Five Thriller Books To Get You Out Of Your Reading Slum

If your bookshelf is collecting dust and picking up any book feels like a chore, you’re definitely not alone. Every reader faces that frustrating wall—a reading slump. But there’s one genre that can always pull you back in and keep you up late turning pages: thrillers. Bursting with twists, tension, and captivating plots, these stories grab you from the very first chapter and won’t let go. Whether you’re in the mood for a psychological puzzle, a spine-chilling murder mystery, or a high-stakes conspiracy, these five thrillers are sure to rekindle your passion for reading.

 1.   Never Lie by Freida McFadden

At the top of our list, we have Never Lie by New York’s best-selling author, Frieda McFadden. The book starts with a newlywed couple, Tricia and Ethan, who go house hunting for their dream home when they stumble upon the house of psychiatric Dr. Adriane Hale, who vanished four years ago. An unfortunate blizzard event traps the couple in the big mansion until the storm abides. With nothing to spent time, Tricia stumbles upon a secret room that contains Dr. Adriane Hale recordings with her patients and as she keeps listening to the tapes the secrets of Dr. Adriane Hale and her disappearing slowly starts to unravel in a terrifying chain of events until she reaches the last cassette which put everything in place.

The story is based on dual timeline and dual POVs with short chapters which will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time with lots of well-done twists and turn of events it is the perfect the fast-paced thriller to get out of your slum and the best part is you won’t see the twist coming at all.

1. 2.   The Passenger by John Marrs

This is a unique thriller, with a very well-written plot and well-developed characters. The book is dark, unsettling and chilling. Eight passengers are locked in a self-driving car that is set to collide in two hours and thirty minutes and you get to decide who lives and who dies.

The passengers are: a TV star, a pregnant young woman, a disabled war hero, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife and parents of two, who are travelling in separate vehicles and a suicidal man.

This book is truly one of the most innovative books you’ll read, especially in the era of AI and technologies where half the world is controlled by technology. In the book, the hacker allows a jury of five people to decide which one of the passengers gets to live by providing limited information about each of them and a terrible secret each of them is hiding. Who is the hacker? Why is he doing this? Who is going to survive? What is the reason behind their secrets? What’s the whole truth the hacker is hiding? All of these questions will keep you turning the pages and revealing a twist you won’t see coming. 

3.   Look Closer by David Ellis

This book is the definition of a perfect gripping thriller which will blow your mind away with all the twists & turns and all the secrets & lies.

The lives of Simon and Vicky come to a halt when a socialite is found hanging in a mansion in their nearest neighborhood and a past that connects the dead woman with Simon. The book is written in multiple POV with each character hiding a secret and fooling the other but who is the real villain? Who is the killer?

An affair, a trust fund of 20 million dollars and a murder on Halloween night, all of this is connected and answered at once, a plot so good and cleverly written you won’t be able to put the book down until it is finished.

4.   His & Hers by Alice Feeney

This book is one of the most mind-blowing psychological thrillers out there, the type of book where you’ll keep guessing the killer till the very end, yet the plot twist will surprise you.

There are two sides to every story, the book begins with the murder of a woman in Blackdown, a British village and reporter Anna Andrews is sent to cover the news and becomes a suspect, but so does Detective Jack Harper, who is investigating the murder. Slowly, other murders start to take place and all of them are connected with a secret and a friendship band tied around the tongue of the dead body. The most interesting part of the book is the three POVs, first of Anna Andrews, second of Detective Jack Harper and finally the killer’s. This book is gripping, smart with so well-developed plot and interesting characters that will keep you turning pages till the end.

5.   Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera 

This one is a quick read with dark humor and an unsolved murder mystery and a funny & smart anti-heroine.

The plot revolves around two best friends Lucy, who recently married and moved back to their small town in Texas and savvy the town’s golden girl, who gets murdered and Lucy is found wandering the town with her best friend’s blood on her and absolutely no memory of it.

Five years later, Lucy is forced to return to her hometown, where everyone thinks she has murdered savvy for her grandmother’s birthday and a smug good-looking podcaster Ben Owen to unravel the truth of Savanah’s murder. Despite being hated by the town and called a murderer, Lucy decides to help Ben find out who killed her best friend even if it turns out her being the killer, she wants the answers at any cost.

This is a very wholesome read with lots of dry humor, witty characters and a town full of secrets and a must in your TBR.

If your TBR has been growing too long, let these page-turning reads remind you why you love books in the first place. Whether you devour one in one sitting or slow down and enjoy each plot twist, these books are a reminder that the right book can bring you out of any reading slump. So grab a fuzzy blanket, brew a hot beverage, and get ready for some suspense—your new go-to read awaits!

Have a favorite thriller that snapped you out of a slump? Share it in the comments below—I’m always looking for my next page-turner!

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