How could we not try to read some of the popular thriller books out there? I know I at least have to try them out.
These popular thriller books are obviously ones that a lot of people are talking about. A lot of people are reading these! Reading popular books can be a bit scary, though. At least it is for me because I go into the book with very high expectations of it. There have been so many times when I read a popular book and was then disappointed.
But there are also a lot of popular books that I have read and managed to really love. I highly suggest reading at least some of them. Who knows if you’ll wind up really liking it or not.
These are just a few of the popular thriller books that I’ve added to the list. If some need to be on this list, then let me know!
Popular thriller books to add to your TBR
There are so many popular thriller books out there that I know I wouldn’t even be able to fit them all on this list. Here are just a few you really should add to your TBR, and make sure to let me know what you think of them. Some of them I’ve heard of but haven’t read yet, while there are some on the list that I have. Have you read any of them yet?
Twenty years later
Twenty Years Later is one of the popular thriller books on this list that I really want to read, and I want to read it soon. The only thing that’s really stopped me is that, as a book blogger, all of the books have become very, very overwhelming, unfortunately.
Hopefully, this is one that I can try to get to and soon.
Here is what Twenty Years Later is about.
Avery Mason is the host of American Events, and she knows what can grab the TV audience’s attention. Her recent story is a murder mystery mixed with kinky sex, tragedy, and betrayal. She knows that it’s going to be ratings gold! Now there’s new DNA technology that allows a NY medical examiner’s office to make the first successful identification of a 9/11 victim in years. But the twist is that the victim, Victoria Ford, is someone who was accused of a gruesome murder of someone she was married to. In her last phone call, she begged her sister to prove that she was innocent.
Emma waited twenty years to put her sister to rest, but she still doesn’t have closure. She will never have closure until she’s able to clear Victoria’s name. She’s tried doing it by herself, but she hasn’t had any luck. She feels like Avery’s connection to fame, though, will help.
Victoria manages to go into investigative overdrive and manages to find that Victoria was having an affair. But the puzzle pieces are twisted, and this is only just the beginning. Avery doesn’t know that other players in the game are very interested in her past and the many secrets that she has been hiding. It’s a secret that she thought had been buried.
Hidden Pictures (popular thriller books)
I read Hidden Pictures a while back, but I can’t really remember if I enjoyed it at all. I have a terrible habit of reading books and then forgetting about them. But then again, is it really terrible? At least I’d be able to reread them over and over again.
I do know that a lot of people have been reading this book for a while. It was pretty popular, and it seems like a lot of people were really enjoying it.
Here is what Hidden Pictures is about.
Mallory has just recently gotten out of rehab and takes on a babysitting job for Ted and Caroline. Now she has to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.
Immediately, she falls in love with it. They have given her her own living space, she goes on nightly runs, and she finally has the stability she craves. In the meantime, she has been really bonding with Teddy. He’s sweet and shy, and he never goes anywhere without his sketchbook and pencil. Normally, his drawings are pretty typical for a 5-year-old, until they are not. Now he draws something different, and he draws a man in the forest dragging a woman’s lifeless body.
His drawings become increasingly scarier, and his stick figures turn into lifelike sketches well beyond his abilities. Mallory eventually starts to wonder if these drawings are glimpses of an old unsolved murder. And maybe just maybe something supernatural is the one showing him.
She knows that it sounds crazy, but she still pushes herself to try and figure it all out.
Never Lie
Never Lie is a book that I’ve heard of, but I’ve actually never looked into what it was about. So, I’m going into this one kind of blind, and now I feel like I need to get my hands on it.
I’m not really sure what it is about this particular book on the popular thriller books list that has really caught my attention, but I know I’ll have to try getting to this one soon.
Here is what Never Lie is about.
Tricia and Ethan are newlyweds and are searching for house of their dreams.
As they are looking, they wind up visiting a remote manor. It belonged to Dr. Adrienne, who was a psychiatrist who was very good at her job. Four years ago, she vanished. And now they are stuck in her home during a terrible winter storm, and they have no chance of getting out until the blizzard is over.
Tricia starts to explore the house to find a book to keep her entertained while they are there. But she just so happens to stumble on a secret room. It has audio transcripts from all of her patients. She starts to listen to the cassette tapes, and the further she gets in she uncovers some terrible things that happened leading up to her disappearance.
One by one, she listens to the tapes and stays up late into the night listening to them. With each one she listens to, she’s able to put some of the puzzle pieces together, and the lies of Dr. Adrienne are made up.
Then she gets to the final tape, and it reveals a terrifying truth.
Local Woman Missing
Local Woman Missing is another on this list that I’ve been meaning to read. The only thing is that this one really never grabbed my attention enough for me to just pick it up.
If you’ve read this one, then what did you think about it?
Here is what Local Woman Missing is about.
Shelby was the first person to go missing. Not long after that, it is Meredith and her six-year-old daughter. They both disappear just a few blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, and now it’s striking fear into the peaceful community. Are the disappearances connected?
After a long search that leaves more questions than answers, the case goes cold.
The Housemaid
Is it terrible that I went to see The Housemaid without reading the book first? I’ve seen so many people saying how good this book was, and I feel like this is the book that skyrocketed Freida’s fame.
If the book is anything like how the movie was or even slightly close, I know I’ll have to pick it up on Kindle Unlimited here soon.
Here is what The Housemaid is about.
Every day, she cleans the Winchesters’ home top to bottom. She picks up their daughter from school, and she cooks meals for the whole family before going to her tiny room to eat alone.
She tries to ignore the fact that Nina makes a mess just to watch her clean it up. Nina tells weird lies about her daughter. And her husband, Andrew, always seems to be broken. As she looks into his handsome brown eyes, they are full of pain. It’s hard for her not to imagine how it would be if she were in Nina’s shoes. To have the walk-in closet, the beautiful car, and the perfect husband.
She only tries on one of Nina’s fancy white dresses just once to imagine what it’s like. But Nina finds out, and by the time she realizes her attic bedroom is locked on the outside.
But they don’t know who she really is, and they don’t know what she’s capable of.
The Drowning Woman
I’m pretty sure The Drowning Woman is one of the new popular thriller books on this list, and I think I’ve only seen it maybe once or twice.
The cover alone makes me want to pick it up, and if Hazel is as deceiving as the synopsis makes it seem, then I’ll definitely have to try this one out.
Here is what The Drowning Woman is about.
Lee Gulliver didn’t think she would find herself living on the street. No one really ever thinks they will. But her restaurant failed, and she kept falling deeper into debt. She left her life behind with nothing but her clothes and her car. In Seattle, she makes sure she parks somewhere secluded by the beach so she can lie low and plan her next move. That is, until early one morning, a weeping woman throws herself into the ocean.
Lee manages to get the woman back on land, but instead of being appreciative, the woman is furious. The woman, Hazel, tells her that she wanted to die. She’s stuck in a toxic and abusive marriage and is a prisoner in her own home. But now Lee has prevented her from her own life.
Now that she’s out of options, Hazel returns to her “prison,” and Lee thinks that’s the last time she’ll ever see her again. But then she returns to the beach again the next morning. They bond over their difficult circumstances, and soon they have a close yet unlikely friendship. One day, Hazel has a shocking plea. She wants Lee to help her disappear. Hazel thinks it’ll be easy, but Lee realizes that nothing is what she thought it was, and Hazel might not be the friend that she thought she was.
Conclusion to Popular Thriller Books
There are so, so, so many thriller books out there that I know I wouldn’t even be able to begin to include them all. Most of these are all from recent years (yes, I know not all of them, but a good majority are). Most of us readers don’t really need to add more books to our shelves, but we gotta add them.
Heck, who am I kidding…. Yes, we do need those books, so go out and buy them and let me know what you think of them when you’re done!
If you like this post, then maybe you’ll enjoy my blog post on Thriller books by black authors and Domestic thriller books.