thrillers

  • Books About Books: Mystery/Thrillers

    Books About Books: Mystery/Thrillers

    I love reading books about books. Even better? When they are unputdownable mysteries or thrillers! Here are some of my favorites:   The Writing Retreat – When Alex is given the opportunity to participate in a month-long writing retreat hosted by the famous horror writer Roza Vallo, she accepts the offer despite the fact that… Continue reading

  • Icy Isolation

    Ok, I know Spring is sprung and we’re all ready for flowers, more daylight, and sunnier days, but I’m taking one last look back at winter with this trio of recent suspense novels that find characters trapped in remote, snowy mountain lodges in the Alps. One by One by Ruth WareThe eight shareholding employees of… Continue reading

  • Read Something: Gripping

    Read Something: Gripping

    “If it’s not gripping you, you’re reading the wrong book.”   – Nick Hornby This week we Read Something gripping. What makes a book gripping is in the eye of the beholder. Some readers are gripped by a fast-paced covert-ops thriller with a high body count; others would use gripping to describe a well-realized, vivid work… Continue reading

  • Chill Out With These Election Thrillers

    Chill Out With These Election Thrillers

    Is it over yet? It may seem counterintuitive amid election suspense to dip into a white-knuckle political thriller, but for many of us a great thriller is just the catharsis we need. From our list of literary elections, here are some riveting reads. Black Swan Rising, by Lisa Brackmann.Investigating the background of the man who… Continue reading

  • Girl, someone is out to get you

    “Woman in peril” is a plot device as old as time, and one that enjoys continued popularity. In this reader’s opinion, when it’s done well you get a great female character with agency to make her own decisions, fighting to save herself. Here are three suggestions for recent thrillers that follow women as they puzzle… Continue reading

  • The Year’s Best Crime Writing: The 2019 Edgar Awards

    The Year’s Best Crime Writing: The 2019 Edgar Awards

    Pulitzers, Bookers, Nobels – bah! For crime fiction fans it’s all about the Edgars. Last night the winners in several categories of crime and thriller books were announced at the Mystery Writers of America’s annual Edgar Awards ceremony: here’s a full list of these titles in our catalog, including non-fiction, books for children and teens,… Continue reading

  • Snowbound! Winter Chills and Thrills

    Desperate messages came flooding in, through the silent darkness of the winter nights. “Help! Snowed in at home! I need something to read!” So, adding to our recent list of Wintry reads, here are some gripping novels that revolve around winter storms. The Quality of Silence, by Rosamund Lupton. An astrophysicist and her precocious hearing-disabled daughter… Continue reading

  • Women Spy Writers!

    Ian Fleming’s James Bond; John Le Carre’s George Smiley; Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne: the espionage shelves are packed with male spies by male writers. Which makes the following gripping titles and series penned by women a welcome change of pace. Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht. A different sort of spy story full of… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2018 : A Mystery or Thriller

    #BookBingoNW2018 : A Mystery or Thriller

    If you’re already a mystery or thriller fan, you don’t need our help — this square is a freebie! But what if you don’t usually read crime novels? Not to worry — we have you covered: just find the kind of books you like below, and get reading! Classics: The Shooting Party, by Anton Chekhov.… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Slow Burn Thrillers

    Slow burn thrillers aren’t for everyone. They require patience, and some viewers find them boring. They don’t always provide answers, leaving viewers to infer what’s really going on. They’re often tense, dark and brooding. For me, it’s the character development and moral ambiguity that makes these worth the investment. Continue reading

  • Thrillers for every taste, part 2.

    In last week’s post featuring ninety diverse suspense writers, I made the point that there are many different kinds of thrillers out there. Here are eighty more of today’s best and most thrilling writers grouped for various tastes, and still we’ve only scratched the surface: Sophie Hannah writes contemporary British crime stories suffused with taut psychological suspense and a haunting mood. Also try:… Continue reading

  • Thrillers for every taste, part 1

    A thriller’s a thriller, right? Wrong! Very different things set each reader’s pulse racing. Here are some of our favorite writers in a wide array of suspenseful fiction, with suggestions for further reading; tune in next week for part 2. Jeff Abbott writes relentless, high octane intrigue with action on every page. Also try: Robert Ludlum, James Patterson, Thomas… Continue reading

  • Crime: The Man Who Was Thursday, by G.K. Chesterton

    Last week I talked about E.C. Bentley’s singular mystery Trent’s Last Case, which was dedicated to his old friend G.K. Chesterton; now that I’ve reached the C’s in my alphabet of crime, it seems only fitting to revisit Chesterton’s singular thriller, The Man Who Was Thursday, itself dedicated to Bentley. Although mystery fans will best… Continue reading