NYT best top 50 thrillers > Likes and Comments

Finally, a list where we’ve probably read most of the books.
I’m doing this on my iPad and not my computer so I hope that the link works.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

And here’s how the writers voted:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

Wow. I've only read 18 and the shocker, only want to read 6 more. But then again I don't think I've read many thrillers until I joined this group. Thanks for sharing!

I went back and counted after seeing Gail’s post. I’ve read 30 of them and have, at least, heard of all of them. I keep saying I need to move S.A. Cosby up on my tbr

Thanks Sherry! I have read thirty-seven of the fifty.
*yes! you should move S.A. Cosby up on your TBR!
Not sure if this link will work for the ones I have read. I have nine that were either already in my tbr or are now.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

My count was 12. I don't read many recent books, so a lot of these I'd never heard of. What caught my eye was the number of Tana french books on the list. I have 6 or 7 of her books on my TBR, but haven't read any yet. Now I'll be moving them up in the schedule.

I was around 18, many more I recognized, a few on my TBR. So many books, so little time.
Of course, a list like this will be heavily influenced by the authors chosen to vote.Critics would have chosen differently, English majors, differently still. Due to age, my personal list might be heavier on authors I latched onto decades ago.

Mike - yes! Definitely move Tana French up on your list. Start with In the Woods.

My 37 read.

Gone Girl ● Mystic River ● In the Woods ● The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ● No Country for Old Men ● My Sister, the Serial Killer ● The God of the Woods ● Razorblade Tears ● Slow Horses ● Bluebird, Bluebird ● Blacktop Wasteland ● The Girl on the Train ● Case Histories ● Dare Me ● The Lincoln Lawyer ● Shutter Island ● 11/22/63 ● Sharp Objects ● Broken Harbor ● Room ● The Goldfinch ● The Dry ● Winter’s Bone ● The Da Vinci Code ● Big Little Lies ● The Plot ● The Sympathizer ● Defending Jacob ● The Witch Elm ● The Likeness ● All the Sinners Bleed ● The Silent Patient ● Your House Will Pay ● I Am Pilgrim ● All the Colors of the Dark ● Magpie Murders ● None of This Is True

BarryP wrote: "I was around 18, many more I recognized, a few on my TBR. So many books, so little time.
Of course, a list like this will be heavily influenced by the authors chosen to vote.Critics would have chos..."

Barry, I'm in the same boat. My TBR is a mile long, populated mostly with authors I grew up with. Some are re-reads and some are books that I never got around to reading when I was younger.

Sherry. Barry, Mike, Gail: I am listening to a NYTimes podcast discussing the list and their take on why for example Gone Girl was number one.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/po...

BarryP wrote: "Of course, a list like this will be heavily influenced by the authors chosen to vote. Critics would have chosen differently, English majors, differently still. Due to age, my personal list might be heavier on authors I latched onto decades ago."

Gail, the fact that only six of the remaining thirty-two appealed to you may say more than the raw count. What separated those six from the rest: premise, author familiarity, or the kind of tension you now know you enjoy?

Sherry, moving S. A. Cosby up after seeing the list sounds like the most useful result of the exercise. Are you leaning toward Razorblade Tears, Blacktop Wasteland, or All the Sinners Bleed as the first priority?

Mike, Ann's suggestion of In the Woods gives you a clear starting point, but Tana French's books emphasize different pleasures. For your first one, are you hoping most for atmosphere, character depth, or a tightly constructed mystery?

Barry, your point about the voters is the part of these lists that interests me most: every canon also records who was invited to define it. Would your own list skew toward formative older authors, or toward newer books that changed what you expect from a thriller?

Ann, putting Gone Girl at number one seems to invite two different arguments: best execution versus greatest influence on the genre and reading culture. From the podcast's reasoning, which case for the ranking sounded stronger?

Definitely a fun list the scroll through. Topping in at 5 books read, I have plenty of great reading in front of me. ;)

I also only read five, but have no interest in reading the others. I probably would have read them already if I had been interested in them.

Vera wrote: "Mike, Ann's suggestion of In the Woods gives you a clear starting point, but Tana French's books emphasize different pleasures. For your first one, are you hoping most for atmosphere, character dep..."

Vera, I'd say plot and character development are my two top priorities. Give me a story with a number of twists and an equally complicated main character and I'm in hog heaven. (Last time that happened was Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Can't get enough of that Lizbeth Salander.)

Mike the Magnificient wrote: "Vera wrote: "Mike, Ann's suggestion of In the Woods gives you a clear starting point, but Tana French's books emphasize different pleasures. For your first one, are you hoping most for atmosphere, ..."

Mike, that Dragon Tattoo comparison clarifies the target: twists matter, but they land harder when the character is complicated enough to keep changing how we read them. If you start with In the Woods, I’ll be curious whether Rob Ryan gives you enough of that Lisbeth-style contradiction even though French’s suspense is quieter.

Sherry wrote: "I went back and counted after seeing Gail’s post. I’ve read 30 of them and have, at least, heard of all of them. I keep saying I need to move S.A. Cosby up on my tbr"

You absolutely do, Sherry!

I'm behind the Times (see what I did there?) I guess. I just saw the article and came here to see if Barry posted it. Guess you beat him to the punch Sherry!

I will go back and count, but my "sense" is I've read about half of them. Although if Sherry has only read 30, maybe not.

At one point I was scanning to see if SA Cosby made it, and I would have been PO'd if he hadn't.

I was also thrilled to see that Peter Swanson made the list!

They did a follow on with 100 books due to criticism.