NYT's 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century

A missing persons mystery, a serial killer thriller, and an epic love story - with a unique twist on each... Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of local teenager Joseph 'Patch' Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who is broken by her best friend's disappearance. Soon, she will eat, sleep, breathe, only...

Soon to be a major television series starring Joel Edgerton. The thriller of the year from Blake Crouch, author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy. "Brilliant. A book to remember. I think Blake Crouch just invented something new" - Lee Child Are you happy in your life? Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks...

I love him so totally, completely, sometimes it threatens to overwhelm me. Sometimes I think . . . No. I won't write about that. Alicia Berenson seems to have it all—a successful career as a painter, a loving husband in Gabriel, and a beautiful life in London. But one evening, Alicia's seemingly perfect world shatters when she is found standing...

Shortlisted for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award The finest new crime series this Millennium - Mail on Sunday Slow Horses is set in Slough House, a dumping ground for members of the intelligence service who've messed up: perhaps left a service file on a train, blown a surveillance, or become drunkenly unreliable. They are the service's poor relations...

Adapted by the Coen Brothers into an Academy Award-winning film, No Country for Old Men is a dark and suspenseful novel from Cormac McCarthy, author of The Road. Llewelyn Moss, hunting antelope near the Rio Grande, stumbles upon a transaction gone horribly wrong. Finding bullet-ridden bodies, several kilos of heroin, and a caseload of cash, he faces a choice -...

Prepare to be hooked—nail-biting suspense from the addictive number one ten-million-copy bestselling author. Celebrating her 45th birthday at her local pub, podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie is also celebrating her 45th birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins. A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time...

Editor Susan Ryeland receives a tattered manuscript from Alan Conway, one of the country's most esteemed crime writers, and she has little idea that this will drastically alter her life forever. Over the years, Susan has developed a strong familiarity with Conway's work, particularly his famous detective, Atticus Pünd, celebrated for solving crimes in the deceptively quiet English villages of...

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes is an electrifying thriller that weaves together an intricate tapestry of suspense, masterfully blending elements of espionage and crime fiction. At its core, the novel follows Pilgrim, the codename for a man who doesn't officially exist. Once an illustrious intelligence agent, Pilgrim is now living in obscurity. However, when a heinous crime with global...

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2016 It is April 1975, and Saigon is in chaos. At his villa, a general of the South Vietnamese army is drinking whiskey and, with the help of his trusted captain, drawing up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. The general and...

When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defence and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go...

A major event: a new novel by the Whitbread winner, her first novel since Emotionally Weird, and probably her most commercial book yet. "Investigating other people's tragedies and cock-ups and misfortunes was all he knew. He was used to being a voyeur, the outsider looking in, and nothing, but nothing, that anyone did surprised him any more. Yet despite everything...

If she is a monster, then what am I? The haunting Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller. 'I think she pushed him,' I said to you quietly. 'I think she pushed him . . .' The arrival of baby Violet was meant to be the happiest day of my life. But as soon as I held her in my arms, I...

From an award-winning author, Fingersmith is an extraordinary, ingenious tale of fraud, insanity and secrets. London 1862. Sue Trinder, orphaned at birth, grows up among petty thieves—fingersmiths—under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her 'family'. But from the moment Sue draws breath, her fate is linked to that of another orphan growing up in a gloomy mansion...

The Da Vinci Code, written by acclaimed author Dan Brown, is a captivating thriller that has enthralled millions of readers around the globe. This pulse-pounding novel masterfully intertwines the art, history, and cryptography into an unforgettable quest for a hidden truth. When Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is summoned to the Louvre Museum in Paris by a late-night phone...

THE ADDICTIVE No.1 BESTSELLER AND INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON OVER 20 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE THE BOOK THAT DEFINES PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER Who are you? What have we done to each other? These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that...

Meet Lisbeth Salander - the iconic character who has captivated 100 million readers worldwide. As vivid as bloodstains on snow . . . a perfect introduction to the unique strengths of Scandinavian crime fiction - LEE CHILD Lisbeth Salander gets under the skin of her targets like no-one else. Those who underestimate her live to regret it. If they're lucky...

*** NOW A MAJOR NETFLIX SERIES *** 'Thriller of the Year' Daily Mail 'Hypnotic and scary' Stephen King'Examines the fine line between seduction and stalking . . . Ludicrously readable' Guardian When aspiring writer Guinevere Beck strides into the bookstore where Joe works, he is instantly smitten. But there's more to Joe than Beck realises and much more to Beck than her perfect facade. And...

Superb crime writing from a master - Stephen Loosley, The Australian In The Lincoln Lawyer, Michael Connelly introduces us to Mickey Haller, a defence attorney who operates from the back of his Lincoln Town Car, travelling between courthouses in Los Angeles. Haller is known for defending a broad spectrum of clients, some of whom are just scraping by while others...

The film tie-in edition of the electrifying NEW YORK TIMES bestseller There are threads in our lives. You pull one, and everything else gets affected. When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up their street. One boy got in the car, two did not, and something terrible happened—something...

The no. 1 New York Times bestseller from the author of The Husband's Secret Soon to be an HBO television series starring Reese Witherspoon & Nicole Kidman "Irresistible ...Moriarty's sly humor and razor-sharp insights will keep you turning the pages to find out." – People Magazine The internationally bestselling author turns her unique gaze on the dangerous little lies we...

The Girl on the Train, the runaway global bestseller, reveals a gripping, enthralling narrative that is both a top-notch thriller and a compulsive read. "You don't know her. But she knows you." 'Gripping, enthralling - a top-notch thriller and a compulsive read.' - SJ Watson, bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep Rachel catches the same commuter train every...

The Constant Gardener by John le Carré is a masterfully crafted tale of love, loss, and the quest for justice, set against a backdrop of political intrigue and corporate corruption. This gripping narrative begins with the brutal murder of Tessa Quayle, a passionate and determined humanitarian, on the remote shores of Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya. The enigmatic circumstances surrounding...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER and ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’ NOTABLE BOOKS OF THE YEAR A NEW YORK TIMES "BEST THRILLER" and "BEST CRIME NOVEL" OF THE YEAR PEOPLE MAGAZINE’S #1 BOOK OF THE YEAR “Extraordinary . . . Reminds me of Donna Tartt’s 1992 debut, The Secret History. . . I was so thoroughly submerged in a...

Christine wakes in a strange bed beside a man she does not recognise. In the bathroom, she finds a photograph of him taped to the mirror, and beneath it the words Your husband. Each day, Christine wakes knowing nothing of her life. Each night, her mind erases the day. But before she goes to sleep, she will recover fragments from...

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF PICADOR BOOKS Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing. It's Jack's birthday, and he's excited about turning five. Jack lives with his Ma in Room, which has a locked door and a skylight, and measures 11 feet by 11 feet. He loves watching TV, and the cartoon characters he calls friends, but he...

A young New Yorker grieving his mother's death is pulled into a gritty underworld of art and wealth in this "extraordinary" and beloved novel that "connects with the heart as well as the mind" (Stephen King, New York Times Book Review), named a New York Times Best Book of the 21st Century. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives...

NOW AN HBO® LIMITED SERIES STARRING AMY ADAMS, NOMINATED FOR EIGHT EMMY AWARDS, INCLUDING OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF GONE GIRL Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For...

Notes on an Execution is a national bestseller and winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel. It was named the New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. Defiantly populated with living women . . . beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity . . . Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling. --Katie Kitamura, New...

The bestselling debut, with over a million copies sold, that launched Tana French, author of the forthcoming novel The Hunter and “the most important crime novelist to emerge in the past 10 years” (The Washington Post). “Required reading for anyone who appreciates tough, unflinching intelligence and ingenious plotting.” —The New York Times As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in...

Daniel Woodrell's modern classic is an unforgettable tale of desperation and courage that inspired the award-winning film starring Jennifer Lawrence. Winter's Bone follows Ree Dolly, whose father has skipped bail on charges of running a crystal meth lab. The Dollys will lose their house if he doesn't show up for his next court date. With two young brothers depending on...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of Barack Obama's Recommended Reads for Summer - New York Times Notable Book - NPR's Best Books of 2021 - Washington Post's Best Thriller and Mystery Books of the Year - TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2021 - New York Public Library's Best Books of the Year - Goodreads Choice Award Nominee -...

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - USA Today Bestseller - Washington Post's The Twelve Best Thrillers of the Year - TIME's 100 Must Read Books of the Year - Goodreads Choice Award Nominee - USA Today's Best Reviewed Books of the Year - BookPage's Best Mystery of the Year - Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year - New York...

The Dry is a breathless page-turner where the question is: who really killed the Hadler family? As the New York Times describes it, "A secret on every page." David Baldacci praises it as "one of the most stunning debuts I've ever read... Read it!" It hasn't rained in Kiewarra for two years, and tensions in the farming community become unbearable...

Winner - Best Novel, ITW Thriller Award Authors on the Air Network - Thriller of the Year Finalist - Anthony Award for Best Novel Finalist - Macavity Award for Best Novel * Jar of Hearts grabs you by the throat! The perfect blend of riveting characters, chilling details, and gasping twists in this standout thriller will keep you frantically reading...

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke is a masterful thriller that transcends the genre. Ranger Darren Mathews is a tough, honour-bound character, profoundly alive in a corrupt world. 'I loved everything about this book,' remarks Ann Patchett. In East Texas, law and order follow their own rules—a reality well-known to Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger navigating the backwoods towns of...

WHAT IF you could go back in time and change the course of history? WHAT IF the watershed moment you could change was the JFK assassination? 11.22.63, the date that Kennedy was shot – unless . . . King takes his protagonist Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, 2011, on a fascinating journey back to...

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a mesmerising and atmospheric novel that plunges readers into a heady blend of mystery, horror, and Gothic romance, set against the lush backdrop of 1950s Mexico. After receiving a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, glamorous socialite Noemi Taboada sets off for High Place,...

Still traumatised by her brush with a psychopath, Detective Cassie Maddox transfers out of the Murder Squad and starts a relationship with fellow detective Sam O'Neill. When he calls her to the scene of his new case, she is shocked to find that the murdered girl is her double. What's more, her ID shows she is Lexie Madison - the...

Andy Barber's job is to put killers behind bars. And when a boy from his son Jacob's school is found stabbed to death, Andy is doubly determined to find and prosecute the perpetrator. Until a crucial piece of evidence turns up linking Jacob to the murder. And suddenly Andy and his wife find their son accused of being a cold-blooded...

In Broken Harbour, a ghost estate outside Dublin—half-built, half-inhabited, half-abandoned—two children and their father are dead. The mother is on her way to intensive care. Scorcher Kennedy is given the case because he is the Murder squad's star detective. At first, he and his rookie partner, Richie, think this is a simple one: Pat Spain was a casualty of the...

GUARDIAN BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2020 LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER 2020 Blacktop Wasteland may be the book of the year.' - Michael Connelly 'Sensationally good' - Lee Child 'I loved Blacktop Wasteland' - Stephen King 'Stunning. Can't remember the last time I read such a powerful crime novel' - Mark Billingham "Bug" Montage: honest mechanic, loving family man....

A shocking thriller from the No.1 bestselling author and Netflix creator of Fool Me Once... 'Master of the multiple twist' THE TIMES 'The modern master of the hook-and-twist, luring you in on the first page, only to shock you on the last' DAN BROWN 'Intelligent and gripping, this is a real white-knuckle read of a thriller' DAILY MAIL 'Cements his...

One of the most compulsive psychological mysteries since Donna Tartt's The Secret History . . . impossible to put down — The Times One night changes everything for Toby. He's always led a charmed life — until a brutal attack leaves him damaged and traumatised, unsure even of the person he used to be. He seeks refuge at his family's...

Two families. One desperate to remember, the other to forget. Will the truth burn them both? Masterful. - Ruth Ware A smart, sensitive page-turner. - Daily Mail Grace Park and Shawn Mathews share a city, but seemingly little else. Coming from different generations and very different communities, their paths wouldn't normally cross at all. As Grace battles confusion over her...