It’s when the tension is established that readers become fully engrossed in the story. I love seeing characters in rough spots having to step up to meet the challenges despite the overwhelming odds.

We’re listing fifteen great suspense thrillers.

(1) On Target (The Gray Man 2) by Mark Greaney (2010). Four years ago, Court Gentry was betrayed by his handlers in the CIA. To survive, he had to eliminate his own brothers in arms. Now, as a master assassin known as the Gray Man, he makes his living killing other people. But when an old comrade he thought dead returns to haunt him, his own life is put in the crosshairs.

(2) Pegasus Descending (Dave Robicheaux #15) by James Lee Burke. Detective Dave Robicheaux investigates the death of a young co-ed while dealing with the daughter of his former partner who has her eyes on the man responsible for her father’s death.

(3) The Eyes of Darkness by Dean Koontz (1981). After suffering from her son’s death, Tina Evans might be ready to put her grief behind her and start over until a shocking message appears on the chalkboard in Danny’s NOT DEAD. Those two words send her on a terrifying journey where she uncovers a terrible secret.

(4) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium 1) by Stieg Larsson (2005). Journalist Mikael Blomkvist has been hired by industrial tycoon Henrik Vanger to investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of Henrik’s niece Harriet. He teams up with the introverted and skilled computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.

(5) The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan 1) by Tom Clancy (1984). The story depicts Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius as he seemingly goes rogue with his country’s ballistic missile submarine Red October and a CIA analyst Jack Ryan as he proves his theory that Ramius is intending to defect to the United States.

(6) The Edge (An FBI Thriller 4) by Catherine Coulter (1999). While recovering from a car bombing by terrorist FBI agent Ford MacDougal searches for his sister after she disappears while recovering from a near death experience.

(7) The Jakarta Pandemic (Alex Fletcher 1) by Steven Konkoly (2010). The unstoppable H16N1 virus rapidly spreads across the United States, stretching the fragile bonds of society to the breaking point, and Iraq War veteran Alex Fletcher realizes that the H16N1 virus will be the least of his problems as hostility and mistrust engulfs his idyllic Maine neighborhood.

(8) Ballistic (The Gray Man 3) by Mark Greaney (2011). Court Gentry, while on the run from a Russian crime lord, protects the family of a man who saved Gentry’s life who was killed by a Mexican drug cartel.

(9) The Gray Man (The Gray Man 1) by Mark Greaney (2009). The story follows Court Gentry who, after assassinating a powerful figure, becomes hunted himself as he evades his pursuers to mount a mission to rescue his handler.

(10) The Girl Who Takes An Eye for An Eye (Millennium 5) by David Lagercrantz (2017). Lisbeth Salander – the girl with the dragon tattoo, the brilliant hacker, the obstinate outsider – enlists the help of Mikael Blomkvist, the editor of the investigative journal Millennium to investigate The Registry while she protects a young woman from an anti-Muslim gang while in prison.

(11) Mortal Prey (Lucas Davenport #13) by John Sandford (2002). Lucas Davenport is drafted by the DEA and FBI to help track down Clara Rinker, a proficient hitwoman who nearly killed Davenport previously and is own her own road to justice after the assassination of her husband and baby.

(12) Icebound by David Axton (1995). The story follows a group of international scientists stranded on an iceberg set with bombs rigged to blow while an assassin hides among the crew with an agenda of his own.

(13) Savages (Savages 2) by Don Winslow (2010). Ben, Chon, and O are best friends who’ve made a fortune producing premium grade marijuana in Southern California.  When the Mexican Baja Cartel demands a cut by kidnapping O, Ben and Chon begin a series of negotiations and life risking actions to free her.

(14) Honeymoon (Honeymoon 1) by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (2005). FBI agent John O’Hara is sent investigate the mysterious femme fatale Nora Sinclair, but things get complicated as he gets closer and closer blurring the lines between justice and passion.

(15) To Die For by Lisa Gray (2023). Real estate agent Andy Hart is among a group of colleagues vying to find a buyer for a Malibu beach house, but things get complicated when a dead body found at the open house turns the dream home into a crime scene.

Thanks for checking out the post and in the comments let us know what your favorite suspense thrillers are.