The 10 best thrillers of 2025

The year’s best thrillers whisk readers to vast wildernesses and haunted houses, small-town Virginia and the tony Hamptons. Danger, it turns out, lurks everywhere.

‘The Ascent’ by Allison Buccola

Lee Burton thought she had buried her mysterious past; at 12 years old, she was discovered on the side of the road, the only remaining member of a cult that inexplicably vanished. But years later, as she’s dealing with the debilitating stress of new motherhood, a stranger appears with information that threatens Lee’s fragile sanity. (Book World review.)

‘Dead Money’ by Jakob Kerr

Silicon Valley fixer Mackenzie Clyde is a master at making problems go away for her venture capitalist employer. But she’s out of her depth when the founder of her boss’ biggest investment is murdered and she’s tasked with helping the FBI find the killer. The case will send Mackenzie to dangerous places as she uncovers the nefarious characters cashing in on big tech.

‘Heartwood’ by Amity Gaige

Gaige’s fifth novel follows a nurse who takes a leave of absence to recover from the stress of COVID by hiking the Appalachian Trail. When she disappears somewhere in the wilds of Maine, an engaging cast of characters, including a dogged game warden and a salty retiree, race to piece together what happened to her and why. (Book World review.)

‘King of Ashes’ by S.A. Cosby

Roman Carruthers escaped his small Virginia hometown and found success in Atlanta. But when his father, the owner of a lucrative crematorium, gets into a car accident, Roman rushes home. Almost immediately, he becomes a target of sadistic local drug lords, and he’ll have to employ all of his wiles — and his flexible code of ethics — to exact revenge. (Book World review.)

‘Not Quite Dead Yet’ by Holly Jackson

Given her family’s tarnished reputation and her off-putting personality, Jet Mason has plenty of suspects to investigate after she’s brutally attacked on Halloween night. With a brain injury that will prove fatal in roughly a week, the clock is ticking for her to unmask her murderer before she dies. (Book World review.)

‘The Note’ by Alafair Burke

Three girls who bonded at summer camp but lost touch rekindled their friendship years later when each was canceled on social media. Reuniting for a vacation in the Hamptons, they fear they will once again become objects of public fascination and disdain when a prank leads police to suspect they have something to do with a man’s disappearance. (Book World review.)

‘A Thousand Natural Shocks’ by Omar Hussain

Suspense meets speculative fiction in this story about Dash, a reporter so desperate to forget his traumatic past that he joins a cult whose members have access to memory-obliterating pills. In order to get his hands on this magic medicine, though, Dash must complete a few tasks that aren’t entirely above board. (Book World review.)

‘The Vanishing Place’ by Zoë Rankin

When a starving girl covered in blood emerges from the New Zealand wilderness, small-town police officer Lewis immediately clocks her resemblance to his childhood friend Effie. After a harrowing off-the-grid upbringing, Effie left town 17 years earlier and vowed never to return. But with her young doppelgänger refusing to speak, she’s forced to head home and reconsider everything she thought she knew about her childhood. (Book World review.)

‘We Live Here Now’ by Sarah Pinborough

Following a dire illness, Emily moves from London to the countryside with her husband, Freddie. Almost immediately, strange occurrences leave Emily wondering if there’s something very wrong with her sprawling new home, yet Freddie doesn’t sense a thing. Could her growing paranoia be a simple side effect of new medications? As if anything could be so straightforward in this gothic novel. (Book World review.)

‘What Kind of Paradise’ by Janelle Brown

Growing up in the 1990s, Jane doesn’t know enough about the world to question her existence: She lives in a remote Montana cabin with a father who believes technology is a scourge. As she ages, though, her curiosity only grows, and a startling event will send her to San Francisco in search of answers. There, she witnesses the rise of the internet and sees her father’s rants — and crimes — with fresh eyes. (Book World review.)