The 10 Greatest Thriller Books That You Haven't Read
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From spy classics like the works of John le Carré to game-changing modern masterpieces like Gone Girl, the thriller genre has delivered several of the greatest books that the world has ever seen. For every exceptional thriller novel that attains the success it deserves, though, there are at least a few others that never quite get so lucky. As such, plenty of thriller books out there are undeniably incredible yet severely underread for the most part.
It can be the work of quite a famous author, such as A. A. Milne's The Red House Mystery, or a lesser-known novel by a lesser-known author altogether, such as Jeff Strand's Pressure. Either way, these are awfully underrated and underappreciated literary thrillers which show that no matter how phenomenal a book is, it can always end up tragically falling into oblivion. Thankfully, that's remarkably easy to change, since all those who love thriller novels should consider these essential reading.
'The Trap' (2015)
Melanie Raabe's The Trap is a German mystery thriller about Linda, a reclusive bestselling author who uses her new book to try and catch the man she believes murdered her sister twelve years prior. It was Raabe's debut novel, and what a way to make a first impression. Tense, meta, and psychologically taut, it proves that there are still plenty of authors doing some really exciting thriller work in the modern day.
Indeed, The Trap is nothing if not exciting, both from a creative standpoint and as a nail-biting psychological thriller. Writers often create interesting protagonists for murder mysteries like this, but by adding agoraphobia to the mix and locking Linda in isolation for over a decade, Raabe makes it so that the protagonist's unreliable narration constantly has the reader questioning every plot point, every twist, and every reveal.
'The Red House Mystery' (1922)
Best-known for creating Winnie-the-Pooh, A. A. Milne is a pillar of children's literature and poetry, which often overshadows the rest of his novels and plays. Case in point: the brilliant whodunnit The Red House Mystery, the only mystery novel Milne ever wrote. It's a classic country house murder where one of the guests takes on the role of the amateur sleuth, but Milne's distinct writing style makes such a commonplace premise feel entirely fresh and unique.
Over a century after its publication, The Red House Mystery is still one of the best mystery books you likely haven't read. It feels less like a dark, violent procedural and instead treats murder and sleuthing with a more comedic, lighthearted tone. With a delightfully charming "Sherlock and Watson" dynamic between the two main characters and its playful approach to the genre, it allows itself to stand out as one of the most special mystery thrillers of the first half of the 20th century.
'The Decagon House Murders' (1987)
Though the English language has certainly delivered a remarkable number of the greatest mystery thriller books the world has ever seen, plenty of underappreciated classics have come from plenty of other countries—including Japan. Yukito Ayatsuji's debut novel, The Decagon House Murders, follows seven members of a university mystery fiction club who travel to a remote island to spend a week isolated from the world. Shortly after their arrival, though, the students discover signs that they have been targeted for death.
It's one of those whodunnit books that are page-turners from start to finish, a real gem that oozes love for the whodunnit and thriller genres at every turn. It borrows its basic plot structure from Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, perhaps the greatest whodunnit in history, but does all sorts of compellingly unique things with it as its basis. This brilliantly meta masterpiece helped spark the New Authentic literary movement in Japan, which makes it all the more scandalous that it isn't more widely read nowadays.
'Into the Darkest Corner' (2007)
Yet another debut novel that deserves infinitely more love than it typically gets nowadays, Elizabeth Haynes' Into the Darkest Corner is a crime psychological thriller that's both viscerally intense and powerfully emotional. It follows Catherine, a carefree woman who falls for a charismatic man named Lee who seems too good to be true. Indeed, his behavior soon turns frightening, forcing Catherine into the darkest corner of her life.
Its depiction of topics like domestic abuse, trauma, and OCD is both powerfully realistic and deeply sensitive, making for a thriller that's as thought-provoking as it is nail-bitingly tense. Haynes worked as a police intelligence analyst handling domestic violence cases prior to becoming an author, and that background comes across in the tremendous thematic and emotional potency of the book. It's definitely not a light read, but it's oh so worth it.
'The Inugami Curse' (1950)
As if any more proof were needed that Japan hides many an underread masterpiece that deserves more international love, there's also Seishi Yokomizo's detective thriller The Inugami Curse. In it, a wealthy silk tycoon's bizarre will triggers a bloody feud and a series of gruesome murders among his greedy heirs in post-World War II Japan. Part of the series focusing on the iconic detective Kosuke Kindaichi, it's one of the most foundational crown jewels of Japanese detective fiction.
For one, Kindaichi is a phenomenal Japanese response to the likes of Holmes or Poirot, a scruffy detective whose razor-sharp powers of observation make the entirety of Inugami Curse a breeze to read. Add to that Yokomizo's potently atmospheric and visual prose, as well as the perfect way in which he structures and paces the puzzle that fuels the book's narrative, and you get one of the most underrated Japanese books of the 20th century.
'A Man' (2018)
Keiichiro Hirano's A Man was a relatively big success both critically and commercially back in 2018, yet it nevertheless doesn't receive nearly as much praise eight years after its publication as it deserves. It's one of the best thriller books of the last 10 years, about a grieving widow who discovers her late husband was living under a completely fabricated identity, prompting a divorce lawyer to investigate his true past.
What ensues is as much of a gripping detective tale as it is a deeply existential mystery, which should perfectly satisfy thriller book fans who prefer when the genre is more character-driven than plot-driven. It's a haunting, deeply thought-provoking meditation on selfhood and grief, as well as a powerful slow-burn. It proves that you don't need an overabundance of cheap twists in order to get a mystery thriller that's difficult to put down.
'In a Lonely Place' (1947)
The 1950 noir film In a Lonely Place, starring the legendary Humphrey Bogart, is one of those films that are arguably better-known than the book they were based on. Indeed, this Golden-Age Hollywood classic was based on the hard-boiled detective novel by Dorothy B. Hughes, following a cynical World War II veteran named Dix who goes around post-war Los Angeles preying on young women and strangling them. In a genre that was so often dominated by men, it's really refreshing to get a book that so potently subverts the male gaze.
The result is one of the best hard-boiled detective books of all time, a towering triumph of American noir whose decision to place the reader directly in the shoes of a terrifying serial killer was nothing short of revolutionary back in 1947, and still feels refreshingly bold and unique. Psychologically complex and with a perfect understanding of everything that made—and continues to make—thriller literature fans click, it's one of the most timeless mystery novels of its era.
'Pressure' (2005)
The first installment in the book series of the same name, Jeff Strand's Pressure is one of those forgotten thriller books that have aged beautifully. Its plot follows a man who's relentlessly stalked by a friend determined to break his psyche and prove that they share the same dark, murderous potential deep inside. Before 2005, Strand was best known for his splatterpunk and comedy horror stories; though there's definitely some dark humor in Pressure, it's ideal for those who love reading chilling horror thrillers.
The book is an absolutely unrelenting thriller whose character writing is engrossing and whose creatively structured story is truly tough to put down. True to the book's title, Strand subjects the protagonist to genuinely never-ending psychological strain, and that inevitably results in a riveting experience for the reader. With its perfect balance between humor and tension, what's not to love about Pressure?
'Dissolution' (2003)
C. J. Sansom was best known for his historical crime novels, especially his incredible Matthew Shardlake series. The first of the bunch, as well as Sansom's debut, was Dissolution. This murder mystery is set during King Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in the mid-16th century. A commissioner is sent by Thomas Cromwell to pressure a monastery into surrendering its wealth to the Crown, and is found brutally murdered in the monastery's kitchen.
It's a classic murder mystery premise, but from the uniqueness of the period setting to the exceptional quality of Sansom's writing, Dissolution doesn't actually read like any other sort of mystery thriller you've ever read. Its combination of deep historical accuracy, a remarkably atmospheric setting, and the hugely memorable protagonist that is Matthew Shardlake makes for an unforgettable thriller book which deserves to be read and praised by infinitely more people.
'The Last Good Kiss' (1978)
James Crumley's hard-boiled noir novel The Last Good Kiss follows C. W. Sughrue, a hard-drinking Montana private investigator who's tracking a missing girl through post-hippie America. By taking the usual genre blueprint that made the hard-boiled detective novels of the past such classics and showering them in countercultural themes and aesthetics, Crumley crafted a book that's among the best of the 1970s yet rarely recognized as such.
Absurdist in its cynical sense of humor, gritty and melancholy in its tone, and wonderfully poetic in Crumley's unforgettable prose, The Last Good Kiss is the sort of book that virtually anyone who loves noir thrillers should check out at least once. It's a sprawling road trip story that examines the death of the peace-and-love dreams of the 1960s both with deep emotion and admirable intellect. It may not be all that well-known, but it sure is one of the greatest thriller books of the latter half of the 20th century.
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