The Greatest American Suspense Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 488 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
68 In Cold Blood Truman Capote 1966 American English
101 The Long Goodbye Raymond Chandler 1953 American English
116 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
204 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson 1959 American English
218 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
230 The Stand Stephen King 1978 American English
238 The Secret History Donna Tartt 1992 American English
243 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
368 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
393 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
524 Sanctuary William Faulkner 1931 American English
539 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
655 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
712 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn 2012 American English
745 The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy 1984 American English
752 Salem's Lot Stephen King 1975 American English
753 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
759 A Kiss Before Dying Ira Levin 1953 American English
808 Devil in a Blue Dress Walter Mosley 1990 American English
816 The Thin Man Dashiell Hammett 1934 American English
838 The Last Good Kiss James Crumley 1978 American English
863 The Goldfinch Donna Tartt 2013 American English
880 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
887 Bel Canto Ann Patchett 2001 American English
889 Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1943 American English
896 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
986 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
987 It Stephen King 1986 American English
1109 The Exorcist William Peter Blatty 1971 American English
1112 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold 2002 American English
1195 The Round House Louise Erdrich 2012 American English
1198 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown 2003 American English
1329 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1355 Psycho Robert Bloch 1959 American English
1406 The Hardy Boys Franklin W. Dixon 1927 American English
1471 Where Are The Children? Mary Higgins Clark 1975 American English
1479 The Devil In The White City Erik Larson 2003 American English
1499 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
1512 The Pit and the Pendulum Edgar Allan Poe 1842 American English
1548 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
1550 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
1587 The Sleeping And The Dead August Derleth 1947 American English
1627 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1690 Carrie Stephen King 1974 American English
1695 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
1781 The Cadaver Of Gideon Wyck Alexander Laing 1934 American English
1786 The Chill Ross Macdonald 1964 American English
1799 The Land Of Laughs Jonathan Carroll 1980 American English
1846 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
1924 Night Has A Thousand Eyes George Hopley 1945 American English
1953 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
1966 Swan Song Robert R. McCammon 1987 American English
1997 The Leavenworth Case Anna Katharine Green 1878 American English
1997 The Patient In Room 18 Mignon G. Eberhart 1929 American English
2071 The Track Of The Cat Walter Van Tilburg Clark 1949 American English
2072 Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Jack Finney 1955 American English
2128 Pet Sematary Stephen King 1983 American English
2160 The Hot Rock Donald E. Westlake 1970 American English
2235 The Goodbye Look Ross Macdonald 1969 American English
2379 Carrion Comfort Dan Simmons 1989 American English
2463 No Country for Old Men Cormac McCarthy 2005 American English
2509 Burnt Offerings Robert Marasco 1973 American English
2535 Postmortem Patricia Daniels Cornwell 1990 American English
2585 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
2628 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
2678 Strangers On A Train Patricia Highsmith 1950 American English
2690 Cutter and Bone Newton Thornburg 1976 American English
2709 The Girl, The Gold Watch And Everything John D. MacDonald 1962 American English
2732 Paris Trout Pete Dexter 1988 American English
2736 Flicker Theodore Roszak 1991 American English
2760 Phantom Lady Cornell Woolrich 1942 American English
2790 The Burning Court John Dickson Carr 1937 American English
2818 The Tragedy Of X Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2824 A Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Lemony Snicket 1999 American English
2850 The Bishop Murder Case S. S. Van Dine 1929 American English
2878 The Greek Coffin Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
2897 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2916 Dead Time Eleanor Taylor Bland 1992 American English
2976 The Circular Staircase Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908 American English
2979 The Egyptian Cross Mystery Ellery Queen 1932 American English
3003 Deep Water Patricia Highsmith 1957 American English
3007 Black Easter James Blish 1968 American English
3009 Along Came A Spider James Patterson 1993 American English
3016 The Wycherly Woman Ross Macdonald 1961 American English
3045 When Death Comes Stealing Valerie Wilson Wesley 1994 American English
3054 A Dram Of Poison Charlotte Armstrong 1956 American English
3062 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
3066 Calamity Town Ellery Queen 1942 American English
3089 We Need To Talk About Kevin Lionel Shriver 2003 American English
3094 LaBrava Elmore Leonard 1983 American English
3112 Laura Vera Caspary 1943 American English
3115 Dog Soldiers Robert Stone 1974 American English
3137 Blanche Passes Go Barbara Neely 2000 American English
3140 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
3160 Mystic River Dennis Lehane 2001 American English
3180 Fade Away Harlan Coben 1996 American English
3223 House Of Flesh Bruno Fischer 1950 American English
3280 The Nine Mile Walk Harry Kemelman 1967 American English
3301 I, The Jury Mickey Spillane 1947 American English
3315 The Deadly Percheron John Franklin Bardin 1946 American English
3315 Point Blank Richard Stark 1962 American English
3334 The Ceremonies T. E. D. Klein 1984 American English
3373 The Big Nowhere James Ellroy 1988 American English
3562 The Lincoln Lawyer Michael Connelly 2005 American English
3564 The Surgeon Tess Gerritsen 2001 American English
3587 More Than Human Theodore Sturgeon 1953 American English
3633 The Emperor Of Ocean Park Stephen L. Carter 2002 American English
3705 Shadow 81 Lucien Nahum 1978 American English
3708 11 22 63 Stephen King 2011 American English
3726 Invisible Green John Sladek 1977 American English
3745 A Madness Of The Heart Richard Neely 1976 American English
3770 L.A. Confidential James Ellroy 1990 American English
3814 The Intuitionist Colson Whitehead 1999 American English
3850 Eight Million Ways To Die Lawrence Block 1982 American English
3859 Boy's Life Robert R. McCammon 1991 American English
3857 All Heads Turn When The Hunt Goes By John Farris 1977 American English
3857 In A Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner 1977 American English
3881 The Hog Murders William L. Deandrea 1979 American English
3903 Shibumi Trevanian 1979 American English
3938 Chiefs Stuart Woods 1981 American English