A good thriller
novel should be like a rollercoaster, but one that has filled in tracks so that
on every ascent you're not sure if you're about to plunge again or for how far.
The anticipation and excitement are in the not knowing, in trying to guess, in
picking up on the clues and then being shocked silly by just knowing how wrong
you were.
There have been
many great thrillers from Sherlock Holmes to the Hornet's Nest and each has a
distinct and different approach. What they have in common though, well at least
those that we would include in a list of the best suspense thriller books of
all time, is that they are remembered. So here is our pick of some of the best
of all time.
The Hound Of The Baskervilles
The line between
crime and thriller is a thin one and whilst it's up for debate; many believe
that the Sherlock Holmes series practically set the rules for any thriller
novel that followed. The Hound Of The Baskervilles is universally accepted as
the best book in the series and for good reason. The pacing, twists, reveal,
characters, and setting are all perfect. It has a cloying, claustrophobic feel
and as the story unfolds you are dragged deeper and deeper into the intrigue.
For those that have never actually read Arthur Conan Doyles masterpieces, this
is a great place to start.
Catching A Miracle
A good thriller
should first and foremost be believable, there should be no real effort on the
reader's behalf to suspend disbelief and it should exist in the shadows of the
world we already inhabit. Mark Spinicelli has perfectly woven his tale into the
fabric of conspiracy and the sinister organizations trying to limit and keep
the everyman down. The titular character shows great spirit and ingenuity as
she rallies against this on her quest to cure cancer and the reader is in her
corner every step of the way. Full of interesting developments and hurdles to
overcome you are taken on an uplifting if at times terrifying journey alongside
her. Read more.
Gone Girl
There's a reason
this book topped every bestseller list for as long as it did and that is quite
simply that it's completely unpredictable, expertly written, and ultimately,
completely believable. Gillian Flynn is a master of creating flawed and full
characters, they are all the more relatable because they are not perfect or
extraordinary, they are broken and beautiful. It's almost impossible to talk
about the book in any depth without potentially given one of the thousands
twisted twists away but rest assured that if any novel ever truly deserved the
page-turner description, this one did, it's near impossible to put down.
Memory Man
Perhaps David
Baldacci isn't quite aiming for the believability that some of the other authors
on this list were but the first entry in the Amos Decker series is a perfect
thriller nevertheless. Decker was a former football player who took a head
injury in his first game, he quit professional football and became a cop but
his injury caused some strange phenomenon such as synesthesia and
hyperthymesia. After his family was brutally murdered and the case remained
unsolved he became a transient understandably demon-plagued private
investigator. It's hyper-realism but glorious to read and with every ounce as
much thrill and intrigue as every other book on this list.
