Book-ish.

One of my favorite things about thrillers is that they typically tend to be really fast reads. If a thriller is done well, you have to know what is going to happen next, right? That’s why we call it a page turner! On the other hand, thrillers can be absolutely outrageous -let’s be honest. For this reason I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them. This list looks as 5 of my favorites from the past year that are perfect for those beginning on their thriller journey.

     

Top 5 Thrillers of 2023

4.5/5 Stars

This story follows two women living in London who meet by chance on their forty-fifth birthdays. Alix is a podcast host and seemingly has it all put together with her husband, children, and beautiful home. Josie on the other hand has a strange and complicated life and isn’t exactly what she seems. After another run in with Alix, Josie convinces her to let her tell her life story on Alix’s podcast.

While Alix finds the entire situation a bit unsettling, she is unable to turn her away and resist the urge to continue listening to Josie’s story. Before she knows it, Josie has worked her way into her home and Alix has no idea who she really is or what secrets she may be hiding. Suddenly, Alix is at the center of her own true crime podcast.

Okay – I actually loved this book for a thriller. I mean I almost gave it 5 stars! It was incredibly engaging and kept me on my toes. I needed to know what was going to happen next. It was well written, not too outrageous, and had just the right amount of twists and turns. Highly recommend if you are looking for a good thriller and a fast read.

 

5/5 Stars

Bodie Kane is a successful film professor and podcaster but is still haunted by the family tragedy that took place at her New Hampshire boarding school many years prior when her former roommate was murdered during their senior year. The school’s athletic trainer, Omar, was convicted of the murder but the evidence surrounding the crime was never very solid and theories continue to spark online debate years later.

Bodie gets invited back to the school to teach a course and finds herself drawn back into the case and needing to find answers she thought she got many years ago. What really happened in 1995 and who was responsible?

I really loved this book, hence the rare 5 stars it received. I enjoyed the setting and the look between timelines of past and present. This book is definitely not your classic thriller which made it so much more enjoyable to me. Part legal thriller, part psychological drama, it had a bit of everything I wanted. This is not an outrageous twisty page turner but more of a thought provoking slow burn.

  

4/5 Stars

Summer and Leo are best friends who live life on the road and travel around California to escape their painful pasts. They get by on their good looks and skills in pickpocketing and small-time thievery. When Leo meets Michael, a self-made billionaire, she’s eager for her next big score. Getting herself invited to his private island off the coast of California, she is convinced this will be a big break. Instead, she disappears.

Summer decides to go looking for Leo after she goes missing – but the only problem is, no one on the island has seen her or knows who she even is. Did Summer finally go too far and get herself into trouble she won’t be able to get out of?

This book was dark. I was not expecting it to take the turns that it took. I read this while in the car on an eight hour drive and couldn’t put it down – so for that reason alone it gets a mention on this list. Was there some outrageous parts? Absolutely. However, I was continually thrown for what was going to happen next and was pretty immersed in the story. Give it a shot if you want a twisty story that is nothing like it seems!

 

4/5 Stars

This story follows a young Harvard law student and a prominent judge who find themselves working together in this legal thriller. Madison lands the internship of her dreams working for Judge Conroy but she has a secret that could destroy her career – her brother Danny, has been arrested and Conroy is the judge on the case.

Danny goes missing after accusing the judge of corruption and Madison grapples with who and what exactly to believe as she navigates her relationship with Judge Conroy while also trying to find her brother and keep herself and her family safe.

This is more of what you would call a “legal thriller”. I really enjoyed this book and found myself questioning who I could trust and what exactly was going on. This book also has a duel point of view (which I love) so you got to see the story from the views of both characters. I recommend this book if you are not all in on thrillers yet – it’s a good one to ease your way in.

 

4/5 Stars

Bea is determined to marry rich and leave her life of conning and swindling behind. After years of working as a con-artist alongside her mother, she is ready to turn a new leaf and make a life for herself where she never needs to worry about money or security again.

Bea meets Collin who is the perfect target, but first she needs to win over his family and his best friend Gale before she can settle into her new domestic life. What begins as harmless, turns into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse. Has Bea really changed? Who does she want to be?

This was such a fun thriller. I really enjoyed getting into Bea’s head and was dying to find out what was going to happen next. This is definitely the definition of a page turner – and a very fast read. The best way I can describe this book is a juicy game of cat-and-mouse that leaves you thoroughly entertained and wanting more.