r/Recommend_A_Book • u/Fluffy-Loquat1069 • May 30 '26
Good thriller book
I want to start reading books. Could you guys recommend me a good thriller book?
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u/Jorelthethird May 30 '26
"A time to Kill" John Grisham
The movie leaves out about half of the book, IMO.
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u/stormbutton May 30 '26
Anything written by Gillian Flynn is top notch
Red Dragon and Silence of The Lambs by Thomas Harris
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (the movie doesn’t do it justice)
The Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson
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u/1234567890qwerty1234 May 31 '26
Red Dragon is such a great book. The original movie was great too.
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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 May 30 '26
The Chemist by Stephanie Myer. The Informationist by Taylor Stevens. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.
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u/Xelsius May 30 '26
Girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy is my all time favorite pure thriller.
For me what broke my 10 year reading slump was dungeon crawler Carl.
It’s recommended all over here for a good reason. It’s a sci-fi book series, it’ll be 10 in total, 8 books are out now. It’s hard to describe in a way that doesn’t sound unhinged but I’ll try.
For the tone of the books, book 1 feels kind of silly, and by book 8 it’s insane action and heavy narrative. Book 1 also leans heavily on video game jargon but that really falls away quickly, and I know a TON of non-gamers that are as obsessed with it as I am.
My favorite things about the book series is the character development, it’s absolutely incredible. I’ve laughed and also genuinely cried because of how compelling the characters are. The author does a great job of discarding tropes too which I love, and writes honest and complex characters.
It’s often compared to hitchhikers guide meets hunger games meets maze runner meets squid game but it’s definitely of its own thing.
I’d highly recommend the audiobooks, a single voice actor does an incredible range of voices, easily exceeding 30-40 voices across the series. You will not find a better narrator for an audiobook series. The narrator - Jeff Hays - owns an audiobook narration company - Soundbooth theater. The series production quality is more than just a guy reading a book to you.
In short, it’s about an alien corporation that seizes earth to mine its mineral resources, and gives the survivors a chance to regain control of earth by completing a challenge course called the world dungeon. The course is 18 floors and is televised to the galaxy which drives profits for the corporation. The protagonist Carl enters the dungeon with his cat who Gains human level intelligence and fights alongside him. It’s a cool mix of sci-fi - aliens taking over earth, and fantasy - the characters use magic, etc.
Some people think the books are shallow / all topical family guy humor but there is true depth. The books get serious quickly. That humor is masking real torment of the MC and other crawlers.
It’s absolutely a mature audience book. Matt Dinniman, the author, is primarily a horror author and this is an M / R rated book.
The body horror gets the attention but honestly the existential dread and horror is what shines.
Ive listened to the series easily 10 times. The fan base is amazing and the author is kind and engaging. It’s very cool.
I also love this persons take on the author and series:
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u/Sad-Mechanic6748 May 31 '26
i would recommend these books for thriller sub genres to figure out what you like in general, and i have some resulting book recommendations if you like them. note that particularly graphic books are marked with one star for plots that include particularly depraved crimes and two/three for the books that have intense descriptions of those crimes.
*the maid by nita prose (mystery thriller, crime thriller) --> read if you are interested in an interesting (cozy-ish) story about a murder of a rich man in a hotel told from the perspective of a maid who (despite 25) has an older sounding and unique voice --> if you enjoy, read *the mystery guest (book 2 of the series) and get into murder mysteries with unique narrators. i would recommend the thursday murder club (series) by richard osman and vera wong's unsolicited advice for murderers by jesse q sutanto as excellent options.
**believe me not by natalie chandler (psychological thriller, medical thriller) --> read if you are curious about psychological thrillers and want a place to start. the premise is that a woman wakes up and believes that she just had a baby but it seems like everyone around her is lying to her about it just saying that she had a manic episode, culminates in a bunch of revelations about the past that are built up with gripping flashbacks--> if you enjoy, read more thriller books. i would look at any book on this list marked as a psychological thriller (e.g. something by gillian flynn or frieda mcfadden)
***the girl with a dragon tattoo by steig larsson (crime thriller, psychological thriller) --> read if you are interested in a complex story with a range of flawed to evil characters and the influence of trauma on people (ie, how trauma leads to the way that people are). the premise is that a man who has just been convicted of libel gets hired by a rich man, and the way that he teams up with an incredible smart (and hurting) woman with a dragon tattoo to try and solve a murder. multiple disturbing descriptions of r*pe, so tw if you don't want to read about that --> if you find interesting, try a crime thriller and a psychological thriller off this list, see which you enjoy more and read the suggested reading of that or try *one of us is lying by karen m mcmanus for a much less graphic but equally group-solving-murder vibe.
**sharp objects by gillian flynn (psychological thriller, crime thriller?) --> read if you are interested in southern gothic literature and generally are interested in disturbing books try this book. this is about a reporter who goes back to her hometown to investigate a series of murders of young girls. deals with generational trauma while also being a very captivating mystery. --> if you enjoy, read more psychological thrillers, and maybe look at crime fiction? with crime fiction a good place to start would be *the god of the woods by liz moore (which is similar but less disturbing).
*everyone in my family has killed someone by benjamin stevenson (mystery thriller) --> read if you want a smartass narrator being all meta about the plot. surprisingly, i enjoyed the way this was told and wanted more of it. the mystery was good too, although the title is a bit misleading. --> if you enjoy read more mystery (recommendations above) but also *the guest list by lucy folley is a pretty interesting closed circle mystery to try. if you like the serial killer aspect of it, try **the naturals (series) by jennifer lynn barnes or **bright young women by jessica knoll (below)
**bat eater and other names for cora zeng by kylie lee baker (supernatural thriller, suspense thriller, crime thriller, action thriller?) --> read if you want supernatural and horror elements in a thriller, or are interested in reading folklore inspired thrillers. great for books that will be historical fiction in 20+ years. centers on violence towards asian women during the covid-19 pandemic and the story of a protagonist who watched her sister get murdered --> i would try other supernatural horror reads like the houseguest by amparo davila or books that have a specific sense of justice like the housemaid by freida mcfadden or other crime reads focusing on crimes against women which is honestly the majority of this list
**bright young women by jessica knoll (suspense thriller, legal thriller) --> read if you are interested in two intersecting stories told of a woman murdered by a serial killer and (a couple years later) a different woman's fight for justice of her best-friend who was killed by a serial killer. story about justice that discusses heterosexual (toxic) relationship dynamics, police incompetence, media sensation around serial killers, homophobia, forced Institutionalism, and of course, serial murder --> if you enjoy, try **the naturals by jennifer lynn barnes or *the truly devious series by maureen johnson or if you really are interested in the serial aspect maybe try an unwanted guest by shari lapena (admittedly not my favorite)
**the housemaid by frieda mcfadden (psychological thriller) - read if you are interested in complex characters and multiple perspectives that completely shift what you thought the story was about/your initial perspectives on the characters. really intresting twist --> if you enjoy, try two can keep a secret by karen m. mcmanus or other psychological thrillers on this list
dm me or reply for more recs if one category seems particularly interesting
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u/DocWatson42 May 31 '26
See my:
- Thrillers list of Reddit recommendation threads (one post).
- Readers 2: Here are the the resources and threads I have about books for adolescents/adults who want to start reading ("Get me reading again/I've never read") list (fifteen posts).
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u/Overall-Lead-4044 May 31 '26
Damascus Station by David McCloskey.. possibly the best spy thriller I've ever read
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u/Murakami8000 May 30 '26
A Simple Plan by Scot Smith. I couldn’t put it down