Thrillers & Suspense
Action Thrillers
Action thrillers center around any sort of high-paced, suspenseful plot with lots of action scenes. This is the type of novel that is often made into films and television shows (for example: Jack Reacher, Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, etc.).
Try these authors: Lee Child, Stieg Larsson, Joseph Finder, Clive Cussler, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Catherine Coulter, Alexander Soderberg, Nelson DeMille, Dan Brown, Iris Johansen
Ocean Prey by John Sandford
The Sentinel by Lee Child
The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo
Blink of an Eye by Iris Johansen
Espionage / Spy Thrillers
Espionage thrillers always feature some sort of international spy as the protagonist. For example, an undercover CIA agent, a spy infiltrating a terrorist organization, etc. The defining characteristic is that the protagonist is a spy and the plot centers around a high-stakes undercover investigation.
Try these authors: Len Deighton, Daniel Silva, John le Carré, Chris Pavone, Alex Berenson, Alan Furst
In the Company of Killers by Bryan Christy
Northern Spy by Flynn Berry
The Order by Daniel Silva
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
Military & Political Thrillers
Military and political thrillers are very closely related to each other. They usually have to do with trying to uncover some sort of terrorist plot or national threat from another country's government. Military thrillers focus on uncovering the threat by a military means, and political thrillers uncover it through the CIA or political means.
Try these authors: Tom Clancy, Frederick Forsyth, Brad Taylor, Joel C. Rosenberg, Robert Ludlum, W.E.B. Griffin, Jack Carr, Brad Thor, Vince Flynn, Dale Brown
2034 by Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis
The Terminal List by Jack Carr
American Traitor by Brad Taylor
The Black Order by Jeff Rovin
Domestic Thrillers
Domestic thrillers focus on the psychological suspense that can happen in domestic settings like the home. They sometimes feature spouses who lie to the other spouse about their identity, family members who go missing, a family member who becomes a threat, or becoming trapped either physically or psychologically.
Try these authors: Camilla Lackberg, Lucy Foley, A.J. Finn, B.A. Paris, Greer Hendricks, Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, Ruth Ware, J.P. Delaney, Lisa Jewell, Harlan Coben
The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter
An Ambush of Widows by Jeff Abbott
Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
Legal Thrillers
Legal thrillers always feature a lawyer as the protagonist, and the plot revolves around some sort of high-stakes legal case.
Try these authors: John Grisham, Scott Turow, Lisa Scottoline, James Grippando, Phillip Margolin
A Matter of Life and Death by Phillip Margolin
The Rooster Bar by John Grisham
The Last Trial by Scott Turow
The Big Lie by James Grippando
Techno Thrillers
Techno thrillers center around some sort of technology-related crime or drama and are often called sci-fi thrillers. The plot revolves around cybercrimes that threaten to take down global networks, genetic engineering falling into the wrong hands, the invention of some dangerous and mysterious new weapon, etc.
Try these authors: Blake Crouch, Michael Crichton, Neal Stephenson
We Are Watching Eliza Bright by A.E. Osworth
Scorpion by Christian Cantrell
The Quantum Spy by David Ignatius
The Andromeda Evolution by Michael Crichton
Environmental & Medical Thrillers
Medical and environmental thrillers are closely related to each other. Medical thrillers sometimes overlap with the mystery genre, and often feature a medical examiner or forensic scientist as the main character. Environmental thrillers have to do with some sort of global environmental disaster. A classic example of the latter is Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park". Novels about global pandemics would be an example of both a medical and environmental thriller.
Try these authors: Michael Crichton, Lincoln Child, Barbara Kingsolver, Robin Cook, Michael Palmer, Daniel Palmer
Fast Ice by Clive Cussler
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Recursion by Blake Crouch
Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
Supernatural Thrillers
As the name implies, supernatural thrillers always feature some sort of supernatural element, or the "suggestion" of a supernatural element. They can overlap with the horror genre, but without as intense of a "fear factor". The novel might end with the supernatural element being explained as something natural, but the element of the unknown is what defines these novels. The supernatural element could be anything from ghosts to time travel to the occult.
Try these authors: Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Riley Sager, Kay Hooper, Simone St. James, Preston & Child, James Rollins, Alma Katsu, Ruth Ware
Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincold Child
The Scorpion's Tail by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Madam by Phoebe Wynne
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James