Spring is officially here, even if it doesn't feel like it in most of the United States quite yet. But if you can't physically beat the cold, you can at least figuratively find a way to keep toasty and warm with a scorching new thriller novel. According to the users at Goodreads, the 13 thriller novels below are the books you should be most excited to get your hands on in the coming months.
The list includes many authors you already know and love, including Stephen King, Ruth Ware, and Christopher Moore, all of whom have propulsive new thrillers out in the next few months. But there's also a few authors you might not recognize but need to know, including Aimee Molloy, whose new book, The Perfect Mother, has been optioned for film (with Kerry Washington set to star!) and has already been dubbed the next Girl on the Train.
Whatever your personal favorite type of thriller, you'll find something to keep you flipping pages all weekend long in the list below. These are the 13 new thriller novels Goodreads users are most excited about this spring, according to data provided to Bustle by the company. Add them all to your spring reading list, and it'll be warm before you know it:
'Sometimes I Lie' By Alice Feeney
When Amber Reynolds wakes up from a coma, she can't move, speak, or open her eyes, but she can still hear everyone around her. She has absolutely no idea what happened that put her in a coma, but she knows her husband had something to do with it — and she's going to cycle through what she remembers until she figures it out. Read more.
'Bone Music (Burning Girl #1) By Christopher Rice
Charlotte Rowe spent the first seven years of her life being raised by the serial killers who murdered her mother. When she's rescued, she's delivered into the hands of her fame-hungry father, who wants to exploit her story for profit. Finally, she breaks free of him and thinks she's in the clear for the first time in her life — until she's mysteriously endowed with a new superpower that could help her track down bad people exactly like the ones who hurt her. Read more.
'The Broken Girls' By Simone St. James
In 1950s Vermont, four students at all-girls boarding school Idlewild Hall are torn apart when one of them goes missing. In 2014, Idlewild Hall is nothing but ruins — but it's also the site of another ghastly crime: a murder. When one journalist with a personal connection to the second crime starts digging around for the truth, she discovers the two tragedies might actually be linked. Read more.
'Close To Home (DI Adam Fawley #1)' By Cara Hunter
Detective Inspector Adam Fawley is searching for a missing eight-year-old — and he knows by now that the culprit is most likely close to home. But the entire family seems to have absolutely no idea what happened — though everyone appears to have a secret to hide. Read more.
'The Good Liar' By Catherine McKenzie
Three women's lives were changed forever the day an explosion destroyed a Chicago building: Cecily's husband and best friend were inside; Kate fled the disaster and moved thousands of miles away; and Franny watched on TV as the building that held her birth mother went down in flames and dust. Now, on the anniversary of the tragedy, the secrets these women have kept to themselves will finally come to light. Read more.
'The Escape Artist' By Brad Meltzer
Jim "Zig" Zwicharowski is the mortician for U.S. government's most top-secret cases. He makes it a point to not get personally involved in these cases, but one day, a body comes in that shakes him up: it's Nola Brown, his daughter's childhood friend. But when he looks at things a little closer, he realizes it isn't Nola at all. She's still alive — and on the run. Read more.
'Crimson Lake (Crimson Lake #1)' By Candice Fox
In just six minutes, detective Ted Conkaffey's life is changed forever. At 12:46, Claire Bingleystands was alone at a bus stop. At 12:47, Ted parked beside her. Five minutes later, she had disappeared. Though he's ultimately not convicted of any crime, he flees anyway to a remote lake in Australia. There, he meets a convicted murdered/private investigator who needs his help solving a twisted cold case. Read more.
'After Anna' By Lisa Scottoline (April 10)
When Dr. Noah Alderman and his new wife, Maggie, welcome back the daughter she gave away at birth, their lives are changed forever. They knew having Anna around would be different, but they had no idea things would go so badly, so quickly. Shortly after her arrival, Anna is murdered — and Noah is suspect number one in the crime. Now, Maggie must figure out if she can believe her new husband. Read more.
'Then She Was Gone' By Lisa Jewell (April 17)
Ellie, the golden girl, disappeared when she was 15 years old. It's been a decade since then, but her mother, Laurel, has never given up hope of finding her. Then, one day, Laurel meets a charming stranger and is swept off her feet — only to meet his nine-year-old daughter, Poppy, a girl who looks exactly like her missing daughter. Read more.
'Noir' By Christopher Moore (April 17)
It's the summer of 1947 in San Francisco, and blonde, beautiful Stilton has just walked into Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin's bar and changed his world. But unfortunately, he can't quite make his move yet, because he's a guy with connections on the street — and he needs to use them to track down the real story behind a suspicious flying object that was spotted near Mount Rainier and an even more suspicious plane crash in Roswell, New Mexico. But when his schemes don't go as planned, Stilton goes missing. Now Sammy needs to track down the truth and the love of his life. Read more.
'The Perfect Mother' By Aimee Molloy (May 1)
The May Mothers all gave birth in the same month, and twice a week, they take their babies and strollers and convene in Prospect Park. But when one of the babies is abducted from his crib, the friend group decides to risk everything to help find the baby — even against the wishes of law enforcement and under the sharp glare of the media. Read more.
'The Outsider' By Stephen King (May 22)
A thriller from Stephen King? Yes, please. When a small town's most popular baseball coach is arrested for the brutal assault and murder of an 11-year-old boy, he's immediately tried and convicted in the court of public opinion — despite the fact that he has a rock-solid alibi. But if he's not the killer, then who is? Read more.
'The Death Of Mrs. Westaway' By Ruth Ware (May 29)
Hal, a tarot reader, receives a letter informing her that's she received a substantial inheritance. Except — the letter isn't meant for her. She decides to use her psychic abilities to try to claim the money anyway, but when she finds herself at the funeral of the deceased, she discovers something is very wrong about the entire situation. Read more.
