David Bell is the bestselling and award-winning author of six novels including The Forgotten Girl, Never Come Back, The Hiding Place, and Cemetery Girl. He is an Associate Professor of English at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky and can be reached through his website.
Murder by the Book (2025) Amie Schaumberg "Amie Schaumberg's Murder by the Book is a smart and completely captivating page-turner that's sure to delight mystery fans and book lovers alike. If you're looking for a dark academia thriller or a bibliomystery puzzler, you can find the perfect cross right here. A winning debut!"
Nothing Bad Happens Here (2025) Rachel Ekstrom Courage "[A] smashing suspense debut! A page-turning exploration of the way the truth gets concealed--and the all-too-human and all-too-necessary desire to find the truth at any cost. Sure to be one of the best YA thrillers of the year. Don't miss it!"
Catch You Later (2024) Jessica Strawser "Jessica Strawser has written some great books, but Catch You Later is her best one yet. A powerful and suspenseful story of the way a young person's snap decision reverberates through the years - and a haunting meditation on lost youth, roads taken and not taken, and the enduring bonds that tie us all together. Tell your friends, your family, and your book club to put this one on the top of the TBR pile!"
Don't Forget Me (2024) Rea Frey "Rea Frey's Don't Forget Me is a suspenseful and unnerving thriller that peels back the layers on a quiet suburban neighborhood and shows the reader - and the characters - what's really going on behind closed doors. The secrets that get revealed are both shocking and surprising - and they may make the reader think twice about everyone on their street. Rea Frey has outdone herself again, and this is her best book yet!"
American Girl (2023) Wendy Walker "Wendy Walker's outstanding American Girl has a little bit of everything. A fascinating, perfectly rendered teen protagonist. An intricately plotted mystery. A deadly accurate portrait of a small town grappling with big issues. This novel is smart, moving, complex, and ultimately hopeful. A highly original work from one of the best suspense writers in the business. Don't miss it!"
The Bones of the Story (2023) Carol Goodman "Carol Goodman's The Bones of the Story deftly and intriguingly combines a decades-old campus mystery, a powerful winter storm, and a batch of suspects and potential victims to create one of the best and smartest locked-room mysteries I've read in a long time. A page-turner with both heart and brains. Don't miss it!"
The End of the Road (2023) Andrew Welsh-Huggins "The End of the Road by the talented Andrew Welsh-Huggins starts with a bang. Literally. And the tension and stakes only rise from there. This is the riveting and highly entertaining portrait of two unlikely but relentlessly determined protagonists who are seeking justice and peace at any cost. Smart, engaging, and expertly written-don't miss it."
Always the First to Die (2022) R J Jacobs "RJ Jacobs' Always the First to Die is an utterly unique thriller that combines horror movies, hurricanes, and deadly secrets from the past. It's also an intense ride about a mother who will do anything to save her daughter. Fast-paced, suspenseful, stormy, and definitely not to be missed."
Please Join Us (2022) Catherine McKenzie "Catherine McKenzie's Please Join Us is her best book yet. It's a page-turning blend of corporate intrigue, secret societies, family drama, and twists galore. You won't be able to put this one down or relax until the final series of reveals and double crosses unfold...and even then, you'll walk away with your heart pounding. An intelligent, captivating thriller that really thrills!"
My Summer Darlings (2022) May Cobb "MY SUMMER DARLINGS is an intensely suspenseful and deliciously entertaining novel. May Cobb writes as though she's been hanging around your neighborhood, listening to all the conversations and taking notes with a pen as sharp as a fish hook. This book should be required poolside summer reading."
The Fervor (2022) Alma Katsu "Is there anything the brilliant Alma Katsu can't write about? The Fervor is an utterly compelling combination of the historical novel, the medical thriller, and the supernatural scarefest. It's also a hauntingly moving meditation on prejudice and suspicion that feels like it has as much to say about our present moment as it does about the past. This is sure to be considered one of the best, most original novels of the year."
Chasing the Boogeyman (2021) (Boogeyman, book 1) Richard Chizmar "If Ray Bradbury had written In Cold Blood it would probably look a lot like Richard Chizmar’s masterful Chasing the Boogeyman, a perfectly written and unnervingly suspenseful thriller about a series of murders that tear apart the fabric of a picturesque Maryland town and the writer who puts everything on the line to solve them. This is a mind-bendingly engaging book. Be prepared for the hairs on the back of your neck to be standing at attention as you devour every rich page."
The Dead Husband (2021) Carter Wilson "Carter Wilson's THE DEAD HUSBAND is a perfectly paced and expertly written thriller. The prose is as smooth as glass, and the pages fly by as fast as the reader can turn them. And then the ending provides a shocking jolt. This is a smashing story about families and secrets and all the things you don't want to know about the people closest to you. Read it!"
Little Threats (2020) Emily Schultz "Emily Schultz's Little Threats is an exquisitely written and thrilling novel about growing up and breaking apart, about the past refusing to loosen its grip on us, and about the impossibility of going back and righting the wrongs that send us spiraling out of control. And, of course, it's a whale of a whodunnit. This is a riveting and powerful novel about friendship and fate, youth and time, and the toll these things take on all of us. Don't miss it!"
The Extinction Agenda (2019) (Extinction Agenda, book 1) Michael Laurence "If Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy had collaborated on a globe-trotting thriller about a shadowy conspiracy the book would look like this. I can't wait to read more of James Mason's adventures, and I believe this series will have a long, entertaining run."
Come and Get Me (2019) (Caitlin Bergman Mystery, book 1) August Norman "August Norman's Come and Get Me peels the top layer off a bucolic, Midwestern college town and reveals the dark heart of a mystery beating underneath. This is a fast-paced, propulsive thriller, the first in a wonderful new series featuring dynamic journalist Caitlin Bergman. How long until we can read the next one?"
My Sister Is Missing (2019) Carissa Ann Lynch "Carissa Lynch's MY SISTER IS MISSING is the best kind of thriller. It peels back the layers of our everyday world and shows us the frightening truth beneath the surface. This is an unnerving, creepy, hair-raising novel, one that will have readers sleeping with one eye open and carefully watching their backs."
In Her Bones (2018) Kate Moretti "Kate Moretti's In Her Bones is a suspenseful, whirling spiral of mysteries within mysteries, plot twists you won't see coming, and characters linked by deadly fates that stretch across the years. Moretti's prose is crisp and masterful, her people rich and real. Don't miss this haunting, wild thrill ride."
Three Days Missing (2018) Kimberly Belle "Kimberly Belle's Three Days Missing is her best book yet. And that's saying a lot. This one is vividly written, emotional, and engaging, with real, three-dimensional characters who will always keep you guessing. And the finale...it's a right cross to the reader's jaw I never saw coming. Buckle up and turn the pages as fast as you can. This one's a winner!"
Last Girl Gone (2018) (Laura Chambers Mystery, book 1) J G Hetherton "J. G. Hetherton's Last Girl Gone is a stunning debut that takes the reader down a dark and vivid rabbit hole. The twists and turns come fast and furious, and the novel's protagonist, journalist Laura Chambers, is a character I want to read more about. Swiftly paced, riveting, poignant and real, this book shows you can go home again…but you really may not want to."
The Children's Game (2018) Max Karpov "Max Karpov's The Children's Game is just about the timeliest novel I've read this year. But this is no mere ripped-from-the-headlines knockoff. This is a fast-paced, vivid, surprising thriller, featuring a great new hero for our troubled times, former CIA agent Christopher Niles. Don't miss this one. I can't wait to read more."
Killer Choice (2018) Tom Hunt "A thrilling, masterful debut. Yes, the plot moves quickly and furiously, with twists and turns until the very last pages. But the book's real strengths are its rich characters and vivid writing. This is a fast, powerful, agonizing read, impossible to put down."
The Chalk Man (2018) C J Tudor "The Chalk Man is a stunning debut, a riveting thriller about the powerful grip of the past and the unbreakable bonds of childhood friendship. The ending of this smasher will completely throw you for a loop."
Just Between Us (2017) Rebecca Drake "Rebecca Drake's Just Between Us is a riveting thriller that reveals the dark heart beating in the middle of American suburbia. Every character in this rich novel has a secret, and the secrets get deeper and darker as the pitch-perfect plot unfolds. This is a stunning story of friendship and the tangled lies that bind four women together. Don't miss it!"
The Shimmering Road (2017) (Charlotte Charlie Cates, book 2) Hester Young "I simply could not stop reading this thrilling, beautifully written southern gothic mystery."
Two Days Gone (2017) (Ryan DeMarco Mystery, book 1) Randall Silvis "Randall Silvis' Two Days Gone is a smart, twisting, vividly written thriller anchored by two deeply flawed yet fascinating protagonists. Yes, the novel provides cat-and-mouse suspense as a horrific murder in a college town is investigated, but it's also a deeply rewarding story about friendship, family, fame, and the complicated relationship between readers and writers. Anyone who wants to dismiss thrillers as mere genre fluff should read Two Days Gone."
The Girl in 6E (2014) (Deanna Madden, book 1) A R Torre "A.R. Torre's The Girl in 6E lifts the veil on the dark, erotic world of camming, but the book contains so many more surprises than that. At the novel's core, a tender heart beats, and the increasingly suspenseful pages fly by as its deepest secrets are revealed. This is a taut, edgy, thrill ride, powerfully gripping and impossible to turn away from."
