The 99 Greatest Thrillers
For many a fan, thrillers are stories of espionage, narrating the escapades of spies. But the term can more broadly be applied to any fiction with an intriguing, exciting, suspenseful or otherwise "thrilling" plot. Works considered thrillers can cut across almost all other genres, including crime, mystery, romance, science fiction, horror, historical fiction and mainstream "literary" writing.
The works cited on this Greatest Thrillers list have been selected based on the same research and surveys that helped us create The Greatest Literature of All Time list, as well as all our other "greatest" lists.
For this list, priority is given to major works of thrillerdom—mainly novels, novellas and series—although shorter works of significance may be considered.
The discovery of new titles and the reassessment of old titles in the genre are ongoing. Check back periodically to get the latest revisions to this list.
Latest update: September 4, 2024
1844
The Three Musketeers
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Novel
1844–1846
The Count of Monte-Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas, France
Novel
1885
King Solomon's Mines
by H. Rider Haggard, England
Novel
1897
Dracula
by Bram Stoker, Ireland
Novel
1903
The Riddle of the Sands
by Erskine Childers, England
Novel
1905
The Scarlet Pimpernel
by Baroness Orczy, England
Novel
1911
Fantômas
by Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre, France
Novel
1919
The Curse of Capistrano
by Johnston McCulley, United States
Novel, also known as The Mark of Zorro
1922
The Secret Adversary
by Agatha Christie, England
Novel
1938
Cause for Alarm
by Eric Ambler, England
Novel
Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier, England
Novel
Brighton Rock
by Graham Greene, England
Novel
Who Goes There?
by John W. Campbell, United States
Novella
1939
The Mask of Dimitrios
by Eric Ambler, England
Novel, also known as A Coffin for Dimitrios
Rogue Male
by Geoffrey Household, England
Novel
1943
Double Indemnity
by James M. Cain, United States
Novella
1945
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Luiz Zafón, Spain
Novel
If He Hollers Let Him Go
by Chester Himes, United States
Novel
1947
In a Lonely Place
by Dorothy B. Hughes, England
Novel
1950
Strangers on a Train
by Patricia Highsmith, United States
Novel
1952
Beat Not the Bones
by Charlotte Jay, Australia
Novel
1953
Casino Royale
by Ian Fleming, England
Novel
A Kiss Before Dying
by Ira Levin, United States
Novel
1955
The Talented Mr. Ripley
by Patricia Highsmith, United States
Novel
Beast in View
by Margaret Millar, United States
Novel
1957
From Russia with Love
by Ian Fleming, England
Novel
1959
The Manchurian Candidate
by Richard Condon, United States
Novel
1962
The IPCRESS File
by Len Deighton, England
Novel
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson, United States
Novel
1963
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
by John Le Carré, England
Novel
1966
The Magus
by John Fowles, England
Novel
In Cold Blood
by Truman Capote, United States
Nonfiction novel
1967
Rosemary's Baby
by Ira Levin, United States
Novel
1969
The Adromeda Strain
by Michael Crichton, United States
Novel
them
by Joyce Carol Oates, United States
Novel
The Godfather
by Mario Puzo, United States
Novel
1970
Deliverance
by James Dickey, United States
Novel
1971
The Day of the Jackal
by Frederick Forsyth, England
Novel
1974
Jaws
by Peter Benchley, United States
Novel
Carrie
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
1974–1979
Karla Trilogy
by John le Carré, England
Series, also known as The Quest for Karla and Smiley Versus Karla, includes novels Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy; and Smiley's People.
1975
The Eagle Has Landed
by Jack Higgins, England
Novel
Where Are the Children?
by Mary Higgins Clark, United States
Novel
Salem's Lot
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
1976
Cutter and Bone
by Newton Thornburg, United States
Novel
1977
A Judgement in Stone
by Ruth Rendell, England
Novel
The Shining
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
1978
Eye of the Needle
by Ken Follett, England
The Stand
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
1979
Kane and Abel
by Jeffrey Archer, England
Novel
1980
The Name of the Rose
by Umberto Eco, Italy
Novel
The Bourne Identity
by Robert Ludlum, United States
Novel
1981
Red Dragon
by Thomas Harris, United States
Novel
1984
The Wasp Factory
by Iain Banks, Scotland
Novel
The Hunt for Red October
by Tom Clancy, United States
Novel
1985
Contact
by Carl Sagan, United States
Novel
1986
A Perfect Spy
by John le Carré, England
Novel
A Dark-Adapted Eye
by Barbara Vine, England
Novel
It
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
1987
The Black Dahlia
by James Ellroy, United States
Novel
Misery
by Stephen King, United States
Novel
Presumed Innocent
by Scott Turow, United States
Novel
1988
The Silence of the Lambs
by Thomas Harris, United States
Novel
1989–1996
The Sandman Series
by Neil Gaiman, England
Graphic novel series
1990
Jurassic Park
by Michael Crichton, United States
Novel
1991
American Psycho
by Bret Easton Ellis, United States
Novel
1992
Smilla's Sense of Snow
by Peter Høeg, Denmark
Novel, also known as Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
Children of Men
by P.D. James, England
Novel
Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson, United States
Novel
The Secret History
by Donna Tartt, United States
Novel
1993
The Dumas Club
by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Spain
Novel
1995
Intensity
by Dean Koontz, United States
Novel
Cryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson, United States
Novel
1997
Killing Floor
by Lee Child, England
Novel
2000
Angels and Demons
by Dan Brown, United States
Novel
Mystic River
by Dennis Lehane, United States
Novel
2002–2007
Your Face Tomorrow
by Javier Marías, Spain
Novel
2003
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown, United States
Novel
2004
2666
by Roberto Bolaño, Chile
Novel
2005
No Country for Old Men
by Cormac McCarthy, United States
Novel
2005–2007
The Millennium Trilogy
by Stieg Larsson, Sweden
Series includes novels The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
Critique • Quotes • Buy the book
Critique • Quotes • Buy the book
2007
The Vegetarian
by Han Kang, Korea
Novel
Tree of Smoke
by Denis Johnson, United States
Novel
2008–2010
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins, United States
Novel series
2009
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
by Olga Tokarczuk, Poland
Novel
2012
The Round House
by Louise Erdrich, United States
Novel
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn, United States
Novel
2015
The Girl on the Train
by Paula Hawkins, England
Novel
In a Dark, Dark Wood
by Ruth Ware, England
Novel
The Sympathizer
by Viet Thanh Nguyen, United States
Novel
