8 Race-Against-the-Clock Thrillers

Written in 1982 and set in 2025, THE RUNNING MAN was originally published under King’s pseudonym, Richard Bachman. In 2025, reality TV rules the screens . . . wait, that might sound a little too similar to our actual reality. Don’t worry though, we don’t have TV shows like this. At least not yet. Ben is out of work again, getting poorer by the day and no one seems to care. His daughter is sick and neither he nor his wife have enough money to help her get better. Ben is desperate and willing to do anything to save his family, even if it means sacrificing himself. So, he does the only thing he can think of and signs up as a contestant for a prime-time network game show. As a contestant on The Running Man, he’ll be hunted for entertainment, but every hour that he manages to stay alive he earns more money. This is a true race-against-the-clock thriller told with a countdown structure as Ben fights for his life, and his daughter.

A fast-paced thriller that takes place entirely on a high-speed train? If you want to race-against-the-clock, then you’ll need to start sprinting with BULLET TRAIN. Five hit men, one train. What could go wrong? Everything. Nanao knows simple jobs are never as easy as his handler makes them sound, he also knows that he’s just extremely unlucky. All he has to do is board a bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka, pick up a briefcase, and get off at the next stop. Tangerine and Lemon are a dangerous pair on their way back from their latest assignment, but they aren’t in the clear yet. ‘The Prince’ may look young and angelic but he’s a psychopath through and through now being hunted by a formal criminal who wants revenge for an egregious act that left a young boy comatose. Isaka has created an incredible cast of characters with high stakes as they all become entangled together. Dark, clever, and exciting, BULLET TRAIN is a unique and complex Japanese thriller.

I am always excited for the latest Ruth Ware novel, and in this one, she brings us into a whole new action-packed world! ZERO DAYS differs from her previous books with an exciting on-the-run/fugitive premise that will keep your heart pumping. Jack and her husband, Gabe, are cyber security penetration specialists, meaning they legally get hired to break into companies and hack into computer systems to ensure their security is top of the line. But then a simple job goes horribly wrong. Jack finds herself detained and unable to contact her husband until the company can vouch for her. When she is finally released, she returns home to find her husband brutally murdered. Things go from bad to worse when Jack becomes their main suspect with only her prints all over the murder weapon. In shock and determined to find the real killer, Jack runs. Now a fugitive, she has limited time and resources in clearing her name and catching the real killer before the police catch up with her. If you love action and tech thrillers then you don’t want to miss out on ZERO DAYS.

Sullivan’s sophomore novel is a complex force! This expansive adrenaline-pumping political thriller will grab you from page one and sweep you away. There is a branch of the CIA that operates deep in the shadows as assassins and saboteurs, plucking their agents from the top of the top from special mission units. They’ll deny such a branch exists but when all else fails, they’re called to the table. After a disastrous mission, Brian Rhome thought he was done with Ground Branch. Now he’s trying to quietly disappear on the ski slopes of Montana. But with a new political crisis reaching its boiling point, Brian is offered the job. Now is his chance for redemption while fighting through his past traumas to save American democracy. Full of action and conspiracy theories, Sullivan keeps you hooked from start to finish.

This book is heavy, dark, disturbing, and deeply powerful. McDaniel has crafted a beautiful, heartbreaking literary thriller as women start disappearing and then turning up dead in Chillicothe, Ohio. Inspired by the real murders of the Chillicothe Six, ON THE SAVAGE SIDE follows twins Arc and Daffy through their tragic lives and the new fear that one of them may be the next victim. Born to addicts, Arc and Daffy form an inseparable bond as children, escaping into their grandmother’s stories until they find themselves on the same path as their mother and aunt into drugs and prostitution. Arc is already struggling with the demons from her past as their friends begin to disappear and then the first body is found in the river. Told in two storylines from the girls' childhood and as present-day adults, will Arc be able to keep her promise and save herself and her sister before the killer comes for them? This is truly a brutal emotional rollercoaster that gives a voice to missing women.

This is intense in all the best ways! Time and air are running out and you yourself might even feel a little breathless as your turn each page. Just minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 plunged into the Pacific Ocean. Things go from bad to worse when the engine explodes during evacuation forcing 12 passengers to close the doors to stop the flooding. But it’s too late and the plane sinks two hundred feet down. The only chance of survival rests in the hands of an elite rescue team of professional divers led by Chris Kent who quickly learns that her 11-year-old daughter and soon-to-be ex-husband are among those trapped inside. Will and Chris must work together if they are going to save their daughter and everyone else on board before they run out of air or the plane tips over the edge of an undersea cliff. Tense and filled with unforgettable characters desperate for survival, DROWNING will get your blood pumping and heart pounding from start to finish.

If you’re looking for an intense spy thriller, then you’ll definitely need to check out Brad Thor. While vacationing on the ski slopes in Utah, thirty secret services members are brutally killed and the president has been kidnapped. The evidence points to Fatah, a terrorist organization, but one of the surviving agents, Scot Harvath, is not convinced. Fearing that Harvath might be getting closer to the truth, a secret coalition of high-powered politicians and businessmen try to eliminate him. Now framed for murder and running for his life, Harvath is still determined to save the president and expose the true bad guys. To do that, he’ll need to brave mountains, freezing temperatures, and contract killers before it’s too late. Thor creates intense action scenes and constantly raises the stakes for Harvath.

I love canoeing and white-water rafting, but the trip that Peter Heller has envisioned is not for the faint of heart or the casual paddler. Despite their different personalities, Wynn and Jack became fast friends in college through their shared love of the outdoors, fishing, and western novels. Together they plan a leisurely canoe trip down the northern Canadian Maskwa River perfect for Wynn’s love of water and Jack’s love of campfire cooking and sleeping under the stars. But news of a wildfire spreading through the forests turns their meandering journey into a dangerous sprint. When they hear a couple arguing on the riverbank, they take a brief moment to try to warn them about the fire but are unable to locate them. So, when they see another man on the river paddling alone the next day, they can’t help but wonder if he was the one they heard and if so, what happened to the woman? As the fire surges toward them, their true temperaments shine through and the decision to leave certain gear behind could cost them dearly in this harrowing survival mystery thriller. There is so much packed into this novel and Heller just keeps stacking the suspense as the fire rages closer and closer for Jack and Wynn.