Top 10 Suspense Novels

Anyone whose seen the movie will tell you that the Shining by Stephen King is about as suspenseful as it gets and the book on which the film is based, is even more so. Jack Torrence is a writer who takes his wife and son to a remote Colorado hotel called the Overlook in the hope of curing his writer’s block.

Another incredible tension-filled story is The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris that features Clarice Starling and the inimitably gruesome Hannibal Lecter. Clarice, a newly qualified FBI agent, is on the hunt of a serial killer going by the name of Buffalo Bill, who kills for fun and makes clothes with the skin of his victims.

From the creative mind of Stieg Larsson comes The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, a story of suspense and intrigue that follows disgraced reporter Mikael Blomkvist. When he is given a chance of redemption after being asked to track down the murderer of the niece of Henrik Vanger – a successful Swedish businessman – he begins to suspect that she was killed by a family member.

Subterfuge and espionage are the watchwords in The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth, as a French paramilitary group is set on assassinating President, Charles de Gaulle. When their attempts fail, they turn to the notorious hitman, The Jackal, who sets out to eliminate the head of state.

Who can forget the story of Jaws by Peter Bentley that inspired the movie that made so many people afraid of the water for so long? For the uninitiated, the tale is one that sees the tourist location of Amity Island besieged by a particularly large great white shark that has a taste for human flesh.

In terms of suspense, there is perhaps no book that features more than The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. Ubiquitous upon its release, the book follows main character, Robert Langdon, a famed cryptologist. After a murder at the Louvre in Paris, he finds himself in the midst of a battle between the secret societies of Opus Dei and the Priory of Sion.

After the brutal assault of his daughter, Carl Lee Hailey is a black father who takes matters into his own hands by shooting the white men responsible before their trial takes place. Despite admitting to the killing, Hailey seeks to avoid the severest of penalties by employing rookie lawyer Jake Brigance. rookie lawyer Jake Brigance.

As the world’s best-selling mystery novel of 1939, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is one of the most notable whodunnits of its time. As 10 people are lured onto an Island in India and they convene in a local house, a member of the party – Anthony Marston – is unexpectedly poisoned.

A suspense novel on the domestic front now, as a young couple and their seemingly approachable neighbours, become embroiled in lies, deceit and matrimonial secrets. The story centres around Anne & Marco Conti, who, on the surface, have it all, including a beautiful baby named Cora.

Set in Carthage, Missouri, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a story about Nick Dunne and his beautiful wife Amy who live together in New York. Presenting an image of marital content to the outside world, the truth behind the veil couldn’t be further away. This becomes apparent when Amy disappears on the couple’s 5th wedding anniversary.