Best Thrillers "18 Best FBI Thrillers Books" of All-Time

The biggest story of Francine Vega's career could end her life...or start World War III. Francine is a rising TV news reporter in New York City. Despite her brains, beauty and a growing following, she is stuck covering local interest stories. That is until her career literally hits the jackpot when the winner of a $450 million dollar lottery tells Francine that he is committed to using his new fortune to avenge his brother's killing at the Pentagon on 9/11. His seemingly crazy plan is backed by more than just money-he is in league with a ruthless and powerful Army Colonel gone rogue, religious extremists and co-conspirators in the highest levels of government. Francine teams with FBI Special Agent Will Allen, one of the few people who believe the threat is real, in a desperate race across three continents to stop the plot before it's too late.

Mean Woman Blues is the NINTH book in Edgar-winner Julie Smith’s Skip Langdon mystery series

THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN THE WORLD IS TRYING TO KILL HER…

That would be the Rev. Errol Jacomine, crazy as a fox that just ate a loon, and more dangerous than a cell full of serial killers. She’s Detective Skip Langdon, the New Orleans cop who’s twice smashed his criminal endeavors, yet each time he’s managed to slip away. Now he’s mad. In both senses of the word. And he has the connections to have her killed—or worse, those she loves.

After one near-miss and several nasty threats, Skip is driven by fear that she’ll lose the people dearest to her. Despite finding herself disgraced in her own home town (Jacomine knows how to frame as well as kill), she goes on the hunt for a maniac with a gift for conning people and the extreme makeover to make it work.

THREE ANGRY WOMEN, EACH ONE DISSED, SCORNED, AND HELL-BENT...

But by now Jacomine’s madness has escalated to the point that he’s finally gone too far with too many people. Before it's over, more than one person’s stalking him, and some are women feeling as mean as their quarry. If Langdon doesn't get there first, there’ll be a bloodbath. If she does, only one person will walk away—and Jacomine’s as lucky as he’s ruthless.

"Smith combines a powerful heroine, creepily believable villain, and rich New Orleans setting." -Booklist

Fans of Nevada Barr, Ace Atkins, Laura Lippman, and Karin Slaughter will love Detective Skip Langdon’s pluck and charm in this action-packed psychological thriller.

In THE PERFECT BLOCK (Book #2), rookie criminal profiler Jessie Hunt, 29, picks up the pieces of her broken life and leaves suburbia to start a new life in downtown Los Angeles. But when a wealthy socialite is murdered, Jessie, assigned the case, finds herself back in the world of picture-perfect suburbia, hunting a deranged killer amidst the false facades of normalcy and sociopathic women.

Jessie, thriving again in downtown LA, is sure she’s moved on from her suburban nightmare. Ready to put her failed marriage behind her, she lands a job with the local police department, deferring her acceptance to the FBI’s Academy.

She is assigned a straightforward murder in a wealthy neighborhood, a simple case to start her career. But little do her bosses know, there's more to the case than anyone suspected. Nothing can prepare her for her first case, one that will force her to probe the minds of the wealthy, suburban couples she’d thought she’d left behind. Behind their polished family pictures and manicured hedges, Jessie realizes, perfection is not what it seems.

A fast-paced psychological suspense thriller with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding suspense, THE PERFECT BLOCK is book #2 in a riveting new series that will leave you turning pages late into the night.

Book #3 in the Jessie Hunt series—THE PERFECT HOUSE—is now also available!

USA Today bestselling author Robert Swartwood brings us his most page-turning psychological thriller yet — with a twist you won't see coming.

"Scream and I'll cut your throat."

In an instant, Ashley's life changes forever.

Two dangerous criminals have escaped from maximum-security prison.  Taken as their hostage, Ashley has to play their game if she wants to save her family — and herself.

But they've underestimated Ashley.

She'll do anything to survive.

Praise for Abducted: 

"Abducted is a quick, tight thriller that moves like the wind and keeps you guessing. Just when you think you know the score, you don't." —Joseph D'Agnese, Derringer Award-winning author of The Mesmerist

★★★★★ "Fun, fast, fresh!" - Word Junkie
★★★★★ "This stand-alone is easy to read and hard to put down." -BookZilla

Imagine your favorite teachers from high school are dying, mysteriously murdered one by one soon after the arrival of the new English instructor...

Mackenzie August is starting a new life. After a successful but destructive career as a high-profile California homicide detective, and then a less successful and even more destructive stint working for a church, he has moved to Virginia to start over as an instructor. The only thing he's bringing with him is Kix, his infant baby boy. He plans for peaceful living with his son, but trouble soon finds him as his new co-workers begin showing up dead outside of his classroom...

She's a kitchen witch who can't cook and there's a dead guy haunting her dreams. When Tamsyn's life starts to feel like one big hex, will moving to her aunt's B&B on a remote Maine island work like a charm, or be her worst choice ever?

Tamsyn Bassett is having a bad week. Like, the losing your job and getting dumped by your boyfriend kind of bad. So when her great aunt invites her to spend the summer at her inn, Tamsyn jumps at the chance. Instead of the peaceful getaway she expected, she's immediately confronted with the preposterous revelation that she's descended from a long line of kitchen witches and is the last hope of her generation to keep magic alive in Pinecroft Cove. That she's the world's worst cook could be an issue.

As if navigating a strange new world of spells, magic, and exploding blueberry pies isn't enough to handle, that awkward boy who had a crush on her when they were kids seems to turn up everywhere she looks. Only now that he's a super dreamy doctor, it's Tamsyn's turn to be the awkward one. If she didn't know better, she'd swear someone put a hex on her.

One more thing. Tamsyn's pretty sure she's being haunted, and not by just any ghost but by Doctor Dreamy's dead uncle. If she can't harness her powers in time to figure out the truth behind his mysterious death, she may never have a moment of peace again.

When death strikes the island’s controversial real estate mogul, will Tamsyn’s newly discovered powers be any match for murder?

Don’t miss the new Witches of Pinecroft Cove series of paranormal cozy mysteries!

HELLO, IT’S YOUR PAST CALLING…

“Placing blame” thinks Marina Robinson, “is my life’s work. And why?” There’s a lot in her past to account for—nightmares and terrors, crimes and betrayals that happened half a world away, ten years go. Now she’s an engineer with a great job. She’s a failure analyst, an investigator who figures out what causes accidents, and she’s working on her most fascinating case--the fatal crash of a roller coaster--when suddenly the phone rings. And her world tilts…

The elusive, unidentified caller can be only one person—Catherine, her beloved younger sister who supposedly died in a fire ten years ago. Once again—for the moment abandoning her case--Marina is inexorably drawn back to India, the country that seduced her so long ago in so many ways, where something unspeakable happened to a child, and where she herself participated in misdeeds so shocking she can’t forgive herself. She starts by tracking Catherine’s lost lover, Nagarajan, the irresistibly charismatic guru under whose spell Catherine fell those many years ago, a man so dangerous, so full of hubris he took his name from Indian snake gods, and who at times seemed more serpent than human. But who is also reportedly dead—a suicide in a jail cell.

Thus begins an odyssey of fear and danger--far from dead, Nagarajan seems to be everywhere, and so do his disciples (at least those who haven't gone mad from guilt). Nowhere, it seems, is Marina safe, nor is anyone who knows anything about the young victim of Nagarajan’s atrocities. Wherever she turns, the path seems strewn with fresh bodies. Just when the jig seems up, Marina calls on her skills as a failure analyst and Thompson pulls off a surprise ending that will leave you gasping.

Fault Tree is that rare novel that pulls us into the exotic experience of a stranger in a strange land, much like Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Heat and Dust or Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram.

Who will like it: fans of intricate mysteries with an adventurous female protagonist, as well as readers who loved Heat and Dust, Shantaram, John Irving’s A Son of the Circus, Paul Scott’s The Raj Quartet, M.M. Kaye’s The Far Pavilions, even H.R.F. Keating’s Inspector Ghote mystery series and E.M. Forster’s Passage to India Plus all Indian movies--and the Masterpiece Theater series Indian Summers!

PRAISE FOR FAULT TREE:

“[Michaela Thompson] presents us with what is perhaps the off-beat thriller of the year, part mystery, part mysticism, difficult to categorize but easy to enjoy.” -SAN DIEGO UNION

“[Thompson] cleverly weaves threads of past and present into a cogent tale that speeds the reader through mystic India and home again in an adventure that both thrills and logically unveils an elusive mystery.” -LIBRARY JOURNAL

“Full of danger and breathless action . . . Very skillfully plotted. There are well-laid clues to reward the reader who is not swept away. Another cornerstone of [Thompson's] writing is carefully researched and vividly drawn settings. Her Indian cities and countrysides are as convincing as the Florida coast in Hurricane Season.” -SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

From a USA Today Bestselling author, a timely and intense new mystery.
 

Until you know who to trust, trust no one.

The disappearance of a prep school girl from an affluent family leads to a world of hidden secrets more shocking and horrifying than anyone could imagine.

FBI Agent Victoria Heslin investigates alongside local police, but the mysteries only get deeper. Why are the girl’s parents so uncooperative? And why are the local authorities resisting her help?

When her efforts uncover a sex trafficking operation, Heslin enlists friend and fellow Agent Dante Rivera to go rogue and try to save the girls, before it’s too late.

Pretty Little Girls is the second book in the Agent Victoria Heslin Series by USA Today Bestselling Author Jenifer Ruff. It can be read as a standalone.

Praise from Amazon and Goodreads Reviewers:

“Captivating, relevant, impactful.”

“Eye-opening!”

“An important topic handled with taste and empathy.”

“Timely and scary!”

“Once you start you won’t be able to breathe until the end.”

“Could not put this down!”

“Timely and realistic. It hits a nerve and gets the blood boiling. Jenifer Ruff has the ability to bring you INTO the story instead of just observing it.”
 

Grab your copy today!

"Thrilling, suspenseful and heart-stopping!" ~NYT Bestseller Alessandra Torre

He’s death for hire…

Some people measure life in hours. Days. Weeks. I measure mine in kills. A covert military mission gone wrong robbed me of my memory and any link to my past. This is my existence now. I execute and survive. Nothing more, nothing less. I was ready to write Isabel Foster’s name in my ledger of unfortunate souls until she uttered the one word that could stop the bullet meant for her. My name.

She knows my face. She knows me. She’s the key to the memories I’m not sure I want back. Now nothing is simple. I still have a job to do, and my soul isn’t worth saving. I’m not the man she thinks I am. I can’t love her. And sparing her life puts us both in the crosshairs.

The killer is cunning and ruthless, but even the best killers make mistakes.

Emerald O'Brien, author of unpredictable mysteries packed with suspense, brings you the first thrilling novel in the Avery Hart trilogy that keeps readers guessing until the final installment.

Avery Hart narrowly escapes death after being attacked in the woods of Crown River. Ten years later...
The body of a young woman is discovered along the path of a park in the same town.
The next woman to be attacked survives and reveals a potential link between the current killer on the loose and the attack on Avery years ago.
Noah Cotter, an ambitious new inspector, becomes drawn to the case when his curiosity combines with his attraction to Avery.
The dangerous search for truth appears to be muddied with each shocking secret brought to light as they realize that when someone is deceived for too long, sometimes...

Lies Come True

"An uncommonly well-characterized murder mystery about the friendship between a politician, a priest and a police lieutenant…" –Best Thrillers

Three friends, inseparable as children, take very different paths toward adulthood. In spite of the distances that emerge among them, they are thrust together by the tragedy of death. Each affected in different ways. Giuseppe Lozano, a candidate for U.S. Senate, returns home one night to find his wife and three children mysteriously murdered. There seems to be no motive, and little evidence is left at the scene. How will this affect him and his run for office? Giovanni Lozano, a Catholic priest, is forced to look beyond the violence to find the presence of God. As a brother and uncle, he feels anger and a desire for revenge. As a priest, he is torn by the call of a God who loves all people-good and bad. Can he forgive? Tom Moran, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, is charged with finding the murderer and building a case for justice. He feels no call to forgive. Nor is he driven by ambition. This case is personal. But can he deliver?

Three lives. Three friends. Will the bonds of friendship survive?

The iconic first novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, featuring Philip Marlowe, the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times).

A dying millionaire hires private eye Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, and Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in.

SOME MEAN-ASS CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST in this EIGHTH entry in the Tubby Dubonnet series.

"The literary equivalent of a film noir –fast, tough, tense, and darkly funny"…-Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Reminiscent of the best of Donald Westlake and Elmore Leonard." -Booklist

The laid-back New Orleans lawyer finds himself caught in a twisted trip down memory lane, distracted by a luscious new love, and, as usual, surrounded by screwball denizens of everybody's favorite city. But he's also caught in someone's crosshairs, and so are half the cast of crazies and screwballs. Which makes for a delicious mix of danger and humor (with a dash of romance!), best consumed with a tall cold one and a bag of Zapp's Spicy Cajun Crawtators .

When in the 1970s a young war protester is killed in broad daylight on Canal Street, it appears that his murder will be forgotten, a back page story lost in the big news of an especially violent era. But a youthful Tubby chanced to see it happen, and the tragic event's haunted him throughout his life. Decades later, an established (but not exactly driven) lawyer, yet successful enough to have time on his hands, Tubby decides to conduct his own investigation into the forgotten crime. He quickly stirs up a hornets’ nest of far-reaching political feuds, police corruption, government agents, and old men with secrets to hide.

But as in all Tubby Dubonnet novels, the plot takes a backseat to local color, colorful characters, odes to fine food, wry observations, and a whole lot of humor. It's a little like spending a weekend in da Big Easy, dawlin'--complete with three well-chosen meals a day!

WHO WILL LIKE IT: Fans of Tremé, softshell crab po’ boys, Domilise’s, the Upperline Restaurant…wait, let’s start over—ok, legal mysteries, particularly Parnell Hall’s Steve Winslow series and anything by Lia Matera, comic mysteries, Elmore Leonard, funny lawyer movies like My Cousin Vinny, TV shows like Ally McBeal and Night Court; and everyone’s favorite New Orleans yarn, Confederacy of Dunces.

"Faeries liked to tease the weak, but they loved to annihilate the strong."

Seven years ago, the exposure of the paranormal led to the tumultuous downfall of human society. Now, the legions of the fae rule the broken world, and humanity has nothing left but a handful of protected cities and a heaping helping of regret.

Enter Vincent Whelan. Half fae and former cop, he's become the best-known stretch scavenger in Kinsale, North Carolina, braving the "stretches" outside his city to recover precious items lost in the collapse. He makes good money. Lives the good life. Has a good future in store. As long as he can ignore his traumatic memories of the past.

But when a new job with an odd twist blows onto his doorstep, Vince finds himself unwittingly drawn into a vast conspiracy lurking underneath Kinsale's thin veneer of civilization. Old friends suddenly return to haunt him. New enemies appear at every turn. And Vince fears he isn't prepared to confront either one.

But if he doesn't put his detective hat back on and solve this case on a tight deadline, then what's left of the city he calls home might just crumble to dust.

What Fate Portends is the first novel of The Frost Arcana, an action-packed urban fantasy series set in a post-apocalyptic world.

Alina Maschik was one of the best. She never missed. Yet, two years ago in Cairo, she missed her shot at one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. Now, he’s back. This time, he’s on US soil.

Given the opportunity to redeem herself, Alina’s objective is simple: find the terrorist and complete her mission. But when the target leads her back to her hometown in New Jersey, the situation is anything but simple. Confronted with old girlfriends, her ex-fiancé and the Jersey mob, Alina must face her past as she races against an invisible clock.

But as bodies start to pile up, a cunning and invisible assassin threatens to destroy everything she holds close. Accustomed to working alone, Alina must now rely on old loyalties and new partnerships to help her defeat this new threat, and save the lives of thousands of Americans, without failing a second time.


 

What Amazon Readers are saying about Next Exit, Three Miles

• 'A not to be missed thriller, with a strong female protagonist. This series could be addictive!'
   
• 'The author has written a very suspenseful and entertaining story of covert actions that has a great impact on this country’s citizen’s lives as well as many other countries.'
   
• 'Kept my interest from the first chapter to the end. Good plot and action!'
   
• 'Fascinating characters and a strong storyline really keep you engaged until the end of the book.'
   
• 'Big fan of Lee Child's Jack Rreacher series and this author seems to write in very much the same style. Characters are well defined, relationships were interesting, and while plots are somewhat anticipated there are surprises to the very end.'
   
• 'Moves quickly. Interesting characters. Well written and a fun read!'

 

ONCE YOU START RUNNING, IT'S HARD TO STOP.

Mob enforcer, Jake Caldwell is in the dark business of breaking kneecaps and snapping bones. But each job sends him one step closer to turning into the man he swore he’d never become – his violent and abusive father. Leaving the mob is easier said than done, so when his boss offers a bloody way out, Jake has no choice but to take it, even if it means confronting ghosts of old.

Arriving in his Lake of the Ozarks hometown, Jake has two things on his mind: kill ruthless drug lord Shane Langston and bury his dying father. What he doesn’t expect is to fall in love all over again and team up with his best friend Bear, the Sheriff of Benton County, to take Langston down. Racing through the countryside searching for Langston, the web of murder, meth and kidnapping widens, all pointing toward a past Jake can’t escape and a place he never wanted to return – Poor Boy Road.
An AWARD FINALIST crime thriller! Book one in the Jake Caldwell series.

For fans of Jack Reacher and The Prey Series by John Sanford, this "great suspenseful read" is "more truth than fiction" that you won't be able to put down!

Suicide King is the FIFTH cozy mystery in the Jake Samson and Rosie Vicente detective series.

"Political pundits will relish the fifth fast-paced whodunit ... another solid performance." -Publishers Weekly

Laid-back P.I. Jake Samson's never been a big fan of politics: fun and profitable if you understand the game, futile and frustrating if you don't. But his longtime friend and (unlicensed) sidekick Rosie Vicente invites him to a posh California fundraiser for the energetic gubernatorial candidate of the liberal underdog Vivo party. Hearing that Joe Richmond’s charisma rivals JFK's, Jake can't resist. And what's worse, Jake's actually impressed by Richmond's rhetoric and charm. It's all fun and political games until Pam Sutherland, Richmond's aide, finds her boss in her backyard, hanging naked from an acacia tree.

The police rule the death a suicide; Jake and Pam suspect foul play. Pam quickly hires Jake to find the culprit, leading him through an intriguing web of campaign shenanigans, backroom wheeling and dealing, affairs, a possible German mafia connection, and a fair amount more danger than our hero could possibly have imagined.

Let the web unravel itself and try not to die in the process.

After losing her mother in a freak accident, Suede Harris is trying to pick up the pieces and move on with her life. With a history of trouble, including bad relationships, alcohol, and ditching college, finishing up her criminology degree seemed like the best way to start.

While catching up back home with summer courses, she joins a study group to keep on track, but when her friends convince her to go geocaching, a simple trip will shake up her entire world. When the only treasure they find is a human bone, it will send her on a mission fueled by personal trauma to figure out what happened to the victim.

Will she find the killer, or uncover secrets that have been long buried?

Author Note: This is book 1 of a 6 book murder mystery series. The books cannot standalone, so please be warned that you'd need to read all 6 to get the full story. Each book will release the last Thurs of the month! The town in the story is fictional, so the coordinates on the cover do NOT correlate to the murder locations. Hope you love the story.

AUTHOR OF THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE

* An NPR Best Book of the Year * A ShelfAwareness Best Book of the Year * An Entertainment Weekly Summer Books Pick * A Buzzfeed “31 Books to Get Excited About this Summer” Pick * A Publishers Weekly “Top Ten Mysteries and Thrillers” Pick * A BookReporter Summer Reading Pick * A New York Post “Best Novels to Read this Summer” Pick * A Shelf Awareness “Book Expo America Buzz Book” Pick *

What should be a cozy and fun-filled weekend deep in the English countryside takes a sinister turn in Ruth Ware’s suspenseful, compulsive, and darkly twisted psychological thriller.

Sometimes the only thing to fear…is yourself.

When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.

1991: A plan to destabilise Hong Kong is emerging; the key players are being put into place, the wheels are in motion and innocent people will die.

Frank Bowen is a Londoner on holiday in tropical Thailand. Half drunk and strapped for cash, he’s the perfect bait for a political plot that will leave him running for his life, with nowhere to turn.

An international conspiracy thriller by Jay Tinsiano, False Flag spans South-east Asia, with twists and turns that leave every character in question.

Reviews

"False Flag is by far one of the best thrillers that I have came across all year." Amazon reviewer Manchester

"False Flag would make a great conspiracy movie."
Goodreads reviewer Liza F.

"This genre usually does not captivate me, but this book did. Great plot, the writing style puts the reader dead center in the sweat, the moods,action and fear. I have been in and out of Asia many times and this book took me back without the cost of a plane ticket and was a heck of a lot more entertaining than a long plane ride. Great book!"
Brad Hayes

"Very well depicted scenery and awesome character depth. A quick read, a brilliant plot, and a wonderfully well written story."
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