
The One-Eyed Judge
by Michael Ponsor
Odds On
Odds On
by Michael Crichton, John Lange
Inherit the Bones
Inherit the Bones
by Emily Littlejohn
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To Cut a Long Story Short
To Cut a Long Story Short
by Jeffrey Archer
The Savage Day
The Savage Day
by Jack Higgins
Black Out
Black Out
by John Lawton
The Scapegoat
The Scapegoat
by Daphne du Maurier
The Devil in the Marshalsea
The Devil in the Marshalsea
by Antonia Hodgson
The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate
by Richard Condon
Five Passengers From Lisbon
Five Passengers From Lisbon
by Mignon G. Eberhart
The Overnight
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by R. L. Stine
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The Secret of Chimneys
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A thriller book is a book that keeps readers on the edge of their seats with action, excitement, and urgency, with a high stakes premise and a protagonist on a mission.

A book is usually classified as a thriller when it has an action packed plot that follows a hero in a race against time and evokes feelings of anxiety and excitement as it builds towards a climax.

While books can fall under both horror and thriller categories, the two genres differ in that horror books are meant to be scary and, well, horrifying, whereas thriller books are not necessarily fearsome but more exciting and suspenseful.