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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 Eight
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by Katherine Neville
The Day After Tomorrow
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by Allan Folsom
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The Brimstone Wedding
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by Ruth Rendell
The Deeds of the Disturber
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by Elizabeth Peters
Don't Tell
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by Karen Rose
Odds On
Odds On
by Michael Crichton, John Lange
Mystery Walk
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by Robert McCammon
Black Out
Black Out
by John Lawton
Death in the Andes
Death in the Andes
by Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman
The Sleepwalker
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by Robert Muchamore
Vendetta
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by Jackie Collins
Snap
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by Belinda Bauer
Dead Men's Hearts
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by Aaron Elkins
The Secret of Chimneys
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by Agatha Christie
The Wolf's Hour
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by Robert McCammon
The Shepherd
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by Frederick Forsyth
Snake Skin
Snake Skin
by CJ Lyons
Trouble at the Brownstone
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by Robert Goldsborough
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Fellowship of Fear
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by Graham Greene
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A Noble Radiance
A Noble Radiance
by Donna Leon
Exo
Exo
by Fonda Lee
Missing Since Monday
Missing Since Monday
by Ann M. Martin
Three Novels
Three Novels
by Katherine Neville
The Skeleton Road
The Skeleton Road
by Val McDermid
The Lords of Discipline
The Lords of Discipline
by Pat Conroy
The Night She Died
The Night She Died
by Dorothy Simpson
Bloodlines
Bloodlines
by Sharon Sala
The One Thing More
The One Thing More
by Anne Perry
The Moneychangers
The Moneychangers
by Arthur Hailey
Airport
Airport
by Arthur Hailey
The Crocodile Bird
The Crocodile Bird
by Ruth Rendell
The Liam Devlin Novels
The Liam Devlin Novels
by Jack Higgins
The Outside Man
The Outside Man
by Richard North Patterson
Six Days of the Condor
Six Days of the Condor
by James Grady
Death in the Castle
Death in the Castle
by Pearl S. Buck
The Locked Tomb Mystery
The Locked Tomb Mystery
by Elizabeth Peters
The Far Side of the Sky
The Far Side of the Sky
by Daniel Kalla
A Cry from the Dust
A Cry from the Dust
by Carrie Stuart Parks
The Tremor of Forgery
The Tremor of Forgery
by Patricia Highsmith, Francine Prose
South California Purples
South California Purples
by Baron Birtcher
The Good People
The Good People
by Hannah Kent
The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate
by Richard Condon
Now We Shall Be Entirely Free
Now We Shall Be Entirely Free
by Andrew Miller
Above Suspicion
Above Suspicion
by Lynda La Plante
Stay with Me
Stay with Me
by Sandra Rodriguez Barron
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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.