Best Thriller Books to Read in 2022

In this buzzy debut novel from Nita Prose, 25-year-old Molly throws herself into her work as a hotel maid at a five-star hotel, fueled by her obsessive love for cleaning and etiquette. But her tidy life is thrown into chaos when she enters the suite of a wealthy patron only to find him dead — and herself a primary suspect in his murder. 

In this futuristic thriller, teenagers are dying by suicide in alarming numbers as the rest of the nation faces an increasingly divided political system and an approaching climate disaster. Amid the chaos, three unlikely heroes embark on a question to confront an evil billionaire known as the Wizard to save a friend. 

In Rachel Hawkins’s latest thriller, a group of twentysomethings take a voyage to Meroe Island, a remote island in the South Pacific. Before making the difficult journey, they agree to spend two carefree weeks exploring the place together. But what seems like a fun and exciting adventure quickly goes awry as tensions begin to rise on the secluded island.

After bonding in the aftermath of their messy divorces, new friends Sam, Margaret, and Diana are thrilled to leaving town and going on a girls’ weekend. Halfway into their road trip, they get stranded in a mountain town, where Diana suddenly goes missing. As Sam and Margaret search for her, it soon becomes clear that all three of them have been keeping secrets from each other. 

Dive into the world of classical music with this riveting page-turner about a Black musician who has dreamed of becoming a professional violinist since he was a child in rural North Carolina. After years of hard work, he lands a spot in the biggest musical competition in the world — only to have his prized possession, a beloved Stradivarius violin, stolen the night before. To recover his treasured instrument, Ray will have to piece together the clues before it’s too late. Slocumb’s stunning debut provides an unflinching portrait of artistry and resilience in the face of prejudice in a cut-throat world.

A small community is rocked when the body of a gay 17-year-old high schooler is found in the park. As detectives struggle to find out what happened to him, introverted Georgia watches the investigation and can’t help feel strangely connected to Todd. Unable to shake the feeling that she’s seen him somewhere before, she sets out to uncover the truth behind his death.   

The latest novel from the best-selling author of The Hunting Party and The Guest List centers on Lucy, a down-on-her luck woman who asks to crash with her half-brother Ben in Paris in an attempt to find a fresh start. After he reluctantly agrees, Jess shows up to discover a beautiful apartment — and Ben missing. As the days go by, Jen kicks off a search that uncovers more questions and secrets about not only her brother, but the other tenants in the building. 

On New Year’s Eve 1999, amid the Y2K scare, four teens are attacked while working at Blockbuster, and only one survives. Nearly 15 years later, in the same small town, four more teens are attacked at an ice cream parlor, launching an FBI investigation into how the two eerily similar incidents are connected. 

Forty years after she was acquitted of two murders,  Beth agrees to sit down with true crime blogger, Shea, for a series of interviews. As the two begin to meet regularly at Beth’s mansion, Shea starts to suspect something isn’t right  — and there may be some dangers lurking around Beth after all. Expertly flashing between past and present, this atmospheric thriller delivers a chilling mystery that is sure to keep you gripped until the final page. 

In this poignant and gripping YA novel, Safiya is a young aspiring journalist whose life is turned upside down when she finds the body of a murdered teenage boy. Upon investigating, she learns that Jawad was only 14 when he built a dress-up jetpack that his teacher mistook for a bomb — a mistake that got him arrested and eventually cost him his life. As she learns more details, Saifya is determined to unravel the terrible truth behind Jamad’s story and expose the hate that caused his death.   

Four strangers are sitting at a table in the Boston Public Library’s ornate reading room when the tranquil atmosphere is suddenly shattered by a woman’s bloodcurdling scream. After security locks them in place to kick off the investigation, the group starts chatting and friendships begin to form. But while all have plausible reasons for being in the library that afternoon, there’s no denying some of them are holding back secrets — and one of them is the murderer. 

In this reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set in 19th century Mexico, a mysterious visitor visits Dr. Moreau’s luxurious estate, upsetting the lives of those closest to him — including his daughter, Carlotta; his assistant, Montgomery; and his part-human, part-animal creations known as hybrids. 

Megan Miranda returns with another thrilling page-turner about big secrets in a small town. After a journalist goes missing while investigating a string of disappearances in the mountain town of Cutter’s Pass, his brother shows up looking for answers. But as the other residents turn their back on the outsider, inn owner Abigail Lovett feels compelled to share the incriminating evidence she found in her hotel, bringing them closer to unveiling the truth. 

In Megan Goldin’s latest thriller, Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi in New York City with no idea how she got there or why there’s writing all over her hands urging her to “stay awake.” When she tries to return to her apartment, she realizes strangers are now living there. She soon realizes nothing in her life is as she remembers it — and her horror is only amplified when she finds a bloody knife in her pocket. Told between alternating multiple timelines, this intricate, well-crafted mystery will keep you reading late into the night.

This stunning family saga follows an 18-year-old teenager in Puerto Rico who uncovers a strange and mysterious ability after the death of her grandmother. When her grandmother passes away, Isla inexplicably finds herself getting visions of the tales she’s heard from her family throughout her life. But one vision presents her with the case of an old murder mystery, Isla realizes the stories she once found fascinating could actually be dangerous.