Best Thriller Books to Gift: 9 Picks for Every Reader

A 2018 study in Psychological Science found that people picking out a present tend to choose the one that will get the biggest reaction when it’s opened instead of the one the other person would actually be happier with. But here’s the thing: giving a book is the gift that keeps on giving. It gets the big burst of excitement when unwrapped and then the excited call once they’ve finished it and want to gab about it with you. Here are the best thriller books to gift, sorted by who is on your list, from your dad to the friend who has read everything:

The Short Version

• If you want a thriller for the person who loves an unpredictable village, give them The Storm Reaper by Kristen Van Nest.
• If you’re shopping for your parents, give them The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
• If you want the one with the biggest twist, give them The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides.
• If the person says they don’t read thrillers, give them Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.

How I Picked These Books

As a thriller author, I’m picky about which thrillers I hand to the people I love, because I want them to actually get read. My criteria for this includes:

1. It has to look good under the tree: Every book here comes on paper, so there’s something to wrap and hand over instead of a gift receipt in an email.
2. It hooks them from page one: A gift book gets one evening to prove itself before it joins the pile on the nightstand. Every book here starts fast.
3. You know exactly who it’s for: Each entry below names the person on your list it fits, and if a book didn’t have one, it didn’t make the list. It’s December, we’re busy! Nobody has time to stand in a bookstore for an hour reading back covers.

At a Glance

What Are the Best Thriller Books to Gift?

1. The Storm Reaper by Kristen Van Nest (2026)

Read this if: you need a thriller the person on your list hasn’t already read.

What you’re getting: a Fire Island crime thriller told in first person by Violet Crisp. When she was sixteen, she saw a man murdered on the beach the night her best friend was swept away, and nobody believed her. She’s twenty-six now, a police officer on the island she grew up on, living on her boat with her cat, Purrmaid, and a corkboard full of dead people. A new chief is finally listening, and another storm is coming. The killer in The Storm Reaper built his method around the Gray Man, a real Atlantic-coast legend in which a ghost appears before hurricanes to warn people to leave: see him and leave, you live; stay, you die in the storm. It comes as a paperback, which is the one to wrap.

Why it makes a good gift: I grew up laying fence on the dunes with the rest of my community on Fire Island before every hurricane season. That’s where Violet in The Storm Reaper comes from. She watches the tides and the birds the way everyone else watches the forecast, and she’s the only person in town who thinks the storm deaths aren’t accidents.

What readers say:

“Overall, it was a really good book and would recommend to anyone who loves a good thriller!” — Tarina Kofoed, Goodreads Reviewer

“Absolutely gripping plot that I couldn’t put down, great characters and twists I didn’t see coming. A must read” — Melinda Smith, Goodreads Reviewer

“This was a fast paced story perfect for thriller lovers!” — Lisa Ellis, Goodreads Reviewer

Read Now →

2. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (2020)

Read this if: you’re shopping for your parents, or for anyone who likes their murder mystery funny.

What you’re getting: four friends in a peaceful retirement village meet every week in the Jigsaw Room to talk about unsolved crimes, and then they get a real one. Joyce, a former nurse who writes down everything the club does, is the one telling you about it. It’s Book 1 of 5, so if they love it, you already know what to get them for the next four birthdays.

Why it makes a good gift: Kirkus gave it a star and called it “[a] top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.” The film came out on Netflix on August 28, 2025, directed by Chris Columbus, with Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie as the club. If your mom has seen it, she already likes these people, so the book is an easy yes (and if she hasn’t, you’ve picked her next movie night too).

Fair warning: Kirkus points out that one of the group is “now comatose in the village’s nursing home,” so there’s a sad thread running under the jokes.

Read Now →

3. The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (2019)

Read this if: the person on your list only cares about whether the twist gets them.

What you’re getting: Alicia’s husband Gabriel comes home late from a fashion shoot, Alicia shoots him five times in the face, and then she never speaks another word. Theo Faber, a criminal psychotherapist, has been waiting a long time for the chance to work with her. Theo tells the story, and his chapters are mixed in with entries from Alicia’s diary.

Why it makes a good gift: It was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly wrote, “This edgy, intricately plotted psychological thriller establishes Michaelides as a major player in the field.” If they’ve already read it, I have a whole list of books like The Silent Patient.

Fair warning: Kirkus panned it: “Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.” So give it to someone who doesn’t read a ton of thrillers, because a big thriller reader might guess the ending.

Read Now →

4. The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024)

Read this if: you’re buying for the friend who reads literary fiction and looks at your nightstand with pity.

What you’re getting: early one morning in August 1975, a camp counselor finds an empty bunk. The missing camper is Barbara Van Laar, and her older brother vanished fourteen years earlier and was never found. Moore tells it through the rich Van Laar family and the blue-collar town that works for them.

Why it makes a good gift: Kirkus gave it a starred review and wrote, “Every piece falls skillfully into place and every character, major and minor, leaves an imprint.” This is the thriller your literary friend will admit to liking in public, and once she does, I have a list of books like The God of the Woods ready for her.

Fair warning: Kirkus warns that Moore “draws sympathy to characters who have been subjected to spousal, parental, psychological, and physical abuse,” so this is the heaviest one here.

Read Now →

5. I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (2014)

Read this if: you need a present for the dad who reads one book a year and wants it to be enormous.

What you’re getting: Scott Murdoch, code name the Pilgrim, has retired from the top level of secret intelligence work, until he’s sent up against a former mujahedeen code-named the Saracen. Publishers Weekly said Hayes “makes his fiction debut with an exceptional thriller.”

Why it makes a good gift: Kirkus described it as “Tom Clancy meets Robin Cook.” Hayes’s next book, The Year of the Locust, follows a different spy, so this one stands on its own.

Fair warning: Publishers Weekly warned, “Like many pilgrimages, this one is painfully long and packed with unexpected menace.” Give it to someone with a long flight coming up.

Read Now →

6. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939)

Read this if: you want to give the classic, in the William Morrow hardcover, to someone who has only ever seen a movie of it.

What you’re getting: ten strangers are invited to Soldier Island, an isolated rock off the Devon coast. Each of them has a secret, and a crime they have to pay for. Then they start getting picked off, one by one.

Why it makes a good gift: It’s the best-selling crime novel of all time, and it came out in 1939, so nobody can accuse you of chasing a trend.

Fair warning: Christie changed the ending when she adapted it for the stage in 1943, “as both she and the producers were concerned about leaving the audience on a low note.” So if they only know the stage version, the book ends much darker.

Read Now →

7. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch (2016)

Read this if: the person says they don’t read thrillers.

What you’re getting: Jason walks out of a bar, and his life turns into a string of other versions of itself. Before any of that, he and his wife Daniela had both given up careers, his as a physicist and hers as an artist.

Why it makes a good gift: The New York Times Book Review said “you’ll gulp it down in one afternoon, or more likely one night.” It has sold over one million copies. The TV series debuted on Apple TV+ in May 2024, and it came back for a second season with Crouch as the showrunner. This is the one for the guy on your list who only reads nonfiction, because there’s enough real physics in it that he won’t feel like he’s reading a novel.

Fair warning: Publishers Weekly called the plot “outlandish,” so give it to someone who doesn’t mind a big, weird premise.

Read Now →

8. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (2024)

Read this if: your book club friend wants the one with the Reese’s Book Club sticker on it.

What you’re getting: the narrator goes by Evie Porter, but Evie Porter doesn’t exist. She’s on a job in Louisiana, and the story cuts between that job and flashbacks that start ten years earlier. Publishers Weekly called it Elston’s “ingeniously plotted adult debut.”

Why it makes a good gift: It was Reese’s Book Club’s January 2024 pick. Publishers Weekly said “Elston whips up plenty of suspense and delivers a satisfyingly serpentine finale,” and Kirkus called it “[a] genuine page-turner.”

Fair warning: Publishers Weekly found the plot points “concerning Devon’s hacking feats” the weak spot.

Read Now →

9. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware (2016)

Read this if: you’re shopping for the person who watched it on Netflix and wants to know what the movie changed.

What you’re getting: Lo Blacklock, a travel journalist, boards a cruise ship still rattled from a break-in a few days before the trip. In the night she hears screams, runs to her window and sees a body thrown overboard from the cabin next door. But the records say nobody ever checked into that cabin, and no passengers are missing.

Why it makes a good gift: It’s an international number one bestseller. The film came out on Netflix on October 10, 2025, with Keira Knightley as Lo, and it spent a second week at No. 1 on Netflix’s English film list, with 30.1 million views. A sequel, The Woman in Suite 11, came out in 2025, so next year’s present is already lined up.

Fair warning: Kirkus said “Too much drama at the end detracts from a finely wrought and subtle conundrum.”

Read Now →

Which One Should You Buy?

• You want the surprise on the list: The Storm Reaper, the one book here that hasn’t been on every other gift guide.
• You’re buying for someone who scares easily: The Thursday Murder Club.
• You’re buying for someone who finishes a book in a night: Dark Matter.

If you want more, I keep lists of short thriller books for the person who swears they have no time, female detective thriller books and serial killer thriller books.

FAQ: Thriller Books to Gift

What Are the Best Thriller Books to Gift?

The best thriller books to gift are The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman for a parent, which Kirkus called “[a] top-class cozy infused with dry wit,” and The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides for the person who only wants the twist. The Silent Patient was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller.

What Are Good Books to Give as Gifts for a Mystery Lover?

Good books to give as gifts for a mystery lover start with And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, the best-selling crime novel of all time. If they already own it, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman starts a series. It’s Book 1 of 5.

What Are Good Mystery Books to Gift Someone Who Has Read Everything?

The mystery books to gift a reader who has read everything are the recent ones, like The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (on Kirkus’s Best Books of 2024) and First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (Reese’s Book Club’s January 2024 pick). If they’ve already read both, The Storm Reaper by Kristen Van Nest is the better pick, because it’s newer than either one and the person who reads everything is the least likely to have found it yet. Goodreads reviewer Beverly wrote, “This story sucks you in and holds you hostage until the last word. I couldn’t stop reading. Unputdownable!”

What Are Good Book Gift Ideas for Someone Who Doesn’t Read Much?

The best book gift ideas for someone who doesn’t read much are the ones they can finish in a sitting. The New York Times Book Review said of Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, “you’ll gulp it down in one afternoon, or more likely one night.” I also keep a list of short thriller books for exactly this person.

What Are the Best Books to Gift a Dad Who Likes Spy Thrillers?

The best books to gift a dad who likes spy thrillers start with I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Publishers Weekly called it “an exceptional thriller,” and Kirkus called it “Tom Clancy meets Robin Cook.”

Which Thriller Books to Gift Someone Who Loves the Netflix Adaptations?

The thriller books to gift a Netflix fan are the ones behind the movies they’ve already watched. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman came out on Netflix on August 28, 2025, and The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware followed on October 10, 2025.

Should I Ask What Book Someone Wants or Surprise Them?

Ask. A 2011 study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that “gift recipients are more appreciative of gifts they explicitly request than those they do not,” while givers assume both kinds will be appreciated equally. Stanford’s Francis Flynn, who co-wrote it, put it plainly: “Don’t try to mind read.”

What Is The Storm Reaper About?

The Storm Reaper by Kristen Van Nest is a Fire Island crime thriller about Violet Crisp, a police officer who saw a murder at sixteen and has spent ten years proving a serial killer uses hurricanes as cover. Goodreads reviewer Hannah Rhoades wrote, “Absolutely amazing read. Could not put the story down once I started it.”

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