Top Ten Tuesday 2/28/23: Genre Freebie-My Favorite Thrillers

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

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Hello and Happy Tuesday. This week’s topic was too fun to miss out on: Genre Freebie (Pick a genre and build a list around it. It could be a list of favorites, a to-read list, recommendations for people interested in reading books in that genre, “if you like this, try this”, etc.)

I love a good thrilling book to get my heart racing. This genre can branch out in so many different directions, supernatural, mystery, crime and suspense, and I really love a good, gritty, psychological thriller to keep me guessing. Today Otis and I are adding to your TBR mountain, so without further ado, here’s our:
Top 10 Favorite Thrillers with a few extra books snuck in here and there.


1. The Outsider by Stephen King
Was this book phenomenal? Yes it was. And the mini-series was awesome too. I read then watched this at the height of the pandemic and it really helped get my mind off stressful things.


2. Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
I’ve read all 3 books by this author, watched all 3 film adaptations of her books and I have been waiting, wishing and praying she writes another full-length novel. I wish I could read Dark Places again for the first time, that’s how amazing this book was. It’s dark, twisted, sad and an absolute thrill ride. Gillian Flynn is an easy favorite of mine in this genre.


3. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Another Gillian Flynn novel that had me captivated! I won’t include Gone Girl on this list in order to make room for other authors, but Gone Girl could easily be on this list.


4.The Taking by Dean Koontz, and so many more of his books like the Odd Thomas series and Life Expectancy, because I can always enjoy a dash of science-fiction and suspense in with my thrillers. I never get tired of telling the story about how Dean Koontz is awesome. He personally autographed and mailed me a first edition hard cover copy of The Taking after I wrote him a fan mail with a small crocheted elephant I made for him. I still remember standing in my kitchen completely stunned and silent for several minutes when I opened a package from Dean Koontz himself.




5.Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
I’ve read a few Karin Slaughter books and this is by far my favorite of hers. I was on the edge of my seat late into the night reading.


6.Later by Stephen King
Another King book for my list, this one is a coming-of-age paranormal thriller that had me hooked. I co-read this with my daughter. She’s not a King fan, but she really enjoyed this one.


7.Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
No top crime thriller book list would be complete without Lisa Jewell. This book is one of my favorites of hers.


8.Her Three Lives by Cate Holahan
This is one of 2 books I’ve read by this author, and she tends to have slow starts to her books but once they take off I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.


9.Mind Games (Kaely Quinn Profiler #1) by Nancy Mehl
The protagonist in this one is an FBI behavior analyst who is also the daughter of a notorious serial killer. This one was so good.


10.Along Came a Spider and Kiss the Girls by James Patterson.
I’m including these together since they kick off the Alex cross series and both were fantastic. I read book 3 in the series but didn’t enjoy it as much.


It was so hard stopping at just 10 so I’m sneaking in one more book.
11. Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke
This one was a creepy, twisted thriller that shocked me at the end. I still remember finishing this book while sitting outside of Starbucks and not wanting to gasp too loudly since I was reading in public.


That wraps up my Top 10+ thrillers. What books would make your list? Have you read any of these?

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Disclaimer: Nothing in this post is available for download. The photos here are my own and not be to be removed from this post.