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1,691 books
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1,734 voters
Suspense Books
Showing 1-50 of 100,000
Gone Girl (Paperback)
by (shelved 2722 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.15 — 3,502,567 ratings — published 2012
The Girl on the Train (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2431 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.96 — 3,340,250 ratings — published 2015
The Silent Patient (Hardcover)
by (shelved 2269 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.16 — 3,440,208 ratings — published 2019
Verity (ebook)
by (shelved 2188 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.29 — 3,981,062 ratings — published 2018
The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
by (shelved 1929 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.94 — 2,556,105 ratings — published 2003
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
by (shelved 1924 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.18 — 3,489,014 ratings — published 2005
The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)
by (shelved 1819 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.27 — 3,748,394 ratings — published 2022
Angels & Demons (Robert Langdon, #1)
by (shelved 1621 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.96 — 3,429,433 ratings — published 2000
The Woman in the Window (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 1381 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.94 — 901,387 ratings — published 2018
Sharp Objects (Paperback)
by (shelved 1254 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.00 — 1,253,198 ratings — published 2006
The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock #1)
by (shelved 1243 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.71 — 797,777 ratings — published 2016
The Girl Who Played with Fire (Millennium #2)
by (shelved 1238 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.26 — 996,455 ratings — published 2006
The Guest List (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 1188 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.79 — 1,324,495 ratings — published 2020
Dark Places (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1160 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.94 — 854,232 ratings — published 2009
None of This Is True (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1149 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.07 — 1,158,241 ratings — published 2023
Behind Closed Doors (Hardcover)
by (shelved 1112 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.97 — 777,868 ratings — published 2016
Then She Was Gone (Paperback)
by (shelved 1063 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.04 — 1,052,209 ratings — published 2017
The Elephant Tree (Paperback)
by (shelved 1038 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.92 — 44,197 ratings — published 2010
And Then There Were None (Paperback)
by (shelved 1015 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.27 — 1,663,328 ratings — published 1939
The Zombie Room (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 1015 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.95 — 44,224 ratings — published 2012
The Last Thing He Told Me (Hannah Hall, #1)
by (shelved 996 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.83 — 1,183,661 ratings — published 2021
The Couple Next Door (Hardcover)
by (shelved 947 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.80 — 729,618 ratings — published 2016
Before I Go to Sleep (Hardcover)
by (shelved 926 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.90 — 372,366 ratings — published 2011
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium, #3)
by (shelved 919 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.25 — 783,053 ratings — published 2007
Never Lie (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 917 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.08 — 1,615,213 ratings — published 2022
The Housemaid's Secret (The Housemaid, #2)
by (shelved 904 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.16 — 1,873,101 ratings — published 2023
The Lost Symbol (Robert Langdon, #3)
by (shelved 895 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.77 — 665,535 ratings — published 2009
Pretty Girls (Paperback)
by (shelved 876 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.00 — 757,629 ratings — published 2015
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)
by (shelved 836 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.28 — 1,847,167 ratings — published 2019
The Paris Apartment (Hardcover)
by (shelved 814 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.64 — 740,272 ratings — published 2022
The Only One Left (Hardcover)
by (shelved 791 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.13 — 667,868 ratings — published 2023
Rebecca (Kindle Edition)
by (shelved 771 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.25 — 743,035 ratings — published 1938
The Family Upstairs (The Family Upstairs, #1)
by (shelved 765 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.95 — 587,080 ratings — published 2019
First Lie Wins (Hardcover)
by (shelved 762 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.99 — 836,868 ratings — published 2024
Rock Paper Scissors (Hardcover)
by (shelved 753 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.87 — 773,394 ratings — published 2021
Inferno (Robert Langdon, #4)
by (shelved 739 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.91 — 602,836 ratings — published 2013
The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
by (shelved 736 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.35 — 10,098,088 ratings — published 2008
In a Dark, Dark Wood (Paperback)
by (shelved 725 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.71 — 406,125 ratings — published 2015
A Flicker in the Dark (Hardcover)
by (shelved 719 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.97 — 627,015 ratings — published 2022
Local Woman Missing (Paperback)
by (shelved 709 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.11 — 806,041 ratings — published 2021
Deception Point (Paperback)
by (shelved 697 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.77 — 705,950 ratings — published 2001
The Shining (The Shining, #1)
by (shelved 697 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.28 — 1,738,599 ratings — published 1977
The Wife Between Us (Hardcover)
by (shelved 683 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.82 — 453,906 ratings — published 2018
Shutter Island (Mass Market Paperback)
by (shelved 666 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.14 — 233,438 ratings — published 2003
Digital Fortress (Paperback)
by (shelved 658 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.71 — 669,616 ratings — published 1998
Hidden Pictures (Hardcover)
by (shelved 642 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.14 — 641,925 ratings — published 2022
Lock Every Door (ebook)
by (shelved 636 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.88 — 315,271 ratings — published 2019
The Turn of the Key (Hardcover)
by (shelved 632 times as suspense)
avg rating 3.90 — 334,693 ratings — published 2019
Dark Matter (Hardcover)
by (shelved 606 times as suspense)
avg rating 4.13 — 766,944 ratings — published 2016
“She could see the headlines now.
‘Spinster dies alone in her condo. No one discovered her corpse for three days.’
She had been so preoccupied with work, that she’d neglected to do the grocery shopping and was now regretting it.”
― A Compromising Position
‘Spinster dies alone in her condo. No one discovered her corpse for three days.’
She had been so preoccupied with work, that she’d neglected to do the grocery shopping and was now regretting it.”
― A Compromising Position
“There is a distinct difference between "suspense" and "surprise," and yet many pictures continually confuse the two. I'll explain what I mean.
We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"
In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.”
―
We are now having a very innocent little chat. Let's suppose that there is a bomb underneath this table between us. Nothing happens, and then all of a sudden, "Boom!" There is an explosion. The public is surprised, but prior to this surprise, it has seen an absolutely ordinary scene, of no special consequence. Now, let us take a suspense situation. The bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it, probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one. In these conditions, the same innocuous conversation becomes fascinating because the public is participating in the scene. The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!"
In the first case we have given the public fifteen seconds of surprise at the moment of the explosion. In the second we have provided them with fifteen minutes of suspense. The conclusion is that whenever possible the public must be informed. Except when the surprise is a twist, that is, when the unexpected ending is, in itself, the highlight of the story.”
―
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