Whether you’ve got spring break coming up this week, next week, or if spring break has already come and gone, there’s no time like the present to pick up a good read. If you’re like me, you’ve got a list of books you’ve been meaning to read for months and months, but have been so busy with school, work, internships, and family life that you haven't had time to pick any of those books up. Or maybe you’d like to start reading more, but haven’t found anything you’re really interested in. With spring break rapidly approaching, now is the perfect time to pick up a good read, especially if you need a good thriller. Majority of the time, the people in my life don't understand why I love horror movies and thriller novels so much. Although I can't quite explain it much myself, there's something intriguing about this particular genre. Maybe it's because it because, with all the crap going on in the world, some things will never surprise me. Whatever the reason, if you're itching to pick up a good thriller, these are few of my favorites:
1. The Bone Collector by Jeffery Deaver
Jeffery Deaver’s The Bone Collector is the first of a series focused on the character ex-criminologist Lincoln Rhyme. Rhyme is challenged to a battle of wits against a diabolical killer, forcing him to dig deep into a dark part of New York City’s past.
2. The Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
Originally titled Night Moves, Skeleton Crew is the second collection of short fiction published by horror writer Stephen King. This particular collection includes 22 pieces of King’s work, including 19 short stories, a novella (“The Mist”), and 2 poems (“Paranoid: A Chant” and “For Owen”).
3. The Collection by Bentley Little
Praised by Dean Koontz for his contemporary terror fiction, Bentley Little is sure to capture the minds of any thriller lover. The Collection is an anthology of 32 short stories, each one more terrifying than the last.
4. House by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti
Peretti and Dekker, two acclaimed supernatural thriller writers, come together to create a plot that throws you into the twisted, lethal game of a killer. This madman’s intentions are made clear when he tosses a rusted can with ‘house rules’ scribbled on it: One game. Seven players. Three rules. Game ends at dawn.
5. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Thriller Queen Agatha Queen is a must read for anyone who loves a good mystery. And Then There Were None is a novel that keeps you guessing who the real killer is until the very end.
6. BoneMan’s Daughters by Ted Dekker
Intelligence officer Ryan Evans struggles with striving to be the perfect father to a daughter who has cut him out of his life, while chasing a serial killer who has kidnapped six women. The BoneMan, like Officer Evans, also wants to be the perfect father to the perfect daughter. When these women fail to meet his expectations, he breaks their bones and leaves them to die. When the BoneMan makes a personal attack towards Ryan, the tables take a dramatic turn.
7. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
“Step inside, one and all. The show is about to begin.” This peculiar and unusual carnival rolls into town sometime after midnight, bringing in the Halloween spirit a week early. Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show come to Green Town, Illinois to destroy anything and everything it touches by means of something stranger and sinister. Two curious boys are a little too interested, and discover the secrets and nightmares behind this carnival.
8. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
This is the original novel behind the major TV series on FOX, and behind the film that won 10 Academy Award nominations. Blatty wrote The Exorcist based on a child’s demonic possession in the 1940s. The novel itself focuses on 11-year-old Regan, who must be rescued from an unspeakable and terrifying fate.
9. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
Taking place in 1980s Manhattan, Bret Easton Ellis depicts the madness and psychotic violence that takes place in our modern world, in a time when that madness only seems to be getting worse. Patrick Bateman is a well-educated young man working on Wall Street. The unsuspecting eye would never guess his extracurricular activities he initiates off the clock. He spends his nights baring his true colors through torture and murder.
