From psychological thrillers to high-stakes spy novels and political dramas, here you'll find the most popular suspense books—guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last. So go ahead, press play. It's time to unravel gripping mysteries and crack complex conspiracies.
Top list: Suspense
Pen Pal : The twisty, must-read dark romance from the TikTok sensation
A high-octane, tautly-written dark romance with an unforgettable twist that will leave readers gasping, Pen Pal is a story of undeniable love from superstar J. T. Geissinger.
Now with an original bonus chapter, this BookTok sensation is not to be missed!
It all began with just one line. . .
The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary and contained a single sentence:
I’ll wait forever if I have to.
It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know.
Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply?
You.
I told the mystery man he had the wrong girl. He said he didn’t. I said we’d never met, but he said I was wrong.
We went back and forth, exchanging letters every week that grew increasingly more intimate. Then, one day, the letters stopped. When I found out why, it was already too late.
Dante was at my doorstep.
And nothing on earth could have prepared me for what happened next.
Fairy Tale
Winner of the 2023 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator
Master storyteller Stephen King goes into the deepest well of his imagination in this #1 New York Times bestselling and spellbinding novel about a young man who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for that world or ours.
Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a horrific accident when he was seven, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. When Charlie is seventeen, he meets a dog named Radar and her aging master, Howard Bowditch, a recluse in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. Sometimes strange sounds emerge from that shed.
Charlie starts doing jobs for Mr. Bowditch and loses his heart to Radar. Then, when Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie a cassette tape telling a story no one would believe. What Bowditch knows, and has kept secret all his long life, is that inside the shed is a portal to another world.
Carnal Urges : A spicy dark Mafia romance from the TikTok sensation
From BookTok sensation J. T. Geissinger comes Carnal Urges, a sexy-as-sin dark romance about a powerful mafia king who kidnaps the one woman who will threaten to bring him to his knees.
Carnal (adjective):
1) Relating to the pleasures of the body
2) Given to sensual indulgence
3) The man who kidnapped me
The devil has blue eyes, an Irish accent, and a hatred for me that runs deep.
He blames me for starting a war. Consorting with his enemies. Getting his men killed. Though I’m innocent on all charges, he wants his pound of flesh. With an eye on revenge, he makes me his captive.
But as we'll both soon discover, there are more powerful urges than that for revenge.
When the devil meets his match but she’s his sworn enemy, that’s when the real war begins.
Discover Savage Hearts, the next book in the addictive Queens and Monsters series.
Scythe & Sparrow : The Ruinous Love Trilogy
From the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird and Leather & Lark comes the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy—a friends-with-benefits dark romantic comedy packed with murder, mayhem, and spice.
Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiancé and his derailed surgical career. It’s a simpler life: head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston.
But then the real circus finds him.
Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she’s not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with an injured leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor.
The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together.
. . . And the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts are to catch up.
The Secret History
A Read With Jenna Book Club Pick • International Bestseller
“Enthralling. . . . A remarkably powerful novel.” —The New York Times
In this brilliant novel from Donna Tartt, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch, comes a richly textured and hypnotic story of golden youth corrupted by its own moral arrogance.
Richard Papen had never been to New England before his nineteenth year. Then he arrived at Hampeden College and quickly became seduced by the sweet, dark rhythms of campus life—in particular by an elite group of five students, Greek scholars, worldly, self-assured, and at first glance, highly unapproachable.
Yet as Richard was accepted and drawn into their inner circle, he learned a terrifying secret that bound them to one another. . . a secret about an incident in the woods in the dead of night where an ancient rite was brought to brutal life. . . and lead to a gruesome death. And that was just the beginning...
How to Kill Men and Get Away With It
***KITTY'S BACK! I BET YOU'D LOOK GOOD IN A COFFIN IS OUT NOW***
Meet Kitty Collins.
FRIEND. LOVER. KILLER.
He was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone.
I hadn’t intended to kill him of course. But I wasn’t displeased when I did and, despite the mess I made, I appeared to get away with it.
That’s where my addiction started…
I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.
A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted story about friendship, love, and murder. Fans of Sweetpea, My Sister the Serial Killer, How to Kill Your Family and Killing Eve will love this wickedly clever novel!
Don't miss Katy Brent's new wickedly witty novel, The Murder After the Night Before, available now!
Readers LOVE How to Kill Men and Get Away With It!
‘I literally couldn’t put this book down, I was just so engrossed in Kitty and what the heck she was going to do next!!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This book has got to be my favourite so far this year.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘There are just so many good things I could say about this book. I absolutely tore (pun intended) through this read. Everyone needs to go read it.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘Being a man I really shouldn't like this book. Well I didn't like it. I loved it! Oh I just couldn't stop reading this.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘How to Kill Men was an absolute treat to read, sending out American Psycho and Promising Young Women vibes.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘AMAZING!!! Where has Kitty been all my life?’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘This is one of the most clever books I have read in quite a while.’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
‘A well-rounded cast of characters, quick pace, and thrilling twists make this one of my favourites of the year!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vow of Deception
From New York Times Bestseller and BookTok sensation Rina Kent comes the captivating Deception Trilogy, the first generation of the Legacy of Gods series.
My husband. My Tormentor.
The most notorious man in the city offers me a job.
Act as his dead wife.
Adrian Volkov isn’t the type of person who takes no for an answer.
He commands with an iron fist and all his orders are met.
When he approaches me with the offer, I have two options.
Go to prison or put myself under his wrath.
I choose to have a roof over my head. What’s so hard about acting, right?
Wrong.
The moment I step into his wife’s shoes, everything spirals out of control.
My only way of survival is through Adrian.
Or is it?
Vow of Deception is book one of a trilogy and is not standalone.
©2021 Rina Kent (P)2021 Rina Kent
Yellowface
The Number One Global Sensation
*Foyle’s Fiction Book of the Year*
*Amazon Book of the Year*
*Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year*
*Fiction Book of the Year 2024 – British Book Awards*
‘Addictive’ Grazia
‘Hugely entertaining’ Observer
‘Provocative’ Mail on Sunday
THIS IS ONE HELL OF A STORY.
IT’S JUST NOT HERS TO TELL.
When failed writer June Hayward witnesses her rival Athena Liu die in a freak accident, she sees her opportunity… and takes it.
So what if it means stealing Athena’s final manuscript?
So what if it means ‘borrowing’ her identity?
And so what if the first lie is only the beginning…
Finally, June has the fame she always deserved. But someone is about to expose her…
What happens next is entirely everyone else's fault.
‘The book that everyone is talking about’ Glamour
‘Ingenious, astute, hugely entertaining’ David Nicholls
‘Breathtakingly clever on jealousy, talent, success, and who gets to tell which story’ Elizabeth Day
‘Hard to put down. Harder to forget’ Stephen King
R.F. Kuang’s book Yellowface was a #1 Sunday Times bestseller w/c 04-06-23
R.F. Kuang’s book Yellowface was a #5 New York Times bestseller w/c 04-06-23
Brutal Vows : A spicy dark Mafia romance from the TikTok sensation
Brutal Vows is the fourth book in the scorchingly hot mafia romance Queens and Monsters series by USA Today bestselling author J.T. Geissinger, where the fast-paced tension of John Wick meets the high-stakes love of Romeo and Juliet.
An Irish mobster with a brutal grudge. An Italian mafia princess with a dark secret. Two enemy empires joined in sacred marriage vows. Let the hating games begin.
Reyna –
If this arrogant Irish mobster my brother sold my niece to thinks I’m going to play nice over this arranged marriage BS, he should think again. I don’t care if this match with the Mob will make my brother capo of the Five Families.
I don’t care how much money, territory, or power it will gain us. I especially don’t care that the Irishman is the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. I won’t allow my innocent niece to suffer the same way I did. Even if I have to kill him.
Spider –
I’m supposed to marry sweet, beautiful Lili. So why can’t I stop thinking about her swamp witch of an aunt? Reyna who hates me. Reyna who challenges me. Reyna with the guts of a Viking, the body of a fertility goddess, and the attitude of a feral cat.
Nothing good can come of what I’m feeling for a woman who’s not the one in the wedding contract I signed. A woman I want so much, I’ll have to burn the whole world down to get.
Discover where the Queens and Monsters series first began with Ruthless Creatures, the first book in the addictive mafia romance series.
Savage Hearts : A spicy dark Mafia romance from the TikTok sensation
Savage Hearts is the third book in the scorchingly hot mafia romance Queens and Monsters series by USA Today bestselling author J.T. Geissinger.
Savage (adjective):
1) Not domesticated; wild and untamed
2) A brutal or vicious person
3) Malek Antonov
He’s a myth. A ghost. A legend. A Bratva assassin so feared, some won’t even dare to speak his name. He comes in search of vengeance for the death of his brother, but what he finds instead is me.
A girl he thinks is someone else. Someone unrelated to the man who killed his brother.
Except I am.
And when he finds out my true identity, he decides to take me as repayment for what he lost.
Now, I’m a little bird trapped in a cage, and the only way to survive is to make friends with the monster who captured me. But friendship isn’t what the monster has in mind.
Discover Brutal Vows, the next book in the addictive Queens and Monsters series.
The Family Experiment : A dark twisty near future page-turner from the 'master of the speculative thriller'
Try free nowThe Family Experiment : A dark twisty near future page-turner from the 'master of the speculative thriller'
'John Marrs is not to be missed' – Freida McFadden, bestselling author of The Housemaid
'Few writers do domestic suspense meets dystopia better than John Marrs' – Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Paris Apartment
'The books of John Marrs have become a quiet phenomenon . . . Thoughtful, well written . . . and alarming' – Daily Mail
Some families are virtually perfect . . .
The world’s population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.
But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch, accessing them via the Metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind MetaChildren has created a reality TV show. It will follow its contestants as they raise a MetaChild from birth to the age of eighteen, in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child – or risk it all for the chance of a real baby . . .
The Goodreads Choice Award 2024 runner up, The Family Experiment is set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act. A dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate 'tamagotchi' - a virtual baby.
'Speculative fiction at its best – original, dark and wickedly clever' – C. L. Taylor, author of Every Move You Make
'His best yet. Frighteningly plausible, gripping, dark, and so clever' – Claire Douglas, author of The Woman Who Lied
'Hurtles towards a chilling denouement - a truly thought-provoking, single-sitting thriller' – Ellery Lloyd, author of The Club
'Chilling, inventive, horribly plausible and brilliantly addictive' – C. J. Tudor, author of The Gathering
You
NOW A HIT NETFLIX SERIES
A NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLER
“Hypnotic and scary.” —Stephen King
“I am riveted, aghast, aroused, you name it. The rare instance when prose and plot are equally delicious.” —Lena Dunham
From bestselling author Caroline Kepnes comes a brilliant and terrifying psychological thriller that blurs the line between love and obsession in the age of social media.
When a beautiful, aspiring writer strides into the East Village bookstore where Joe Goldberg works, he does what anyone would do: he Googles the name on her credit card.
There is only one Guinevere Beck in New York City. She has a public Facebook account and Tweets incessantly, telling Joe everything he needs to know: she is simply Beck to her friends, she went to Brown University, she lives on Bank Street, and she’ll be at a bar in Brooklyn tonight—the perfect place for a “chance” meeting.
As Joe invisibly and obsessively takes control of Beck’s life, he orchestrates a series of events to ensure Beck finds herself in his waiting arms. Moving from stalker to boyfriend, Joe transforms himself into Beck’s perfect man, all while quietly removing the obstacles that stand in their way—even if it means murder.
A terrifying exploration of how vulnerable we all are to stalking and manipulation, debut author Caroline Kepnes delivers a razor-sharp novel for our hyper-connected digital age. You is a compulsively readable page-turner that’s being compared to Gone Girl, American Psycho, and Stephen King’s Misery.
Blood of My Monster
From New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes a new dark mafia romance.
I’m out for revenge.
He’s out to rule the world.
Kirill and I are as different as day and night. We shouldn’t have been in the same frame or universe.
But we meet under the strangest circumstances.
He’s my superior in the military and the man who’ll introduce me to carnage.
His charm and exterior perfection shouldn’t have tempted me.
Behind the smokescreen lurks a manipulative emotionless monster.
And that monster might find out all my secrets, including the reason why I’m pretending to be a man.
He might also lure me to the point of no return.
This book is part of a trilogy and can't be listened to on its own.
©2023 Rina Kent (P)2023 Rina Kent
A Flicker in the Dark
‘Very few debuts are as insightful, cunningly plotted and well written as this.’ Best Thrillers of 2022The Sunday Times
‘I couldn’t put this one down’Prima
‘This was dark! Edge of your seen stuff… incredibly atmospheric and tricky.’Platinum
‘A smart, edge-of-your-seat story with plot twists you’ll never see coming.’ Karin Slaughter, No. 1 Bestselling AuthorSunday Times
Chloe Davis’ father is a serial killer.He was convicted and jailed when she was twelve but the bodies of the girls were never found, seemingly lost in the surrounding Louisiana swamps. The case became notorious and Chloe’s family was destroyed.
His crimes stalk her like a shadow.Now Chloe has rebuilt her life. She’s a respected psychologist in Baton Rouge and has a loving fiancé.But she just can’t shake a tick-tick-tick of paranoia that, at any moment, it might all come crashing down.
As does something darker.It is the anniversary of her father’s crimes, and Chloe is about to see her worst fears come true –a girl she knows goes missing.
The nightmare has started again…
She thought the murders had stopped. She was wrong. The instant bestseller and a Thriller of the Year, soon to be a major TV series, developed by Emma StoneNew York TimesSunday Times
Leather & Lark
“I don’t just want to hear her laugh, I need to earn it. Every time I gain a little ground, I want more. I want to break out of the shade and back into her light. Without even realizing it, I’ve become addicted to it. To her.”
From the author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird comes the second book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy—a hate-to-love dark romantic comedy packed with danger, chaos, and heat.
Contract killer Lachlan Kane wants a quiet life working in his leather studio and forgetting all about his traumatic past. But when he botches a job for his boss’s biggest client, Lachlan knows he’ll never claw his way out of the underworld. At least, not until songbird Lark Montague offers him a deal: use his skills to hunt down a killer and she’ll find a way to secure his freedom. The catch? He has to marry her first.
And they can’t stand each other.
Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.
As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomes impossible to discern their fake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.
There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.
And this one has come for blood.
Tropes:
Hate-to-love
Marriage of convenience
Grumpy / sunshine
He falls first
Groveling, but make it psycho
Touch her/him and die
Quidditch Through the Ages : A Harry Potter Hogwarts Library Book
Since its publication, Quidditch Through the Ages has been one of the most popular books in the Hogwarts library. Read by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and many more, it is the essential guide to the wizarding world's favourite game.
Charting its journey from Queerditch Marsh in the eleventh century to the sophisticated sport of today, Quidditch Through the Ages will show you the moments of exhilarating triumph and crushing despair (such as supporting the Chudley Cannons) that are part of the game of Quidditch.
Learn all about the history and rules of the game, from some of the 700 fouls (and which World Cup Final saw all of them committed) to the difference between a Transylvanian Tackle and a Woollongong Shimmy.
Narrated by People's Choice Awards Winner and BAFTA nominated Andrew Lincoln, best known for his role on The Walking Dead, the audiobook edition also includes more than an hour and a half of bonus content.
The audiobook edition includes more than an hour and a half of bonus content. This includes the history of the Quidditch World Cup Final and commentary on the 2014 World Cup Final from the perspective of Rita Skeeter (Annette Badland) and Ginny Potter (Imogen Church). This additional content was written by J.K. Rowling and is also available to read on wizarding world.com.
The shelves of the Hogwarts Library are also home to many more fascinating books. If you have enjoyed Quidditch Through the Ages you might want to check out some of its other treasures: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Comic Relief, operating name Charity Projects, is a registered charity in the UK with charity nos. 326568 (England/Wales) and SC039730 (Scotland). Lumos Foundation is a registered charity in the UK with no. 1112575 (England/Wales). 15% of the proceeds* received by Pottermore Limited from this audiobook will be made available to the charities for their work across the UK and globally including helping children and young people have a better life. These proceeds will be shared 20% for Comic Relief and 80% for Lumos Foundation.
*Proceeds means the cash-price or cash-equivalent price less sales taxes.
The Three Lives of Cate Kay : Reese's Book Club: A Novel
REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK!
“This story swept me away with its big dreams, love, and unexpected twists.” —Reese Witherspoon
“[A] propulsive puzzle of a novel.” —Nina LaCour, New York Times Book Review
In this electric, voice-driven debut novel, an elusive bestselling author decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.
Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.
As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda fantasized escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again.
“An addictive page-turner infused with humor and heart, The Three Lives of Cate Kay balances the dishy allure of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with the empathy of Slow Dance. A joy to read from first page to last” (Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author).
Famous Last Words : A Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“This novel blindsided me with twists and surprises that had me gasping…and with a poignancy about relationships and love that one rarely finds in the genre. A brilliant, brilliant book.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?
It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.
Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband - doting father, eternal optimist - is the gunman.
What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says...
Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. This novel cements Gillian McAllister’s reputation as “the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations.” (Emily Henry)
The Temporary Roomie
Drew Marshall may have let me move into his spare bedroom while my house is being renovated, but don’t think for one second his kindness comes without strings—big, ugly fake-relationship strings. That’s okay, though, Dr. Andrew. I’ll agree to your terms, move into your house, and act like your girlfriend when the big day comes, but I also plan to make your life miserable—make you pay for what you did to me. I may not be good at forgiving or forgetting, but I’m excellent at getting even. Get ready to laugh until you cry with this sizzling, hilarious, closed-door romantic comedy!
Saving Noah
Meet Noah—an A-honor roll student, award-winning swimmer, and small-town star destined for greatness. There weren’t any signs that something was wrong until the day he confesses to molesting little girls during swim-team practice. He’s sentenced to eighteen months in a juvenile sexual-rehabilitation center.
His mother Adrianne refuses to turn her back on him despite his horrific crimes, but her husband won’t allow Noah back into their home. In a series of shocking and shattering revelations, Adrianne is forced to make the hardest decision of her life. Just how far will she go to protect her son?
Saving Noah challenges everything you think you know about teenage sexual offenders. It will keep you up at night long after you've finished, questioning beliefs you once thought were true.