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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 Death of Sweet Mister
The Death of Sweet Mister
by Daniel Woodrell, Dennis Lehane
Spartacus, the Gladiator
Spartacus, the Gladiator
by Ben Kane
Dial M for Merde
Dial M for Merde
by Stephen Clarke
The Fuhrer's Orphans
The Fuhrer's Orphans
by David Laws
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The Good German
The Good German
by Joseph Kanon
Melmoth
Melmoth
by Sarah Perry
No Simple Death
No Simple Death
by Valerie Keogh
Consumed
Consumed
by David Cronenberg
Moving Mars
Moving Mars
by Greg Bear
Going Wrong
Going Wrong
by Ruth Rendell
Trauma
Trauma
by CJ Lyons
Fever
Fever
by Deon Meyer
The Paper Wasp
The Paper Wasp
by Lauren Acampora
Eleven
Eleven
by Patricia Highsmith, Graham Greene
Heresy
Heresy
by Melissa Lenhardt
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon Tong
by Paul Theroux
Lonely Hearts
Lonely Hearts
by John Harvey
The Optician's Wife
The Optician's Wife
by Betsy Reavley
All the Names
All the Names
by Jose Saramago, Margaret Jull Costa
Followers
Followers
by Megan Angelo
Moist
Moist
by Mark Haskell Smith
The Doll-Master
The Doll-Master
by Joyce Carol Oates
As Long as We Both Shall Live
As Long as We Both Shall Live
by JoAnn Chaney
Copycat
Copycat
by Gillian White
The Crossword Murder
The Crossword Murder
by Nero Blanc
The Twisted Window
The Twisted Window
by Lois Duncan
Rustication
Rustication
by Charles Palliser
Snow
Snow
by Caroline B. Cooney
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
by Benjamin Wood
The Neighborhood
The Neighborhood
by Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman
Murderland
Murderland
by Thomas B. Cavanagh
The Sleep of Reason
The Sleep of Reason
by C.P. Snow
Almost
Almost
by Elizabeth Benedict
The Rothman Scandal
The Rothman Scandal
by Stephen Birmingham
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Your Republic Is Calling You
Your Republic Is Calling You
by Young-ha Kim
The Trap
The Trap
by Melanie Raabe, Imogen Taylor
Carolina Skeletons
Carolina Skeletons
by David Stout
The Circular Staircase
The Circular Staircase
by Otto Penzler, Mary Roberts Rinehart
Daddy Love
Daddy Love
by Joyce Carol Oates
A Girl Named Anna
A Girl Named Anna
by Lizzy Barber
The Little Men
The Little Men
by Megan Abbott
The Takeover
The Takeover
by Muriel Spark
Pago Pago Tango
Pago Pago Tango
by John Enright
Tremor of Intent
Tremor of Intent
by Anthony Burgess
Tales for a Stormy Night
Tales for a Stormy Night
by Dorothy Salisbury Davis
The Widow's Web
The Widow's Web
by Susan Moore
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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.