The Best Thriller Novels of the 2010s, Year by Year

Collider rounds up one thriller from each year of the 2010s, covering everything from psychological mind-benders to domestic noir.

**2010: "Before I Go to Sleep" by S.J. Watson**

Christine Lucas wakes every morning with severe anterograde amnesia, her memory wiped each time she falls asleep. Her husband and a neuropsychologist help her keep a journal, which reveals the warning "DON'T TRUST BEN." The novel was adapted into a film starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong.

**2011: "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey" by Walter Mosley**

A 91-year-old man with dementia takes an experimental treatment that restores his clarity for a short time, using it to investigate his grand-nephew's murder. Mosley drew on his own experience caring for his parents, and the book became a six-episode Apple TV series starring Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback.

**2012: "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn**

The domestic psychological thriller follows Amy Dunne, who disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary and frames her husband Nick for her murder. Told through alternating perspectives, the novel satirizes the 24-hour news cycle and reinvented the unreliable narrator. The movie adaptation starred Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

**2013: "The Silent Wife" by A.S.A. Harrison**

A 45-year-old psychotherapist in Chicago, Jodi Brett, methodically plans to murder her serial-cheating husband after he gets his best friend's daughter pregnant. The slow-burning character study uses alternating he-said/she-said chapters. A film adaptation with Nicole Kidman was optioned but never made.

**2014: "Big Little Lies" by Liane Moriarty**

Set in a coastal Australian town, the mystery follows three mothers over six months, building to a murder at a school trivia night. The story keeps the killer and victim secret until the end. The two-season HBO adaptation moved the setting to Monterey, California, and starred Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley.

**2015: "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins**

Struggling alcoholic Rachel rides the same train daily and fantasizes about a couple she calls "Jess and Jason." When the woman goes missing, Rachel gets pulled into the investigation. The story shifts among three narrators: Rachel, Megan and Anna. A film adaptation starred Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson and Justin Theroux.

**2016: "Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch**

College physics teacher Jason Dessen is abducted by an alternate version of himself and wakes in a parallel world where he is a celebrated genius. He must navigate the multiverse to return to his wife and son. The Apple TV series, now in its second season, stars Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly.

**2017: "Magpie Murders" by Anthony Horowitz**

Book editor Susan Ryeland investigates the apparent suicide of a difficult author, Alan Conway, and discovers that his fictional detective story mirrors real motives. The metafictional mystery within a mystery pays homage to Agatha Christie. A six-part miniseries starring Lesley Manville adapted the book.

**2018: "The Perfect Nanny" by Leïla Slimani**

The novel opens with the line "The baby is dead" as a nanny murders two children in her care, then rewinds to show how the family's dependence on her led to tragedy. It won France's Prix Goncourt and has been adapted into an upcoming HBO series starring Nicole Kidman and Maya Erskine.

**2019: "The Silent Patient" by Alex Michaelides**

Famous painter Alicia Berenson shoots her husband five times in the face and then never speaks another word. Criminal psychotherapist Theo Faber becomes obsessed with getting her to talk, and a twist redefines the story. Sony Pictures has purchased the rights for a film adaptation.

• 2010s
• Blake Crouch
• Collider
• Gillian Flynn
• Paula Hawkins
• thriller novels