American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins.
Not exactly a thriller but a tale so breathless I was practically hyperventilating as I read it. The story of a Mexican mother and son forced to flee to the United States over threats of violence from a local drug kingpin, it takes the reader on a journey atop La Bestia – the Beast –- a real-life train route used by Central American migrants to travel through Mexico. This book courted a lot of controversy when it was published, accusing Cummins of cultural appropriation and exploitation as she is of Irish-American descent. I can see that line of argument, but I think it is reductive to diminish the book itself and wholeheartedly recommend it as a transportive piece of fiction.
The Beach by Alex Garland.
Again, not exactly a thriller, but I read it from cover to cover on a very long train journey in India in my twenties and it has stayed with me ever since. A group of young backpackers that meet in varying circumstances on Bangkok’s famous Khao San Road set off in search of a legendary, idyllic and self-isolated community known as The Beach. After overcoming myriad obstacles – precipitous cliffs, waterlogged caves, and the small matter of criminal gangs guarding large marijuana plantations – they eventually find it and spend a paradisiacal few months before a descent into chaos. Set at a time before smartphones and email had revolutionised global travel, it captures a sense of adventure that is almost impossible to find in the modern age. A riot.
Exit by Belinda Bauer.
A better version of The Thursday Murder Club in my opinion. The most entertaining whodunnit I’ve ever read. Felix Pink – the most unlikely murderer you’ll ever have the good fortune to spend time with, says the blurb – starts out by keeping dying people company as they take their final breaths. But it turns out not to be as simple as that. And Felix spends the rest of the book on a wildly hilarious quest to find out if he’s more culpable than he realised – all the while staying ahead of police. It’s so original, I’m still amazed just writing about it.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
A gripping tale with plenty of adrenaline. Thirteen-year-old Theo Decker survives a terrorist attack on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that kills his mother but leaves him in possession of a valuable painting of a goldfinch. I was additionally enchanted by this book after learning Donna Tartt’s inspiration was the Taliban’s destruction of the famous Buddhas of Bamiyan in 2001. Afghanistan is a country that I love, having spent a lot of time there as a journalist many years ago.
The Disappearance of Emily Marr by Louise Candlish.
This reminds me of that B-side track you find in a back catalogue. which is better than almost all the lead tracks. A scandalous tale of adultery woven with the lives of two very different women – plotted with such expertise that the consequences keep the reader guessing right until the last page. Everyone has a favourite Louise Candlish novel and in my view it should always be this one.
Sarah Sultoon’s heart-pounding Y2K thriller, Blackwater, is published by Orenda Books on 4th December 2025.
