78 books like Hannibal

At a whopping 1,152 pages, Stephen King’s The Stand was just too much to capture in a single movie.

That’s why, in 1994, CBS adapted it across four, ninety-minute episodes of a limited run “mini-series” (a fancy way of saying “a really long movie”). In all fairness, it had a great cast and was better than it had any right to be, and was far more enjoyable than CBS’s 2020 attempt at a do-over.

But even with a total six-hour runtime, it couldn’t capture all the story, heart, and nuance that made the book so incredible. It’s a feat to read, one I did to pass the time when bored in school, and one I will surely do again in the future.

I loved this book not only because Jason Dessen was a great main character to follow as he tried to figure out how he landed in an alternate version of his life but also because of the intimate portrayal of his marriage to Daniela.

All the science in this science-fiction thriller was written so people like me—who took low-level science courses in high school—could understand it without feeling like it was tedious to read. It was gripping to watch Jason face the impossible choice of how far he would go to get back to his family.

Crichton is in a league of his own when it comes to research, in my opinion. For me, Crichton set the benchmark for speculative fiction writers. I truly believe this.

He is a master storyteller because of his ability to take complex subject matter and translate it for the layperson. And somehow, at the same time, he weaves it all into a believable, action-packed story like Jurassic Park. Also, I love dinosaurs. So, there’s that.

I can never understand why so many critics and readers are snooty about Dan Brown. For me, he does what every good storyteller should do: takes you on a page-turning journey. And his style is both readable and erudite, whatever the snobs might say.

Although this could technically be described as a crime thriller, it remains perhaps Brown’s best action-adventure so far, and regardless of whether Tom Hanks is your idea of Professor Robert Langdon or not, the thrills just keep on coming as you follow breathlessly through the streets and landmarks of Paris, London and beyond. Stylish and swaggering.

I love a good page-turner. I love to write them and I love to read them. I strive to write novels that the reader will binge. Novels as addictive as a drug. I want each chapter I write to be like another hit—a re-up that floods the reader’s brain with dopamine. Tell No One by Harlan Coben is a novel that I binged. It keeps you guessing until the end. And while some of the payoffs may seem a little over-the-top, I am able to overlook it because this novel (like much of Coben’s work) is just so damn addictive!

Don’t read this if you were ever afraid of being alone when you were a kid. If I had read this novel late into the night, I would’ve been calling the police when the fridge hummed.

The poem reminded me of wendigo stories and all the crazy urban legends I believed growing up. Who likes hearing whispers from someone unknown anyway? The atmosphere is so realistic, and the suspense kept my brain churning with fear.

Then there’s the characterization. I wanted to reach through the book and scream at the father and son, “Look out! Pay attention!” Honestly, I had more sympathy for Jake than the father. What’s not to love about a child who has imaginary friends? I had one. It made me wonder if mine was a ghost.

Okay, bear with me on this one. The Trench is the sequel to Steve Alten’s B-movie-in-a-book Meg, a horror thriller about a prehistoric shark surfacing in modern day.

Both the original book and its sequel have been adapted into movies starring Jason Statham. The first movie accurately captured the B-level quality of the first book. The second movie continued that feel, and while it honestly wasn’t bad, those who haven’t read the book it was partially based upon will be surprised to know just how different the two are.

The Trench, unlike subsequent Meg sequels, deviated from its B-movie nature and delivered a suspenseful, underwater thriller that far surpassed the quality of the first book and their movie counterparts.

I’m cheating slightly with this one, as Death Note is a twelve-volume manga rather than a singular novel. But the twelve volumes comprise one single, cohesive, top-notch story that I’d pit against any of my favorite, more traditional novels.

Death Note has been adapted into an anime, a Japanese series of movies, and, most recently, a Netflix movie. The anime is excellent. The Japanese movies are also pretty good. But that Netflix movie… compared to the source material, it’s utter garbage.

And unfortunately, because of Netflix’s popularity, it’s the version most people are likely familiar with. And that’s really sad, because I personally feel it damages a brand that has otherwise had great representation in multiple media formats. If the Netflix movie is all you’ve seen, do yourself a favor and pick up the original manga. You won’t regret it!

 When I find a book with wonderful, relatable characters, I’m hooked. Add a villain unlike any I’ve ever read, and I can’t put it down. Put me in the villain’s point of view, and I’ll lose sleep to find out why he’s so evil.

I raced through it the first time, then read it twice more to savor every detail. I even kept a record of how many points of view Harris used to make his story so spectacular!

He’s a splendid writer, and I always admire that. Silence of the Lambs is timeless, digs into the heart and soul of its characters, and is so well-written that it rises out of the thriller genre and ranks among the best books I’ve ever read.

Why did I first pick it up? Because of the cover. Why did I buy it? Because of the story promised on the cover flap. And it was a French, international, multi-translated mega-hit. What happened after I read it? I hunted down the author’s next 2 books and bought them, because holy smokes, this one blew me away. The crime scenes in this novel left absolutely nothing to the imagination, and once the pages started turning there was no stopping this deadly suspense train. Plus, Commandant Camille Verhoeven is about as uniquely cool as a protagonist can get.