Get ready for an onslaught of modern thrillers to stack among the classics on your shelf. A combination of suspenseful mysteries to downright blood-curdling horror, you do not want to miss the latest in this genre. Whether you are a longtime thriller lover or just looking for something modern, here are 12 new reads just for you!
12 Modern Classics of the Thriller Genre
This book is all about Holly Gibney. First introduced in MR. MERCEDES as a walk-on character, she quickly stole the hearts of fans and Mr. King alike. So now, she’s getting her own story, searching for the truth behind the disappearance of Bonnie Dahl. Holly can’t sit still, even though her partner has Covid and her mother just died. So when Penny Dahl calls and asks for help locating her missing daughter, Holly almost says no. But there is something in Penny’s voice that she can’t ignore, and soon Holly finds herself up against a truly dangerous couple all on her own. Two professors, Rodney and Emily Harris, live just down the road from where Bonnie disappeared. They seem to be a picture-perfect couple devoted to each other and their academics. However, there is an evil secret in their basement that may or may not have something to do with Bonnie and it will take all of Holly’s smarts and courage to reveal the truth. HOLLY is a wonderful new thriller with an exceptional character that will become a new favorite for any thriller fan!
Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King’s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.
“Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.” —BILL HODGES
Stephen King’s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly’s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges’s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King’s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.
When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.
Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.
Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.
“I could never let Holly Gibney go. She was supposed to be a walk-on character in Mr. Mercedes and she just kind of stole the book and stole my heart. Holly is all her.” —STEPHEN KING
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Trent Saban doesn’t really have an affinity for fixing things around the house. But when he moves into an unfinished development with his wife and son, he finds that their supposedly brand-new house is rife with problems. Then the most concerning problem occurs, a giant crack in the main suite bedroom’s walk-in closet. Isolated in the underdeveloped community, Trent becomes obsessed with fixing the crack. He does what anyone would do, find a YouTube video and learn how to do it himself. And thus Trent finds a savior in Handyman Hank who has a solution for every problem. But Hank’s videos aren’t just about home improvement, under the guise of DIY he’s touting a much darker rhetoric that Trent soaks up like a sponge as he carries out some truly horrifying remodels. Part thriller, part dark comedy, and part haunted house story, Cutter and Sullivan have created something truly unique and at times downright disturbing as they tackle toxic masculinity and terror in one fell swoop. THE HANDYMAN METHOD is not for the faint of heart, but it is a memorable read if you’re looking for a scarier modern thriller.
A chilling domestic story of terror for fans of Black Mirror and The Amityville Horror.
When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep.
First of all, just look at this brilliant and gorgeous cover! If this doesn’t immediately scream modern classic thriller, then I don’t know what does. Inspired by the infamous Ted Bundy, BRIGHT YOUNG WOMEN is a riveting historical thriller that delves into the power of women and the victims he killed instead of the murderer himself. In 1978, the young women in the FSU sorority scene were unconcerned by headlines of a serial killer in Seattle, ready for a night of partying and thrills. Sorority president, Pamela Schumacher, however, does the unthinkable. She decides to stay home. A decision that ultimately saves her life when she is awoken at 3 a.m. to find two of her sisters gruesomely murdered and two others in critical condition. Back in Seattle, Tina Cannon is trying to start over in life when she meets Ruth, a young woman with her own painful past. Together they form an incredible bond until Ruth disappears from a state park in the middle of the day. As Pamela and Tina both search for answers, they find themselves together on a hunt for the same killer. I’ll admit a fascination with serial killers, but Jessica Knoll has given a voice to forgotten women to tell a deeper and more complex story.
From the megabestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive comes another shocking thriller inspired by the real-life sorority and target of America’s first celebrity serial killer.
January 15, 1978, is a night of promise, excitement, and desire. A serial killer’s murderous spree in the Pacific Northwest couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee.
That night, Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds outside her bedroom door is a scene of implausible violence—two of her sisters dead; two others, maimed.
On the other side of the country, in Seattle, Tina Cannon has found peace after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year-old Ruth Wachowsky into her life and they forge an instant connection. But then Ruth goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, the same day as another young woman, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers. Both vanish without a trace. Tina is convinced Ruth was a target of the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer.
When she learns of the massacre in Tallahassee, Tina is convinced it’s him again. She rushes to Florida, on a collision course with Pamela—and one last impending tragedy.
Bright Young Women tells the story of two women from opposite sides of the country who forge a sisterhood in grief and in the fervent pursuit of justice. Toggling between those terrifying days in 1978 and a letter that brings them together in the present, this is a novel that flips the script on the oft-perpetuated glorification of a sadistic but ultimately average man and instead turns the spotlight on the exceptional women he targeted.
Katrine Engberg is an incredible Nordic noir, Scandinavian mystery writer who will leave you terrified and enthralled. Gritty and atmospheric, THE TENANT is set in Copenhagen with a great dynamic between the two leading detectives. When a young woman, Julie, is found murdered in her apartment with an intricate design carved into her face, Detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner are called to the scene. As they investigate the other residents in the building, they meet the victim's eccentric landlady, Esther. Soon it is revealed that Esther is writing a novel, a murder mystery to be exact, with a horrific scene that mimics Julie’s murder. But too much doesn’t add up. Is Esther the killer, bringing her terrifying novel to life, or is she just another pawn in a greater gruesome game? Who is really pulling the strings in this creepy literary thriller?
An Indie Next Pick
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A People Book Pick
A New York Post Best Book of the Week
A Parade Most Anticipated Books of Early 2020
A Bustle Most Anticipated Books of January 2020
A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Crime Books of 2020
A She Reads Most Anticipated Thrillers of 2020
An electrifying work of literary suspense from internationally bestselling author Katrine Engberg, The Tenant—heralded as a “stunning debut” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs—follows two Copenhagen police detectives struggling to solve a shocking murder and stop a killer hell-bent on revenge.
When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist—and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.
But Esther’s role in this twisted scenario is not quite as clear as it first seems. Is she the culprit or just another victim, trapped in a twisted game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women’s pasts to discover the identity of the brutal puppet-master pulling the strings.
Evocative and original, The Tenant promises “dark family secrets—and a smorgasbord of surprises” (People).
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Dark, absolutely witty, and unique—this thriller is surely an instant classic that stays on your mind! I know I haven’t stopped thinking about the classes at McMasters. What if you really could rid the world of someone beyond horrible? And what if there was a place that would teach you to do it successfully? Would you? This is not the type of school one must apply to in the traditional sense, but if you can prove you have an ethical reason for “deleting” someone who truly deserves a death sentence, well then, you might find yourself studying at an undisclosed location. Set in the 50s, MURDER YOUR EMPLOYER follows three different students through their time at the conservatory and back out into the real world as they attempt to complete their graduation thesis and get away with murder.
From the diabolical imagination of Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a devilish thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, a luxurious, clandestine college dedicated to the fine art of murder where earnest students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim.
Who hasn’t wondered for a split second what the world would be like if a person who is the object of your affliction ceased to exist? But then you’ve probably never heard of The McMasters Conservatory, dedicated to the consummate execution of the homicidal arts. To gain admission, a student must have an ethical reason for erasing someone who deeply deserves a fate no worse (nor better) than death. The campus of this “Poison Ivy League” college—its location unknown to even those who study there—is where you might find yourself the practice target of a classmate…and where one’s mandatory graduation thesis is getting away with the perfect murder of someone whose death will make the world a much better place to live.
Prepare for an education you’ll never forget. A delightful mix of witty wordplay, breathtaking twists and genuine intrigue, Murder Your Employer will gain you admission into a wholly original world, cocooned within the most entertaining book about well-intentioned would-be murderers you’ll ever read.
Rupert Holmes’s much celebrated career ranges from chart-topping story songs with surprising twists—“Escape (The Pina Colada Song)”—to Tony Award–winning whodunit musicals—The Mystery of Edwin Drood—Edgar Award–winning comedy-thrillers—Accomplice—and the Nero Wolfe Best American Mystery Novel nominated Where the Truth Lies, made into an Atom Egoyan motion picture starring Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon. Called “an American treasure” (Los Angeles Times), “a true Renaissance man” by Newsweek, “a comic genius” (Kirkus Reviews) and simply “a genius” (The Times, London), Rupert Holmes brings his wickedly clever storytelling talents to this outrageous and darkly comic mystery set in a secret, idyllic campus where students learn how to “do in others as you would have others do you in.”
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I love incredible horror/thriller combos and Erin E. Adams’s debut JACKAL does not disappoint. Adams explores a very horrible and true reality for many Black women and channels that into a heart-stopping novel. Liz Rocher is not excited to be returning to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, even though it’s for her best friend's wedding. As a Black woman growing up in a predominantly white town, she does not have fond memories of her childhood there. And then the unthinkable happens, her friend’s daughter, Caroline, disappears during the reception and the only sign they can find of her is a piece of fabric covered in blood. As the frantic search begins, Liz has the startling realization that she’s seen this before. When she was younger, Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in school, vanished in the same woods. She was found days later with her chest torn to shreds and her heart nowhere to be found. Horrified, Liz digs deeper into the town’s history and finds a string of missing children, all of them young Black girls. Whatever evil lurks in these woods, Liz will now stop at nothing until Caroline is found safe.
If you’re a frequent flier, this might not be the race against time thriller for you. But if you don’t plan on flying anytime soon, then go ahead and buckle up for a turbulent ride! Newman brings her background as a flight attendant front and center to this heart-pounding read that so many people have already “fallen” for. Anyhow—Bill Hoffman is a pilot, but he was not supposed to fly today. Despite a fight with his wife, he still finds himself boarding flight 416 to safely transport 149 passengers from LAX to JFK. Everything seems perfectly normal during takeoff, but once they reach cruising altitude, Bill receives a horrible ultimatum. Crash the plane or his family dies. What unfolds next is an intense page-turner as Bill is determined to save his passengers and his family. The head flight attendant gets a message to her nephew in the FBI, but will any of it be enough to save everyone?
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“T. J. Newman has written the perfect thriller! A must-read.” —Gillian Flynn
“Stunning and relentless. This is Jaws at 35,000 feet.” —Don Winslow
“Falling is the best kind of thriller…Nonstop, totally authentic suspense.” —James Patterson
“Amazing...Intense suspense, shocks, and scares...Chilling.” —Lee Child
You just boarded a flight to New York.
There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard.
What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped.
For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die.
The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane.
Enjoy the flight.
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Horrifying and grotesque, NINETEEN CLAWS AND A BLACK BIRD is a deeply disturbing, atmospheric, and thrilling collection of short horror stories. If you’ve read her novel, TENDER IS THE FLESH, then you’ll already be familiar with Bazterrica’s vivid writing style. This collection features mostly super short stories that depict the human experience in surprising ways. Violent and profound are great descriptions of her work. In this collection, you’ll find stories of suicide, advice for breakups, a girl who thinks her cabdriver is a serial killer, and a man whose girlfriend might be an alien. Scary and bone-chilling, it should also be noted that with the violence and suicide, there is also a lot of child abuse throughout this collection. If you are in the mood for bite-size literary horror, then this should definitely be on your list!
A collection of nineteen dark, wildly imaginative short stories from the author of the award-winning TikTok sensation Tender Is the Flesh.
From celebrated author Agustina Bazterrica, this collection of nineteen brutal, darkly funny short stories takes into our deepest fears and through our most disturbing fantasies. Through stories about violence, alienation, and dystopia, Bazterrica’s vision of the human experience emerges in complex, unexpected ways—often unsettling, sometimes thrilling, and always profound. In “Roberto,” a girl claims to have a rabbit between her legs. A woman’s neighbor jumps to his death in “A Light, Swift, and Monstrous Sound,” and in “Candy Pink,” a woman fails to contend with a difficult breakup in five easy steps.
Written in Bazterrica’s signature clever, vivid style, these stories question love, friendship, family relationships, and unspeakable desires.
I adore Megan Miranda’s mystery thrillers and this one is full of twists and surprises! Nic had to get out of the small town she grew up in ten years ago after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared and her friends, brother, and boyfriend were all investigated. She’s moved on, but everyone else stayed behind. Now her brother Daniel is expecting his first kid and needs help with their ailing father. Reluctantly, Nic returns home to learn that her ex, Tyler, is now dating her younger neighbor, Analeise, and the group’s alibi for the night Corinne vanished. And then Analeise goes missing too. Not sure who to trust, and getting cryptic and confusing snippets of information from her father, Nic is determined to find the truth about what happened to Corinne and now Analeise. Unlike most thrillers, Miranda has crafted this story backward, from the last day to the first day, adding an additional layer of mystery and suspense.
A spellbinding psychological thriller told in reverse, Megan Miranda’s first novel for adult readers is about the connected disappearances of two young women ten years apart in the same small town. Miranda has an uncanny talent for suspense. Megan Miranda’s new novel, THE PERFECT STRANGER, is just out.
Read a review of the book Megan Miranda can’t stop recommending.
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BIRNAM WOOD is a wonderful cross between decadent literary fiction and suspenseful psychological thriller. You could also label this book a survival thriller and an eco-thriller with political notes. Either way, Catton is truly captivating with her witty language and excellent cast of characters. If you want a thriller that is both a rush and makes you stop and think, then you absolutely need to add this to your TBR. Mira Bunting wants to save the world, and she’s convinced she knows exactly how to do that. Five years ago, she founded Birnam Wood with her friend Shelley, a guerrilla gardening and activist group dedicated to planting crops and gardens in forgotten and sometimes illegal places. But despite their efforts, it’s not enough! After a devastating landslide cuts off the town of Thorndike, Mira stumbles upon a seemingly abandoned farm that could be exactly what the co-op needs. But Mira isn’t the only one interested in this secluded patch of land, tech billionaire Robert Lemoine thinks it’s the perfect place to build his doomsday bunker. When he catches Mira on the property, he doesn’t have her arrested, instead, he offers her a deal that definitely sounds too good to be true.
Ruth Ware knows how to write a classic and this one is IT! Get it?! Okay, okay…but truly THE IT GIRL is a gripping thriller, and of course, it rocks out with the dark-academia vibes of a murder at Oxford. Hannah Jones was immediately enamored with April Clarke-Cliveden upon her arrival at Oxford and felt honored to be pulled into her popular circle forming lifelong friendships. That is until April was murdered before the end of their first year. But it’s okay because they caught the man who killed her and now, ten years later, Hannah is expecting her first child and moving on with her life. That is until the man convicted of killing April dies in prison and new evidence emerges that might prove he was innocent all along. Hannah is pulled right back into her first year of university as she reconnects with old friends and digs up the past finally determined to get to the truth.
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the “claustrophobic spine-tingler” (People) One by One returns with an unputdownable mystery following a woman on the search for answers a decade after her friend’s murder.
April Clarke-Cliveden was the first person Hannah Jones met at Oxford.
Vivacious, bright, occasionally vicious, and the ultimate It girl, she quickly pulled Hannah into her dazzling orbit. Together, they developed a group of devoted and inseparable friends—Will, Hugh, Ryan, and Emily—during their first term. By the end of the year, April was dead.
Now, a decade later, Hannah and Will are expecting their first child, and the man convicted of killing April, former Oxford porter John Neville, has died in prison. Relieved to have finally put the past behind her, Hannah’s world is rocked when a young journalist comes knocking and presents new evidence that Neville may have been innocent. As Hannah reconnects with old friends and delves deeper into the mystery of April’s death, she realizes that the friends she thought she knew all have something to hide…including a murder.
“The Agatha Christie of our generation” (David Baldacci, #1 New York Times bestselling author) proves once again that she is “as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime” (The Washington Post) with this propulsive murder mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Alix and Josie couldn’t be more different, except for the fact that they were born on the same day in the same hospital and happen to be celebrating their 45th birthday in the same bar. Alix is a popular podcaster, while Josie’s life has been far from perfect. When the two run into each other again, Josie offers herself up as the subject for Alix’s next podcast. While she’s initially hesitant, Alix welcomes Josie onto the show and into her home. Alix is unnerved by Josie and her past but continues with the podcast anyway until she realizes how enmeshed Josie is in her life. Just when she starts to think this may have been a mistake, Josie disappears. As Alix uncovers more about Josie’s life and her terrible secrets, she finds that she’s become the story in her true crime podcast. NONE OF THIS IS TRUE is Jewell at her best, with a riveting and fast-paced psychological thriller.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author known for her “superb pacing, twisted characters, and captivating prose” (BuzzFeed), Lisa Jewell returns with a scintillating new psychological thriller about a woman who finds herself the subject of her own popular true crime podcast.
Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.
A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.
Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.
But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.
Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?
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