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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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Murderland
Murderland
by Thomas B. Cavanagh
The Sleep of Reason
The Sleep of Reason
by C.P. Snow
A Sense of Guilt
A Sense of Guilt
by Andrea Newman
Disturbed
Disturbed
by Kevin O'Brien
The Familiars
The Familiars
by Stacey Halls
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10 Best Books for Women
Eleven
Eleven
by Patricia Highsmith, Graham Greene
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
by Henry Farrell, Mitch Douglas
The Sequel
The Sequel
by R. L. Stine
The Optician's Wife
The Optician's Wife
by Betsy Reavley
Deep Creek
Deep Creek
by Dana Hand
And When She Was Good
And When She Was Good
by Laura Lippman
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17 Books Like Big Little Lies
Sweet Little Lies
Sweet Little Lies
by Caz Frear
The Little Men
The Little Men
by Megan Abbott
Hunter's Green
Hunter's Green
by Phyllis A. Whitney
The Other Side of the Sun
The Other Side of the Sun
by Madeleine L'Engle
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The Re-Read: A Wrinkle in Time
The Deadly Sister
The Deadly Sister
by Eliot Schrefer
Snow
Snow
by Caroline B. Cooney
The Neighborhood
The Neighborhood
by Mario Vargas Llosa, Edith Grossman
Melmoth
Melmoth
by Sarah Perry
Mr. Timothy
Mr. Timothy
by Louis Bayard
Consumed
Consumed
by David Cronenberg
The Perfect Stranger
The Perfect Stranger
by Wendy Corsi Staub
The Hunt
The Hunt
by Jack Cashill, Mike McMullen
The Trap
The Trap
by Melanie Raabe, Imogen Taylor
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon Tong
by Paul Theroux
Harry Gold
Harry Gold
by Millicent Dillon
As Long as We Both Shall Live
As Long as We Both Shall Live
by JoAnn Chaney
The Circular Staircase
The Circular Staircase
by Mary Roberts Rinehart, Otto Penzler
Bloody Women
Bloody Women
by Helen Fitzgerald
The Kings in Winter
The Kings in Winter
by Cecelia Holland
All the Bells on Earth
All the Bells on Earth
by James P. Blaylock
The Corn Maiden
The Corn Maiden
by Joyce Carol Oates
We'll Never Be Apart
We'll Never Be Apart
by Emiko Jean
Acts of Nature
Acts of Nature
by Jonathon King
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
by Renee Knight
A Girl Named Anna
A Girl Named Anna
by Lizzy Barber
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better
by Benjamin Wood
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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24 Epic World War II Books
The Silence
The Silence
by Mary McGarry Morris
Going Wrong
Going Wrong
by Ruth Rendell
Asking for the Moon
Asking for the Moon
by Reginald Hill
The Campus Murders
The Campus Murders
by Ellery Queen
Keep Your Friends Close
Keep Your Friends Close
by Paula Daly
Afterlands
Afterlands
by Steven Heighton
Slipping into Darkness
Slipping into Darkness
by Peter Blauner
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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.