10 Best Thriller Books of the 1990s

The result was a solid slate of entertaining novels, from Sherlock Holmes-inspired historical fiction of The Alienist to the futuristic forensics of Naked in Death. The best of the bunch hold up today, and are worth checking out if you're one of the genre's diehard fans.

10 'Along Came a Spider' (1993)

"It's all right to put the weight of the world on your shoulders sometimes, if you know how to take it off." Before Alex Cross became a bestseller list fixture, James Patterson introduced the Washington, D.C. detective in Along Came a Spider (later made into a solid movie starring Morgan Freeman). Here, Cross becomes involved in the investigation after two children from an elite private school are kidnapped by Gary Soneji, a math teacher obsessed with becoming infamous.

However, what initially appears to be a relatively straightforward kidnapping soon develops into a much stranger case involving psychological manipulation, competing motives, and revelations that continually force Cross to reconsider what he believes. Along the way, Patterson keeps readers hooked with his signature tricks: short chapters, rapid pacing, dramatic reversals, and a compelling antagonist. Some 26 sequels would eventually follow.

9 'Naked in Death' (1995)

"Her pulse jumped, as if it had nothing to do with the rest of her." The In Death series is a sprawling crime saga written by J.D. Robb, the pen name of Nora Roberts. There are now a whopping 60 novels in the cycle, and they all began with this one. Naked in Death sees Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigating the murder of a woman whose death appears connected to someone with considerable wealth and influence. Soon, there are more victims, and Eve must navigate mounting political pressure, as well as her own growing relationship with the mysterious billionaire Roarke.

While some plot points come straight out of classic crime fiction, Robb makes them feel fresh by packaging them within a futuristic setting. This novel is set in the year 2058, replete with holo screens, flying cards, super-advanced forensic tech, and the lingering echoes of a destructive Urban War.

8 'Postmortem' (1990)

"The dead have never bothered me. It's the living that I fear." This was the debut novel by the prolific Patricia Cornwell, and it introduced readers to her iconic character, medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta. In this one, she is investigating a series of murders in Richmond, Virginia, where an unidentified killer appears to be targeting women inside their homes. With conventional investigative methods producing few answers, microscopic evidence and emerging forensic technologies become increasingly important.

Along the way, Cornwell wrings a lot of suspense out of scientific evidence and the mechanics of pathology, paving the way for the likes of CSI. Indeed, back in 1990, this emphasis felt unusually fresh, helping popularize a style of forensic thriller that would later become ubiquitous across books and television. In other words, Postmortem was an essential contribution to thriller writing.

7 'Intensity' (1995)

"Power is cool indifference to their suffering." This grim thriller (verging on horror) was written by the mega-bestselling Dean Koontz, author of blockbusters like Watchers and Odd Thomas. With Intensity, he strove to write a thriller that maintained a high level of tension throughout, and he certainly succeeded. The plot hurtles from one scene to the next, telling the story of psychology student Chyna Shepherd, who visits a friend's family when a violent intruder enters their isolated home.

The villain here is a brutal serial killer named Edgler Foreman Vess, an extreme hedonist who believes that life must be lived as intensely as possible. It's in pursuit of this that he kidnaps and murders multiple people. All in all, this book's breakneck approach earned the book a lot of fans, and some have even suggested that it might have been an inspiration for Alexandre Aja's 2003 cult film High Tension.

6 'Hannibal' (1999)

"The tragedy is not to die, but to be wasted." This was the third book in the Hannibal Lecter series, arriving more than a decade after The Silence of the Lambs. In the story, years have passed since Lecter's escape, and Clarice Starling's FBI career has become increasingly precarious. Meanwhile, Mason Verger, one of Lecter's surviving victims, has devoted his enormous resources to finding him. These separate threads gradually converge as Lecter's apparently comfortable existence in Florence becomes impossible to maintain.

The decision to place Lecter outside of captivity switches things up a lot, and helps Hannibal attain its own distinct identity apart from its predecessors. At the same time, author Thomas Harris serves up prose just as good as anything from the earlier installments. His writing style here is rich and baroque, nicely reflecting Lecter's creepily elegant tastes.

5 'The Alienist' (1994)

"The defenders of decent society and the disciples of degeneracy are often the same people." This one was adapted into a TV show in 2018 starring Daniel Brühl and Dakota Fanning, though the book is stronger. The Alienist transports readers to New York City in 1896, when forensic science was still a relatively new field. There, psychologist (or "alienist") Dr. Laszlo Kreizler is part of a team looking into a series of murders. Rather than simply hunting for physical clues, Kreizler attempts to construct a psychological profile of the unknown killer.

Along the way, a bunch of great historical cameos drop by, including Theodore Roosevelt and J.P. Morgan. Indeed, the whole period setting is meticulously researched and richly realized, while the plot is absorbing and the mysteries juicy. It's a tale very much in the tradition of Sherlock Holmes, with a focus on the protagonist's rationality and knack for solving puzzles.

4 'The Firm' (1991)

"Some of our clients have not been saints, but no lawyer can dictate morals to his client." This is the book that put John Grisham on the map. The Firm broke major ground by taking the world of corporate law (hardly an obvious setting for breathless suspense) and turning it into the foundation of an irresistible conspiracy thriller. The plot focuses on Mitch McDeere, a brilliant young Harvard Law graduate offered an exceptionally lucrative position at a small Memphis firm.

However, as the truth emerges, Mitch discovers that accepting the job was considerably easier than leaving it. From here, Grisham relentlessly ratchets up the suspense, and the pages fly by. All told, The Firm was the biggest commercial hit novel of 1991, spending a full 47 weeks on the NYT bestseller list. A movie adaptation starring Tom Cruise swiftly followed.

3 'Lies of Silence' (1990)

"By voicing his daydreams he had made them real." Set against the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Lies of Silence introduces us to average Joe Michael Dillon, who manages a Belfast hotel while quietly planning to leave both his unhappy marriage and Northern Ireland behind. Those plans collapse when IRA members invade his home and hold his wife hostage. Soon, they're forcing Michael to participate in a plot that could kill numerous innocent people.

In contrast to your average action-packed thriller, Lies of Silence is propelled by moral tension and impossible choices. The plot is not afraid to delve into some seriously dark places. That said, writer Brian Moore takes a sensitive, intelligent approach to the difficult subject matter, and also conveys it through taut, economical prose. For all these reasons, the novel was widely acclaimed, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.

2 'The Green Mile' (1996)

"Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not." The Green Mile straddles multiple genres: thriller, historical drama, character study, supernatural horror, nailing all of them. Set primarily in 1932, the story is narrated by Paul Edgecombe, a corrections officer supervising death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. His understanding of the world changes after the arrival of John Coffey, an enormous but gentle prisoner convicted of murdering two young girls.

Stephen King builds this premise into one of his most bittersweet books, one that Frank Darabont turned into a similarly great film. It's deeply emotional and frequently tense, though here much of the 'heart in your throat' suspense comes through the growing sense of inevitability as Coffey's execution date approaches. For this reason, The Green Mile has amassed a fanbase far beyond King's usual admirers. Indeed, in 2003 the British public voted it onto the BBC's Big Read list of the most-beloved novels.

1 'The Secret History' (1992)

"Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it." With this gem, author Donna Tartt constructs an inverted mystery concerned with why a group of intelligent students killed their friend, how they convince themselves it is necessary, and what happens to their minds in the wake of the crime. The main character is Richard Papen, who arrives at an elite Vermont college and becomes fascinated by an exclusive clique of classics students studying under the charismatic professor Julian Morrow, soon becoming seduced by their intelligence and sophistication.

However, the group's quest for knowledge takes them to dark places, and they become arrogant, superior. Eventually, guilt, paranoia, resentment, and fear begin destroying them all from within. All in all, The Secret History is an incredibly immersive and well-written story, not just one of the best thrillers of the '90s but one of the best novels, period.