23 Thrilling Novels from the Bookshelf of Linwood Barclay

I’ll concede that THE CHILL is neither the scariest nor most thrilling novel I’ve ever read, but it is the best of the Lew Archer thrillers, written by someone whose work has influenced me more than any other. Ross Macdonald was an equal to Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.

“Regardless of what genre of literature one prefers, 11/22/63 comes down to this: it is a gripping, harrowing, tragic, and beautiful story about love, memory, evil, and how the best of intentions can go awry... This is King for the faint of heart, for the history buff, for the romantic—for everyone.”

Read the full review here.

While not George Pelecanos’s most well-known novel, DRAMA CITY is the one I most like. Maybe because of its unlikely hero, an animal-control officer.

My favorite Robert B. Parker novel, in which his detective Spenser comes to the aid of a young man caught between warring parents. This one has so much heart.

“For me, I AM PILGRIM was a game changer. It raised the bar for international spy thrillers and became the benchmark for all future reads. It’s rich in detail and character, full of heart-racing action, and terrifying in its plausibility. It has heart and has you questioning your own beliefs.”

Read David Brown’s review here.

A screenwriter and novelist, William Goldman was hard to pin down. He didn’t only write thrillers (for example, he wrote the movie “The Princess Bride” and the book it was based on). I’d never read anything like this book when I discovered it in my late teens. The first half dozen chapters appear to have nothing to do with each other. And then things start to stitch together.

The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. The basis for the critically acclaimed film starring Clive Owen.

As with some of the earlier books in the list, it’s hard to choose an author’s best, since they’ve written so many classics. That’s especially true of Elmore Leonard. But GET SHORTY works, as the cliché goes, on so many levels. It’s a great crime novel, but it’s also frequently hilarious, as well as a wonderful commentary on Hollywood. (A great movie, too.)

This is probably the most frightening novel Stephen King has ever written. When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son and now an idyllic home. As a family, they've got it all...right down to the friendly cat. But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth, more terrifying than death itself, and hideously more powerful.The Creeds are going to learn that sometimes dead is better.

This is early Ken Follett, when he was turning out shorter, leaner thrillers. This one is a pure page-turner.

One of the greatest crime novels ever written, and yet, in the first paragraph, Ruth Rendell tells you who the victims will be, who did it, and why. And you can’t not read on. I can think of no one else who has ever pulled this off.

This is the follow-up to Don Winslow’s earlier novel about the Mexican drug cartels, THE POWER OF THE DOG. If Tolkien had decided to write a novel about the drug wars, it would have been this.

All of Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels are great police procedurals, but this novel ups the ante in a flatout nonstop thriller where the stakes for Bosch are intensely personal.

Well, it really wasn’t Franklin W. Dixon. I have no idea who actually wrote this installment of the Hardy Boys. But it was one of the first in the series I ever read as a kid, and it helped hook me on mysteries.

When novelist Paul Sheldon is in a terrible car crash on a wintry night, he is rescued by nurse Annie Wilkes, who just happens to be his biggest fan. But when his latest novel isn't to Wilkes's liking, Sheldon becomes prisoner to her violent temper. The novel is gripping and nightmarish and the 1990 film features Kathy Bates at her creepy, demented best.

To understand the machinations of serial killer "Buffalo Bill," FBI trainee Clarice Starling is assigned the task of interviewing criminally insane Dr. Hannibal Lecter for insight. A former psychiatrist with unusual tastes and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind, Dr. Lecter is formidable twisted mind that Clarice must decode to solve to the case.

I love books that bend genre. DEFENDING JACOB’s legal heft and realism reflect William Landay’s expertise as a former prosecutor, but the novel tells a lawyer’s story from an intensely personal perspective. It’s as much about family, loyalty, and community as it is about the American legal system. It’s also a darn good thriller.

Agatha Christie might be the most famous mystery writer in the world, with a massive fan base and lasting legacy. Her family has given author Sophie Hannah full support to release a new story of Christie's famous character, Poirot. AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, Christie’s most popular work, is a now classic mystery and the perfect introduction to the author’s books.

Earlier Hannibal Lecter, and nearly as terrifying as the aforementioned SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Lecter may be crime fiction’s most notorious villain after Professor Moriarty.

Speaking of Moriarty, no list would be complete without this story where he goes up against Sherlock Holmes.

In the novel that introduced James Bond to the world, Ian Fleming’s agent 007 is dispatched to a French casino in Royale-les-Eaux. His mission? Bankrupt a ruthless Russian agent who’s been on a bad luck streak at the baccarat table.

On Elizabeth’s wish list

As days grew shorter and nights colder I (naturally) began listening to more podcasts and watching documentaries about a cheery subject: serial killers. I’m excited to curl up with THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY because of Erik Larson’s fantastic eye for character, storytelling, and impeccable research in his true-crime investigation into the serial killer who haunted the 1893 World’s Fair. Cocoa and killers go well together, right?

The Jack Reacher novels have placed Lee Child on the throne that was once occupied by Ian Fleming. They’re all great fun, but this one is a, well, personal favorite.