NPR's Top 100 Thrill Book List

[bookishwench]

Taken from petzipellepingo, chosen via reader vote. For the heck of it, I'm bolding what I've read and italicizing what I've seen as a film since almost all of these have a movie version, many of them classics.



N.B. Updated June 2020 and September 2022

1. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
3. Kiss the Girls, by James Patterson
4. The Bourne Identity, by Robert Ludlum
5. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
7. The Shining, by Stephen King
8. And Then There Were None, by Agatha Christie
9. The Hunt tor Red October, by Tom Clancy
10. The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
11. Dracula, by Bram Stoker
12. The Stand, by Stephen King
13. The Bone Collector, by Jeffery Deaver
14. Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton
15. Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown
16. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
17. The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton
18. Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane
19. The Day of the Jackal, by Frederick Forsyth
20. Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier
21. Eye of the Needle, by Ken Follett
22. It, by Stephen King
23. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas
24. The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson
25. Jaws, by Peter Benchley
26. The Alienist, by Caleb Carr
27. Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris
28. Presumed Innocent, by Scott Turow
29. The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett
30. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, by Stieg Larsson
31. No Country For Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy
32. Gone Baby Gone, by Dennis Lehane
33. Gorky Park, by Martin Cruz Smith
34. Rosemary's Baby, by Ira Levin
35. Subterranean, by James Rollins
36. Clear and Present Danger, by Tom Clancy
37. Salem's Lot, by Stephen King
38. Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
39. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre
40. The Poet, by Michael Connelly
41. The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin
42. Cape Fear, by John MacDonald
43. The Bride Collector, by Ted Dekker
44. Pet Sematary, by Stephen King
45. Dead Zone, by Stephen King
46. The Manchurian Candidate, by Richard Condon
47. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre
48. The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith
49. Tell No One, by Harlan Coben
50. Consent to Kill, by Vince Flynn
51. The 39 Steps, by John Buchan 2013
52. Blowback, by Brad Thor
53. The Children of Men, by P.D. James
54. 61 Hours, by Lee Child
55. Marathon Man, by William Goldman
56. The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins
57. 206 Bones, by Kathy Reichs
58. Psycho, by Robert Bloch
59. The Killing Floor, by Lee Child
60. Rules of Prey, by John Sandford
61. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins 2012
62. In the Woods, by Tana French
63. Shogun, by James Clavell
64. The Relic, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
65. Intensity, by Dean Koontz
66. Casino Royale, by Ian Fleming
67. Metzger's Dog, by Thomas Perry
68. Timeline, by Michael Crichton
69. Contact, by Carl Sagan
70. What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman
71. The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
72. The Cabinet of Curiosities, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
73. Charm School, by Nelson DeMille
74. Feed, by Mira Grant
75. Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child
76. Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay
77. The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
78. The First Deadly Sin, by Lawrence Sanders
79. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
80. The Brotherhood of the Rose, by David Morrell
81. Primal Fear, by William Diehl
82. The Templar Legacy, by Steve Berry
82. The Hard Way, by Lee Child [tie]
84. The Last of the Mohicans, by James Fenimore Cooper
85. Six Days of the Condor, by James Grady
86. Fail-Safe, by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler
87. Strangers on a Train, by Patricia Highsmith
88. The Eight, by Katherine Neville
89. The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown
90. Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming
91. Bangkok 8, by John Burdett
92. The Kill Artist, by Daniel Silva
93. Hardball, by Sara Paretsky
94. The Club Dumas, by Arturo Perez-Reverte
95. The Deep Blue Good-by, by John MacDonald
96. The Monkey's Raincoat, by Robert Crais
96. Berlin Game, by Len Deighton [tie]
98. A Simple Plan, by Scott Smith
99. Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith
100. Heartsick, by Chelsea Cain

So, read 7, saw 15.
2020: read 8, saw 17
2022: read 10, saw 17

Also, a companion list of Wiki's Top 100 Mystery Novels of the Last 100 Years



Updated June 2020

1. Arthur Conan Doyle: The Complete Sherlock Holmes (1887-1927)
2. Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (1930)
3. Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1852)
4. Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time (1951)
5. Scott Turow: Presumed Innocent (1987)
6. John le Carré: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963)
7. Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (1868)
8. Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (1939)
9. Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)
10. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (1939)
11. Robert Traver: Anatomy of a Murder (1958)
12. Agatha Christie: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
13. Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (1953)
14. James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
15. Mario Puzo: The Godfather (1969)
16. Thomas Harris: The Silence of the Lambs (1988)
17. Eric Ambler: A Coffin for Dimitrios (1939)
18. Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night (1935)
19. Agatha Christie: The Witness for the Prosecution (1948)
20. Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal (1971)
21. Raymond Chandler: Farewell My Lovely (1940)
22. John Buchan: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915) 2013
23. Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose (1980) Book club selection for October.
24. Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Crime and Punishment (1866)
25. Ken Follett: Eye of the Needle (1978)
26. John Mortimer: Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)
27. Thomas Harris: Red Dragon (1981)
28. Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (1934)
29. Gregory Mcdonald: Fletch (1974)
30. John Le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
31. Dashiell Hammett: The Thin Man (1934)
32. Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1860)
33. E. C. Bentley: Trent's Last Case (1913)
34. James M. Cain: Double Indemnity (1943)
35. Martin Cruz Smith: Gorky Park (1981)
36. Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison (1930)
37. Tony Hillerman: Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)
38. Donald E. Westlake: The Hot Rock (1970)
39. Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)
40. Mary Roberts Rinehart: The Circular Staircase (1908)
41. Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
42. John Grisham: The Firm (1991)
43. Len Deighton: The IPCRESS File (1962)
44. Vera Caspary: Laura (1942)
45. Mickey Spillane: I, the Jury (1947)
46. Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö: The Laughing Policeman (1968)
47. Donald E. Westlake: Bank Shot (1972)
48. Graham Greene: The Third Man (1950)
49. Jim Thompson: The Killer Inside Me (1952)
50. Mary Higgins Clark: Where Are the Children? (1975)
51. Sue Grafton: "A" is for Alibi (1982)
52. Lawrence Sanders: The First Deadly Sin (1973)2
53. Tony Hillerman: A Thief of Time (1989)
54. Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (1966)
55. Geoffrey Household: Rogue Male (1939)
56. Dorothy L. Sayers: Murder Must Advertise (1933)
57. G. K. Chesterton: The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)2
58. John le Carré: Smiley's People (1979)
59. Raymond Chandler: The Lady in the Lake (1943)
60. Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
61. Graham Greene: Our Man in Havana (1958)
62. Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)
63. Peter Lovesey: Wobble to Death (1970)
64. W. Somerset Maugham: Ashenden (1928)2
65. Nicholas Meyer: The Seven Per-Cent Solution (1974)
66. Rex Stout: The Doorbell Rang (1965)
67. Elmore Leonard: Stick (1983)
68. John le Carré: The Little Drummer Girl (1983)
69. Graham Greene: Brighton Rock (1938)
70. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)
71. Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
72. Edmund Crispin: The Moving Toyshop (1946)
73. John Grisham: A Time to Kill (1989)
74. Hillary Waugh: Last Seen Wearing ... (1952)
75. W. R. Burnett: Little Caesar (1929)
76. George V. Higgins: The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1972)
77. Dorothy L. Sayers: Clouds of Witness (1927)
78. Ian Fleming: From Russia, with Love (1957)
79. Margaret Millar: Beast in View (1955)
80. Michael Gilbert: Smallbone Deceased (1950)
81. Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair (1948)
82. Elizabeth Peters: Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)
83. P. D. James: Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)
84. Tom Clancy: The Hunt for Red October (1984)
85. Ross Thomas: Chinaman's Chance (1978)
86. Joseph Conrad: The Secret Agent (1907)
87. John D. MacDonald: The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975)
88. Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (1931)
89. Ruth Rendell: A Judgement in Stone (1977)
90. Josephine Tey: Brat Farrar (1950)
91. Ross Macdonald: The Chill (1963)
92. Walter Mosley: Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
93. Joseph Wambaugh: The Choirboys (1975)
94. Donald E. Westlake: God Save the Mark (1967)
95. Craig Rice: Home Sweet Homicide (1944)
96. John Dickson Carr: The Three Coffins (1935)
97. Richard Condon: Prizzi's Honor (1982)
98. James McClure: The Steam Pig (1974)
99. Jack Finney: Time and Again (1970)
100. Ellis Peters: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977)


Read 7 (with another coming soon), saw 12.
2020: Read 8, saw 13.
2022: Read 9, saw 13