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You know that feeling when you promise yourself just one more chapter, but suddenly it’s three in the morning and your eyes are burning? That’s the magic of a truly addictive thriller. These aren’t just books that keep you entertained while you’re commuting or winding down before bed. These are the novels that consume you, the ones that make you cancel plans and ignore responsibilities because you absolutely have to know what happens next.
2025 is shaping up to be an especially busy year, with pretty much every rock-star mystery writer releasing a book. Whether you’re drawn to psychological mind games, domestic suspense, or edge-of-your-seat action, this year’s crop of thrillers delivers something extraordinary. So let’s dive into the novels that readers are calling their newest obsessions.
The Housemaid’s Fury by Freida McFadden
Freida McFadden has become a master of the genre, hooking readers from the very first page. Her ability to craft tension is honestly unmatched in today’s thriller landscape. What makes her work so compulsively readable is how she layers seemingly ordinary domestic situations with increasingly sinister undertones.
McFadden has gone from self-published author to traditionally published with multiple New York Times bestsellers, and according to the New York Times, she is currently the fastest selling thriller writer in the United States. Her latest releases continue to showcase why readers can’t get enough of her twisted narratives. The way she builds suspense is subtle yet relentless, making you question every character’s motives until the final reveal.
Don’t Let Him In by Lisa Jewell
Lisa Jewell is well-beloved for the addicting quality of her thrillers, and her latest, Don’t Let Him In, is no exception. From the first page, the book feels taut with danger, its characters tangled in a web they can’t yet recognize. The premise is deceptively simple yet absolutely chilling.
The story involves a widow named Nina, her daughter Ash, and a local florist named Martha, whose lives unexpectedly intersect when a man’s charm proves a horrible facade. Jewell’s mastery lies in how she peels back layers of deception. This is one of those books sure to keep you flipping the pages on your next flight. Let’s be real, you probably won’t even notice takeoff because you’ll be so absorbed in figuring out which character to trust.
The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware
Ruth Ware has long mastered the art of crafting thrillers that feel both elegant and unrelenting, and The Woman in Suite 11 might just be her most intoxicating yet. Set in a secluded, snow-draped resort, the novel drips with the kind of creeping unease that makes you glance over your shoulder while reading.
What sets Ware apart from other thriller writers is her atmospheric prose. Her signature slow-burn suspense builds to a masterfully orchestrated unraveling, proving once again that no one captures atmosphere quite like she does, creating a book you sink into, equal parts entranced by its eerie beauty and desperate to see how it all comes undone. The isolated setting becomes almost a character itself, amplifying every moment of tension.
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly is a masterclass in psychological tension, with a plot that twists and turns, keeping you on edge, questioning every character’s motives and every piece of information you’re given. The story concerns a missing spouse, a remote Scottish island, and a creepy doppelgänger dilemma.
Alice Feeney, the queen of the jaw-dropping twist, returns with her most audacious work yet, as true-crime podcaster Po Web invites anonymous confessions, never expecting a caller to claim responsibility for her mother’s murder – a crime that occurred before the caller was born, leading Po to a remote Scottish island where a reclusive author’s wife vanished years earlier, and where Po’s own memories begin to unravel. It’s the kind of book that makes you distrust your own perceptions as a reader.
The Crash by Freida McFadden
McFadden’s The Crash is a perfect example of why she’s become a master of the genre, hooking you from the very first page, with an unparalleled ability to build tension, drawing out suspense in the most subtle, unexpected ways. This wilderness thriller showcases a different side of McFadden’s range, moving beyond domestic settings into more isolated, primal territory.
With each twist, you find yourself questioning not only the characters but your own assumptions about what’s really happening – that’s the beauty of a great thriller, keeping you just as engaged in the unraveling as in the mystery itself, making The Crash a must-read. The remote setting adds an extra layer of claustrophobia and paranoia that’s absolutely delicious for thriller fans.
King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby
King of Ashes is one of the most propulsive thrillers of 2025, a Southern-set crime drama replete with gangsters, mystery, and family intrigue. This roller-coaster crime tale rivals The Godfather in its epic twists and pervasive tension.
Roman Carruthers, a financial whiz and the eldest son of the Carruthers family, returns home after his father has a terrible car crash, finding his sister Neveah at her wits’ end trying to run the family business on her own and his brother Dante deep in debt to some very dangerous people. The family dynamics are as explosive as the criminal elements woven throughout the narrative. S.A. Cosby has been nominated for multiple awards for his Southern noir novels and is a favorite of Barack Obama.
Never Flinch by Stephen King
Stephen King probably doesn’t need selling, but his stellar new suspense thriller Never Flinch is an enthralling read composed of intertwining storylines – one about a revenge-motivated killer and another about a vigilante stalking a women’s rights activist. Even after decades in the industry, King continues to prove why he’s considered a master of suspense.
The dual narrative structure keeps readers constantly shifting perspectives, never quite sure where their sympathies should lie. King’s exploration of violence, justice, and obsession feels particularly relevant in our current moment. His prose remains as sharp and engaging as ever, demonstrating that some writers simply get better with time.
The Lake Escape by Jamie Day
Jamie Day exemplifies how few settings are as ripe for tension as a secluded lakeside retreat, as The Lake Escape lures you in with its promise of an idyllic getaway, only to unravel into a labyrinth of betrayals, hidden motives, and chilling revelations. There’s something inherently unsettling about places that promise peace becoming sites of terror.
Day’s pacing is razor-sharp, delivering twists that feel both shocking and inevitable – a balance that only the best thriller writers achieve, creating the kind of novel that keeps you up late, the stillness of the night suddenly feeling a little less serene. The vacation-gone-wrong trope gets a fresh treatment here, proving there’s still plenty of life in familiar setups when executed with skill and imagination.
Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
Gillian McAllister’s bestselling novel Famous Last Words is a must for fans of twisting, turning works of suspense where no one is who they appear to be, centering on new mother Camilla, whose life is upended on her first day back from maternity leave when her mild-mannered husband Luke vanishes, leaving behind a cryptic note, and soon thereafter, news breaks of an emerging hostage crisis with Luke involved as the gunman.
The domestic thriller gets turned on its head in spectacular fashion here. McAllister excels at making readers question everything they thought they knew about her characters. The pacing is relentless, with each chapter ending on a note that makes putting the book down feel physically impossible. It’s the kind of novel that makes you reassess how well you truly know the people closest to you.
Seven for a Secret by Elisabeth Roach
Seven for a Secret is steeped in gothic allure, weaving folklore, family secrets, and an ever-tightening sense of dread, with prose that is lyrical yet razor-sharp, unfurling each revelation with a quiet inevitability, making it the perfect read for those who love their thrillers with a touch of the uncanny – where the line between past and present, truth and illusion, is never quite clear.
This novel stands apart from more straightforward psychological thrillers by incorporating elements of the supernatural and folklore traditions. The gothic atmosphere permeates every page, creating a reading experience that feels both timeless and utterly contemporary. For readers who appreciate literary prose alongside their suspense, this delivers on both fronts beautifully.
These ten novels represent the very best of what contemporary thriller fiction has to offer. We’re in what might be a real golden age for mysteries and thrillers, as writers turn out new classics every year, and tried-and-true tropes have earned exciting, expansive refreshes as both established and debut authors alike push the boundaries of what defines a mystery-thriller.
Each of these books offers something unique, whether it’s masterful pacing, unreliable narrators, atmospheric settings, or twists that genuinely shock. They’re the novels that will have you texting your book-loving friends at ungodly hours, desperate to discuss what just happened. They’re the ones that make you miss your stop on the train or forget about the dinner cooking on the stove.
What do you think about these selections? Have any of them kept you up all night? Let us know which thriller has become your latest obsession.
Besides founding Festivaltopia, Luca is the co founder of trib, an art and fashion collectiv you find on several regional events and online. Also he is part of the management board at HORiZONTE, a group travel provider in Germany.
