Welcome to my too-long list of my Top Thrillers of the Last Decade!
Some notes regarding the compiling of this list:
1 - This is a list compiled from books I have read between 2010-2020. Obviously, not every book I read would constitute a “thriller”. I read a lot of straight horror, a lot of literary stuff, sci-fi, fantasy, poetry, non-fiction, etc. So I tried very hard to keep this list to mystery/thrillers, even if they do have horror elements.
2 - I’ve cheated a few times and combined books by one author. I don’t do this because I’m generalizing or throwing in random titles, it’s because every one of those books is in my top tier of thrillers I’ve read.
3 - I originally wanted to do a Top Ten List. But that became too difficult, so I was gonna do a Top Ten with a slew of Honorable Mentions, but that also was too difficult. So, in the end, I just listed them all.
4 - These are books, culled from the 800+ books I’ve read in the last decade, that I would 100% recommend to anyone who enjoys a great thriller / mystery. Again, a good portion of these also have horrific or supernatural elements, but many are grounded in the real world. One of the prerequisites I’ve used is there needs to be a mystery of some sort - something that needs to be solved. I may have strayed a bit, but I don’t think I went too far away. So a nice mix, I hope.
5 - You’ll note the absence of many “classic” thriller writers. Yes, I’ve read Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Jonathan Kellerman, John D. MacDonald, Robert Parker, Dashiell Hammett, Agatha Christie, James Ellroy, Elmore Leonard, James Cain and Raymond Chandler (among others). Most of these writers I read well before 2010, although some I’ve read more recently. All I can say is: I stand by my list.
6 - I reserve the right to modify! If I recall something else I’ve read that for some reason I forgot about, I may toss it on for future generations.
Hope you enjoy the list, and I hope find a book or two you weren’t aware of! Get reading!
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Little Friend - Donna Tartt
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
The Millennium Trilogy - Stieg Larsson
Speaks the Nightbird - Robert McCammon
The Shining Girls - Lauren Beukes
The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
The Thicket - Joe Lansdale
A Head Full of Ghosts / Disappearance at Devil’s Rock / The Cabin at the End of the World - Paul Tremblay
Mr. Mercedes / Finders Keepers - Stephen King (Yes, the 3rd book is omitted, for good reason)
House of Small Shadows / No One Gets Out Alive - Adam Nevill
Penpal - Dathan Auerbach
The Changeling - Victor LaValle
Naomi’s Room - Jonathan Aycliffe
Koko - Peter Straub
House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski
Stranded - Bracken MacLeod
A Drink Before the War / Darkness, Take My Hand - Dennis Lehane
The Force - Don Winslow
Red Dragon - Thomas Harris
Heaven’s Crooked Finger - Hank Early
In a Dark, Dark Wood - Ruth Ware
Heart-Shaped Box / Horns - Joe Hill
Final Girls - Riley Sager
Bone White - Ronald Malfi
Blood Standard / Black Mountain / Worse Angels - Laird Barron
Bird Box / Inspection - Josh Malerman
Ill Will - Dan Chaon
IQ - Joe Ide
The Chestnut Man - Soren Sveistrup
Eight Perfect Murders - Peter Swanson
The Whisper Man - Alex North
Last Words - Michael Koryta
Unsub - Meg Gardiner
The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
Red Sparrow - Jason Matthews
The Poet - Michael Connelly
Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones
Blacktop Wasteland - S.A. Cosby
Open Season - C.J. Box
