NPR's 100 Killer Thrillers
National Public Radio's (NPR) audience and a panel of experts created this list of 100 thrillers in 2010. Over 17,000 people voted. https://www.npr.org/2011/06/13/128718927/audience-picks-top-100-killer-thrillers
- 1
The Silence of the Lambs
Thomas Harris · 1988 · 7 lists
- 2
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Stieg Larsson · 2011 · 4 lists
- 3
Kiss The Girls
James Patterson · 1995 · 1 list
- 4
The Bourne Identity
Robert Ludlum · 1980 · 1 list
- 5
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote · 1965 · 16 lists
- 6
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown · 2003 · 8 lists
- 7
The Shining
Stephen King · 1977 · 8 lists
- 8
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie · 1939 · 10 lists
- 9
The Hunt for Red October
Tom Clancy · 1984 · 5 lists
- 10
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Arthur Conan Doyle · 1901 · 11 lists
- 11
Dracula
Bram Stoker · 1897 · 16 lists
- 12
The Stand
Stephen King · 1978 · 10 lists
- 13
The Bone Collector
Jeffery Deaver · 1997 · 2 lists
- 14
Jurassic Park
Michael Crichton · 1990 · 3 lists
- 15
Angels & Demons
Dan Brown · 2000 · 3 lists
- 16
A Time to Kill
John Grisham · 1989 · 3 lists
- 17
The Andromeda Strain
Michael Crichton · 1969 · 1 list
- 18
Mystic River
Dennis Lehane · 2001 · 3 lists
- 19
The Day of the Jackal
Frederick Forsyth · 1971 · 6 lists
- 20
Rebecca
Daphne Du Maurier · 1938 · 15 lists
- 21
Eye of the Needle
Ken Follett · 1907 · 4 lists
- 22
It
Stephen King · 1905 · 6 lists
- 23
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas · 1844 · 14 lists
- 24
The Girl Who Played with Fire
Stieg Larsson · 2005 · 2 lists
- 25
Jaws
Peter Benchley · 1973 · 2 lists
- 26
The Alienist
Caleb Carr · 1994 · 2 lists
- 27
Red Dragon
Thomas Harris · 1981 · 4 lists
- 28
Presumed Innocent
Scott Turow · 1987 · 4 lists
- 29
The Maltese Falcon
Dashiell Hammett · 1929 · 15 lists
- 30
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Stieg Larsson · 2005 · 2 lists
- 31
No Country for Old Men
Cormac McCarthy · 2005 · 1 list
- 32
Gone Baby Gone
Dennis Lehane · 1998 · 1 list
- 33
Gorky Park
Martin Cruz Smith · 1981 · 4 lists
- 34
Rosemary’s Baby
Ira Levin · 1967 · 3 lists
- 35
Subterranean
James Rollins · 1999 · 1 list
- 36
Clear And Present Danger
Tom Clancy · 1989 · 1 list
- 37
Salems Lot
Stephen King · 1975 · 2 lists
- 38
Shutter Island
Dennis Lehane · 2003 · 1 list
- 39
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
John Le Carré · 1963 · 13 lists
- 40
The Poet
Michael Connelly · 1996 · 2 lists
- 41
The Boys from Brazil
Ira Levin · 1976 · 1 list
- 42
Cape Fear
John D. MacDonald · 1957 · 1 list
- 43
The Bride Collector
Ted Dekker · 2010 · 1 list
- 44
Pet Sematary
Stephen King · 1983 · 2 lists
- 45
Dead Zone
Stephen King · 1979 · 1 list
- 46
The Manchurian Candidate
Richard Condon · 1959 · 2 lists
- 47
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
John Le Carré · 1974 · 8 lists
- 48
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Patricia Highsmith · 1955 · 13 lists
- 49
Tell No One
Harlan Coben · 2001 · 1 list
- 50
Consent To Kill
Vince Flynn · 2005 · 1 list
- 51
The Thirty-Nine Steps
John Buchan · 1915 · 8 lists
- 52
- 53
The Children of Men
P. D. James · 1992 · 3 lists
- 54
- 55
Marathon Man
William Goldman · 1974 · 1 list
- 56
The Woman in White
Wilkie Collins · 1860 · 11 lists
- 57
206 Bones
Kathy Reichs · 2009 · 1 list
- 58
Psycho
Robert Bloch · 1960 · 1 list
- 59
Killing Floor
Lee Child · 1997 · 3 lists
- 60
Rules Of Prey
John Sandford · 1989 · 1 list
- 61
The Hunger Games
Suzanne Collins · 2008 · 6 lists
- 62
In the Woods
Tana French · 2007 · 1 list
- 63
Shogun
James Clavell · 1975 · 3 lists
- 64
The Relic
Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child · 1995 · 1 list
- 65
Intensity
Dean R. Koontz · 1995 · 1 list
- 66
Casino Royale
Ian Fleming · 1953 · 3 lists
- 67
Metzgers Dog
Thomas Perry · 1983 · 1 list
- 68
Timeline
Michael Crichton · 1999 · 1 list
- 69
Contact
Carl Sagan · 1985 · 2 lists
- 70
What The Dead Know
Laura Lippman · 2007 · 3 lists
- 71
The Shadow of the Wind
Carlos Ruiz Zafon · 2001 · 4 lists
- 72
The Cabinet Of Curiosities
Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child · 2002 · 1 list
- 73
Charm School
Nelson DeMille · 1988 · 1 list
- 74
Feed
Seanan McGuire · 2002 · 1 list
- 75
Gone Tomorrow
Lee Child · 2008 · 2 lists
- 76
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Jeff Lindsay · 2004 · 1 list
- 77
The Secret History
Donna Tartt · 1992 · 8 lists
- 78
The First Deadly Sin
Lawrence Sanders · 1973 · 2 lists
- 79
Cryptonomicon
Neal Stephenson · 1999 · 2 lists
- 80
The Brotherhood Of The Rose
David Morrell · 1984 · 1 list
- 81
Primal Fear
William Diehl · 1993 · 1 list
- 82
The Templar Legacy
Steve Berry · 2006 · 1 list
- 83
The Hard Way
Lee Child · 2006 · 2 lists
- 84
Last of the Mohicans
James Fenimore Cooper · 1826 · 5 lists
- 85
Six Days Of The Condor
James Grady · 1974 · 1 list
- 86
Fail Safe
Eugene Burdick, Harvey Wheeler · 1962 · 1 list
- 87
Strangers on a Train
Patricia Highsmith · 1950 · 2 lists
- 88
The Eight
Katherine Neville · 1988 · 1 list
- 89
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown · 2009 · 3 lists
- 90
Goldfinger
Ian Fleming · 1959 · 1 list
- 91
Bangkok 8
John Burdett · 2003 · 1 list
- 92
The Kill Artist
Daniel Silva · 2002 · 1 list
- 93
Hardball
Sara Paretsky · 2009 · 1 list
- 94
The Dumas Club
Arturo Pérez-Reverte · 2006 · 3 lists
- 95
The Deep Blue Good-By
John D. MacDonald · 2013 · 2 lists
- 96
The Monkeys Raincoat
Robert Crais · 1987 · 1 list
- 97
Berlin Game
Len Deighton · 1983 · 1 list
- 98
A Simple Plan
Scott Smith · 1993 · 2 lists
- 99
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith · 2008 · 2 lists
- 100
Heartsick
Chelsea Cain · 2007 · 1 list
