Reading Thrillers is one of my favorite things to do. The suspense or drama keeps you hooked as the world around you is forgotten. An amazing thriller will have you reading for hours without you even realizing it. That made us want to make a list of the five best thrillers of all time!
There are dozens of amazing thrillers out there and choosing only five sounds almost impossible. We are going to have to leave out some books and that may be due to our biases more than anything else. No list is perfect or the only list. More than anything else, this list invites debate and to help people find the best thrillers to read.
The goal of this list is to highlight the five best works in the thriller genre. There are just too many amazing books for one list to be the right one. Having a discussion and discovering new books to read is one of the main goals of this list.
The Five Best Thrillers of All Time
- The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
- Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
- Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith
- The Shining by Stephen King
- The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
The Day of the Jackal
A classic spy thriller novel that everyone needs to read is The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. It is a brilliant novel that is impossible to put down. When a novel spoils the plot at the beginning, you have to wonder what will keep you reading. But Forsyth does an amazing job it telling the story, making you wonder if it was a red herring.
Shutter Island
Another thriller that I rank highly on my list is Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. If you like reading novels where you can’t trust the protagonist, then this is for you. The movie is also great and I recommend watching it after reading the novel so the plot twist is spoiled. But even if you have seen the movie, you will still enjoy the brilliant writing by Lehane.
Strangers on a Train
This novel was Patricia Highsmith’s debut and it captured the public’s attention with questions of morality and that everything isn’t always black and white. And it led to one of the greatest movies directed by none other than Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. If you haven’ read any of Highsmith’s novel, then you are missing out. Her novels had been adapted into classic movies and that should tell you how good her books are.
The Shining
No thriller list feels complete with Stephen King on it and on this list, we included The Shining, our favortie thriller by him. This was the novel that made King a household name and one that established him a prominent figure in the horror genre. You may have seen the movie but the book is way better as usual.
The Hunt for Red October
Having two spy novels on this list is bold of us but it is hard to argue that The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy is not one of the best thrillers written. We know it ultimately comes down to what type of thrillers you enjoy more. But as you can see from this list, we do consider spy novels high on our list and for good reason. How many novels can make you lose yourself like The Hunt for Red October? And the popularity of the movie showcases that no matter what medium, this series is reall good.
Conclusion
That is all for our five best thrillers of all time list. What books should have made the list? Let us know in the comments below. Until next time, happy reading!
Thank you for this, forgot I have been meaning to read Strangers on a Train. I will check out The Day of the Jackal!
Glad to help!
Intensity by Dean Koontz.
Have you read THE HILLS BE SHAKEN? They call Michael Stewart, “The John Grisham of Engineering Thrillers”
Mystic river in place of Shutter Island, same author.9
I may have a bias and chose Shutter Island over Mystic River. Both are great novels and it comes down to preference. I think I leaned towards Shutter Island because the ending of Mystic Island was disappointing for me.
The Silent Patient belongs on this list. Maybe at the top of the list. Awesome book.
The Shining is horror but yes to Shutter Island, what a brilliantly written book, if sad. Day of the Jackal was v v big to people of my dad’s generation. Somehow I’ve always avoided it. As they say, it’s a thriller that works despite you knowing De Gaulle won’t die.