30 Thriller Books to Read if You Never Want to Sleep Restfully Again

Is it just me, or do all nice books kinda feel the same? Two people meet, fall in love, something mildly sad happens, they get over it, and then they run off into the sunset together. Sometimes I even have a hard time remembering which ones I’ve read already because they all start to mush together in my memory. Which is why I’ve lately been in the mood to devour thrillers. I need a book so psychologically messed up that it’ll burn into my brain for the rest of eternity! I’m fine, I promise.

Truthfully, the best part about thrillers is that you get so zoned in to their deranged plotlines that hours and hours of reading will go by and feel like just a few minutes—which, TBH, is *exactly* what all of us need right now given how much free time we have on our hands. And fine, this is just a working theory, but I’m pretty sure that if you get your heart pumping from reading a truly terrifying book, that’s basically the same thing as doing a bit of high-intensity cardio? (Please, just let me have this one.)

Here are 30 of the best thriller books you won’t be able to put down until you’ve turned the last page, from the most classic suspense novels to the newest murder mysteries and even a few reads that have gotten the Hollywood treatment. You’ll definitely zip right through these, even if you do have to take a couple of breaks to turn on all the lights in your apartment and check to make sure no one is hiding in your closet.

BTW, if you want even more scary reading recommendations, consider the best dystopian books, best mystery books, best true-crime books, and best horror books of all time.