The Greatest Thriller & 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 759 '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
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
143 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
191 And Then There Were None Agatha Christie 1939 British English
205 The Complete Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1927 British English
233 The Spy Who Came in From the Cold John le Carré 1963 British English
242 The Godfather Mario Puzo 1969 American English
251 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd Agatha Christie 1926 British English
344 The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan 1915 British English
400 The Shining Stephen King 1977 American English
415 The Day of the Jackal Frederick Forsyth 1971 British English
423 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie 1934 British English
444 The Man Who Was Thursday G. K. Chesterton 1908 British English
469 The Postman Always Rings Twice James M. Cain 1934 American English
495 Casino Royale Ian Fleming 1953 British English
497 Murder Must Advertise Dorothy L. Sayers 1933 British English
570 American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis 1991 American English
578 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
586 The Third Man Graham Greene 1949 British English
587 The Man with the Golden Arm Nelson Algren 1949 American English
633 Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carré 1974 British English
635 Johnny Got His Gun Dalton Trumbo 1939 American English
637 The Quiet American Graham Greene 1955 British English
701 The Feast of the Goat Mario Vargas Llosa 2000 Peruvian Spanish
757 The Adventures of Caleb Williams William Godwin 1794 British English
790 The Mask of Dimitrios Eric Ambler 1939 British English
791 Gone Girl Gillian Flynn 2012 American English
801 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Agatha Christie 1920 British English
808 Watchmen Alan Moore 1986 American, British English
831 Riddle of the Sands Erskine Childers 1903 British English
862 Smilla's Sense of Snow Peter Høeg 1992 Danish Danish
894 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
897 The Darkroom Of Damocles W.F. Hermans 1958 Dutch Dutch
916 Malice Aforethought Francis Iles 1931 British English
922 The Sympathizer Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015 American English
925 Deliverance James Dickey 1970 American English
948 The Poisoned Chocolates Case Anthony Berkeley 1929 British English
953 Trent's Last Case E. C. Bentley 1913 British English
961 The Manchurian Candidate Richard Condon 1959 American English
966 The Ipcress File Len Deighton 1962 British English
967 The Heat of the Day Elizabeth Bowen 1949 British English
976 Rogue Male Geoffrey Household 1939 British English
981 It Stephen King 1986 American English
983 A Study In Scarlet Arthur Conan Doyle 1887 British English
997 The Judge and His Hangman Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1950 Swiss German
1001 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1048 The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy 1984 American English
1061 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
1065 La Bête humaine Émile Zola 1890 French French
1071 The Midwich Cuckoos John Wyndham 1957 British English
1074 The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown 2003 American English
1086 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
1094 Gorky Park Martin Cruz Smith 1981 American English
1109 Othello William Shakespeare 1603 British English
1111 Get Shorty Elmore Leonard 1990 American English
1153 Beast In View Margaret Millar 1955 Canadian English
1183 In A Lonely Place Dorothy B. Hughes 1947 American English
1193 Double Indemnity James M. Cain 1943 American English
1196 Conjure Wife Fritz Leiber 1943 American English
1203 Nine Coaches Waiting Mary Stewart 1958 British English
1214 The Moving Toyshop Edmund Crispin 1946 British English
1240 Strangers On A Train Patricia Highsmith 1950 American English
1264 The Franchise Affair Josephine Tey 1948 British English
1268 A Kiss Before Dying Ira Levin 1953 American English
1275 The Laughing Policeman Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö 1968 Swedish Swedish
1279 Psycho Robert Bloch 1959 American English
1293 Salem's Lot Stephen King 1975 American English
1324 A Judgement In Stone Ruth Rendell 1977 British English
1334 Hangover Square Patrick Hamilton 1941 British English
1352 The Andromeda Strain Michael Crichton 1969 American English
1388 The Hunger Games Suzanne Collins 2008 American English
1390 A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James 2014 Jamaican English
1398 The Exorcist William Peter Blatty 1971 American English
1425 And The Darkness Falls Boris Karloff 1943 British English
1445 Faceless Killers Henning Mankell 1991 Swedish Swedish
1485 A Perfect Spy John le Carré 1986 British English
1491 Presumed Innocent Scott Turow 1987 American English
1494 Eye Of The Needle Ken Follett 1978 British English
1500 The Bourne Identity Robert Ludlum 1980 American English
1503 The Friends Of Eddie Coyle George V. Higgins 1970 American English
1511 The Strange Case of Peter the Lett Georges Simenon 1931 Belgian French
1512 The Beast Must Die Nicholas Blake 1938 British English
1524 Greenmantle John Buchan 1916 British English
1531 Jurassic Park Michael Crichton 1990 American English
1562 Burnt Offerings Robert Marasco 1973 American English
1636 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
1639 No Orchids for Miss Blandish James Hadley Chase 1939 British English
1640 The Asphalt Jungle W. R. Burnett 1949 American English
1645 The Pledge Friedrich Dürrenmatt 1958 Swiss German
1674 London Fields Martin Amis 1989 British English
1679 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1688 Carrie Stephen King 1974 American English
1690 Goldfinger Ian Fleming 1959 British English
1708 The Guns Of Navarone Alistair MacLean 1957 British English
1709 The Club Dumas Arturo Pérez-Reverte 1993 Spanish Spanish
1739 A Fatal Inversion Barbara Vine 1987 British English
1755 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J. K. Rowling 2005 British English
1801 A Time To Kill John Grisham 1989 American English
1813 Swan Song Robert R. McCammon 1987 American English
1837 Jaws Peter Benchley 1974 American English
1849 Z Vassilis Vassilikos 1967 Greek Greek
1856 Under Western Eyes Joseph Conrad 1911 British English
1875 Last Seen Wearing ... Hillary Waugh 1952 American English
1899 The Zebra Striped Hearse Ross Macdonald 1962 American English
1908 Smallbone Deceased Michael Gilbert 1950 British English
1929 Killing Floor Lee Child 1997 British English
1940 The Four Just Men Edgar Wallace 1905 British English
1948 The Cadaver Of Gideon Wyck Alexander Laing 1934 American English
1965 A Flag For Sunrise Robert Stone 1981 American English
1973 The Invisible Man H. G. Wells 1897 British English
1978 Great Tales Of Terror And The Supernatural Herbert A. Wise 1944 American English
1989 Your Face Tomorrow Javier Marias 2002 Spanish Spanish
2060 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
2068 The Black Dahlia James Ellroy 1987 American English
2072 Night Has A Thousand Eyes George Hopley 1945 American English
2084 Fight Club Chuck Palahniuk 1996 American English
2090 Strong Poison Dorothy L. Sayers 1930 British English
2099 From Russia with Love Ian Fleming 1957 British English
2123 The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes Arthur Conan Doyle 1892 British English
2135 Cop Hater Ed McBain 1956 American English
2143 The Assault Harry Mulisch 1982 Dutch Dutch