80 books like Tell No One

From the moment I began reading Blacktop Wasteland, I knew S.A. Cosby would become one of crime fiction's most notable authors. His protagonist, Beauregard “Bug” Montage, drew me in and still won't let me go. What I love most are the gray areas between right and wrong, good and bad. There are no easy answers or choices in this strikingly honest look at Black life in the rural South. The action sequences and fights wing as true as Cosby’s characters and dilemmas.

I admit: Gone Girl was my gateway drug into psychological thrillers, a genre I remain addicted to this day.

Before that, I mostly read literary fiction and Penguin Classics, (which was fine, but a little dull). I consider Gone Girl an absolute masterwork and must have read it at least five times, studying every detail of how she pulled it off!

Flynn turns Amy’s utterly taboo actions into a highly-astute commentary about women’s experiences in modern society, articulating and expressing suppressed aspects of the female psyche in a way that I found incredibly validating. IMO, her “Cool Girl” manifesto ought to be a warning to us all!

Dark Matter has a compelling premise: in the near future, someone creates a machine that mimics Schrodinger’s cat thought experiment—to potentially devastating consequences. But countering the story’s scientific plotline is the main character’s drive to reunite with his family (in multiple ways, which you’ll discover if you read it).

This mix of science and humanity resonated with me and influenced me when I wrote my book. The science in Dark Matter was handled well, with Crouch showing the science rather than stopping the story with pages of exposition.

Gripping, yet scary in its implications if this technology is ever created (I’m looking at you, AI-developers), Dark Matter is an amazing ride.

Revelations about the Holy Grail is a truly big idea. I love fascinating facts, so that this was written by a teacher is evident in the way the story unfolds.

We learn surprising information (or theories written as fact about Christianity) interwoven into this tale which makes it riveting. Also, we’re energised by the fast pace, delighted by the treasure hunt, and caught up in the Q&As that unfold as we learn what the Grail actually is and what it means. 

The mini-lectures woven in add an extra dimension to a story that makes it meaty, nourishing us with knowledge while at the same time entertaining us. A fabulous example of sleight-of-hand storytelling that keeps those pages turning.

On one hand, this sequel to the amazing The Silence of the Lambs might have been doomed from the start, given the pedigree it was expected to live up to. On the other hand, taken as its own work, Hannibal is an interesting, disturbing, and highly engrossing horror thriller.

The ending was extremely controversial, so much so that it was changed for the 2001 movie adaptation. Regardless of how one feels about each ending, however, one thing is certain: the book was the superior version of the tale.

Ridley Scott is an amazing director, but he was the wrong choice for this story, and it led to the overall feel of the movie, as well as the altered ending, not living up to the feel of other entries in the series. Keep an open mind, and the book will please.

Much like Thomas Harris, I find Alex North’s writing to be intoxicating. The way he constructs sentences that can actually create a tangible mood through the page is a true gift. This book is a slow burn mystery and I loved every page. Although not a direct influence as our books came out around the same time, my third thriller reminds me of that same slow and methodical pace that sets the mood and draws the reader in. His writing is brilliant and creepy and all the things that make reading scary books fun. I can’t recommend this one enough.

This is the story of the US border with Mexico and the rise of the drug trade.

It is a great story with many insights into one of my major concerns of the moment, the ongoing invasion of drugs and illegal aliens perpetrated by the cartels. All the characters are so well developed. I feel like I knew them all.

The clear-eyed depiction of politics and politicians on both sides of the border provides the foundation on which the intractability of the problem rests. No virtue signaling. The style is compelling. I can feel the anger, stress, and fear. Could not put it down.

This ballsy, initially self-published debut novel from the late, great Vince Flynn asks: What if unknown, highly-skilled assassins began killing off politicians until Washington agrees to set aside partisan politics and restore power to the people? It’s basically draining the swamp with a rifle barrel. It’s a controversial premise, but a hell of an entertaining read and even though the novel was written in 1997, it feels timely as ever. Personally, I love when novels explore social issues in entertaining ways. This is something I strive to accomplish in each of my novels. Term Limits pulls it off with flying colors.

This is the first book in Downie’s Medicus series, a series of crime novels based around Ruso, a Roman military doctor. Ruso finds himself based in Britain, in an attempt to escape his past, and finds himself reluctantly drawn into a series of mysterious deaths of women working at a local bar. He also finds himself unexpectedly buying Tilla, a British woman, to rescue her from her abusive previous owner – so with a new job, a new household, and a new set of questions to answer, he has plenty on his plate. Downie spins an excellent murder mystery and gives her reader liberal doses of both comedy and tragedy.

The series begins with Missing. The first puzzle is what happened to Rhonda? And what's Sandra running from, and will she overcome the obstacles to making her escape? What secret is Dr. Linda's husband hiding? Even more interesting to me was the fate of Maria Gonzales. Would the young officer, pressed into service on a case that looks like a career-killer, solve the mystery and gain the respect of her partner, a veteran detective? I had great fun following the story's interwoven threads all the way to the end. A huge fan of Alice Marks's shorter works, I was thrilled to have an entire novel of hers to read, and was delighted to see that the series and Maria Gonzales both continue on through Breaks and RV Murder.