8 Great Thriller Books Not Written by Stephen King

Stephen King has been writing horror books for well over half a century at this point, since the likes of Carrie and ‘Salem’s Lot were originally published more than 50 years ago, and The Shining is coming up on its 50th anniversary, too. Owing to those first three books, and then a bunch more that came after, King’s been linked to the horror genre more than any other, but he’s also made his mark on some other genres, writing fantasy, sci-fi, and some thriller books, too.

The thriller genre often gets tied to the horror one, for obvious reasons, and so King’s arguably written almost as many iconic thrillers as he has scary books. Misery rides the line well, and then something like 11/22/63 is more of a sci-fi/thriller novel than it is a work of horror. But if you’ve made your way through all his thrillers, or if you like thrillers but don’t really love Stephen King, then maybe the following books are worth tackling. These aren’t necessarily the best non-King thrillers, but they are all well-regarded thriller books not written by Stephen King (with some deservedly being considered classics, too).

8

‘Watchers’ (1987)

Image via Putnam

This one’s here mostly because Dean Koontz’s work often gets compared to Stephen King’s. The two are almost the same age, they’re both very prolific, and they tend to write horror/thriller books, albeit neither does so exclusively. Koontz isn’t quite as well-known as King, with part of that being the fact that his work hasn’t been adapted nearly as often as King’s, but he certainly has a sizable fanbase regardless.

And with a big fanbase, it’s ultimately going to be hard to single out one Dean Koontz book as his “best” or “most important,” but Watchers is probably up there, for what it’s worth. It is the Koontziest of the Dean Koontz books, with a sentimental streak throughout that’s almost a bit much, though it does contrast with the more suspenseful and frightening moments in a sometimes interesting way. And it’s also about a (very unusual) dog, and Koontz loves his dogs, so yay. There’s that. Woof.

7

‘The Trial’ (1925)

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It’s a bit hard to categorize The Trial into a single genre, but singling it out as something of a psychological drama/thriller book feels perhaps most appropriate. The Trial is kind of in a genre of its own, and that’s not said pretentiously, but more because Franz Kafka told a certain kind of story in a certain way, and Kafkaesque became an adjective used to describe such a story, so The Trial is indeed Kafkaesque.

That is to say, it feels a bit like a waking nightmare for its protagonist, with some absurdity that’s played more for unease and horror than it is for laughs. A man is put on trial, but doesn’t know what he’s been accused of, and the whole process just gets more confusing and surreal the longer it goes on. So, The Trial is not really a fun read, and it’s got very little to offer by way of answers, yet it is compelling, rewarding, and undeniably influential, so it earns its classic status, in any event.

6

‘The Wolf’s Hour’ (1989)

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The Wolf’s Hour is really cool, and also really silly, but in a way that works. It’s a pulpy novel about a spy during World War II, working for the Allies, and he also happens to be a werewolf. So, he does spy and werewolf stuff behind enemy lines, taking on – and taking down – various high-ranking members of the German army, while some chapters also deal with his life some years in the past, back when he was first given (or cursed with) werewolf abilities.

Maybe someone once thought, “What if I made a werewolf/spy/World War II story?” before, but if they did bring about that vision, then they didn’t do so as well as Robert R. McCammon. The commitment to the bit is quite stunning, and The Wolf’s Hour really does remain entertaining throughout. If you’re more into old horror movies than books, then comparing this to one of the movies in The Invisible Man series, called Invisible Agent, might be useful. That one’s got the grandson of the original Invisible Man using invisibility to be an Allied spy during World War II. Swap out an invisible guy with a werewolf, and make everything a good deal racier and more violent, and then you’ve pretty much got The Wolf’s Hour.

5

‘No Country for Old Men’ (2005)

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Cormac McCarthy is one of those rare writers who’s written something that some people have suggested might be the fabled “Great American Novel.” That book is Blood Meridian, which is a Western and sort of a horror book at the same time, but not really a thriller. He’s also done a post-apocalyptic book, The Road, but you can’t really call that a thriller, either, even if it does inspire dread and a persistent sense of unease, and they’re things you get from thrillers, obviously.

So, here’s No Country for Old Men instead, which is maybe his third-most iconic book, after those other two. This one is more within the bounds of thriller territory, though it does take place in a similar area to Blood Meridian, albeit it’s a neo-Western this time, thanks to the early 1980s setting. It involves a large amount of cash being found at the site of a drug deal gone wrong, which a man takes, and then he becomes the target of a ruthless hitman who’s trying to get that money back. And that hitman, Anton Chigurh, is similarly terrifying and unstoppable as Judge Holden in Blood Meridian. Chigurh is a big reason why No Country for Old Men is as unsettling and intense as it is, though McCarthy’s willingness to have shocking things happen almost out of nowhere helps in that regard, too.

4

‘The Black Dahlia’ (1987)

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Compared to some of James Ellroy’s later books, The Black Dahlia is a rather straightforward affair. It’s the first book in the L.A. Quartet series, and stands out among them for just having the one protagonist, and also for being written in the first-person. This is stylistically different from his Underworld U.S.A. trilogy, too, which feels in line with the other L.A. Quartet books, albeit taking place from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, while the L.A. Quartet series spans from the late 1940s until the late 1950s.

So, if you want extra ambition and more complexity, you can find that to a greater extent in other Ellroy novels, but The Black Dahlia is compelling and direct, making it an ideal “first” James Ellroy novel to read. It’s about the titular case, which involved the infamously grisly murder of Elizabeth Short, and how it affects a pair of detectives (though mostly the one narrator) who get involved in the whole confounding investigation. It works as a psychological drama/thriller book as much as it works as a crime/mystery thing, and is also easy to recommend if you found the 2007 film Zodiac compelling. Similar things – like uncertainty, anxiety, and obsession –are unpacked extensively in both.

3

‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ (1955)

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The Talented Mr. Ripley holds up well, even compared to other legendary books that were published in the 1950s. It’s about a young man named Tom Ripley who becomes obsessed with another young man named Dickie Greenleaf, and begins to involve himself in Dickie’s life more and more. Once Tom starts to realize just being acquaintances or friends probably isn’t enough, then things get complicated and a good deal messier.

If you’ve seen the movie adaptation of the same name, or Purple Noon, or the more recent series just called Ripley, you’ll know where things are going. Still, the first time you experience this story, regardless of whether you tackle the source material or one of those adaptations, The Talented Mr. Ripley proves undoubtedly surprising and nerve-wracking. It’s a story told in an incredibly clever and rather effortless way, and then it’s got even more to offer beyond its story (as a character study for the titular character, it’s also remarkable).

2

‘Libra’ (1988)

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Best known for his postmodernist novels, Don DeLillo strayed a little out of that kind of zone when he wrote Libra, which isn’t as postmodern as something like Underworld (1997). Libra is kind of a thriller, or at least more thrilling than most of DeLillo’s other works, as it’s a piece of historical fiction that paints a portrait of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in a way that intentionally diverges from what the official story is.

Importantly, it doesn’t say that this is definitely what happened. Liberties are taken, and Libra is most concerned with unpacking the state of mind of various characters, including some based on real-life people (Lee Harvey Oswald is probably the closest thing to a central character here). It uses a real historical event to unpack troubling and unsettling ideas about history and how fragile everyone’s grasp on reality, and everyone’s understanding of the “real world” and its history, really are.

1

‘And Then There Were None’ (1939)

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While there are a few Agatha Christie books that could be considered all-timers, And Then There Were None is the one that stands the best chance at being considered, well, her best. Especially if you’re looking at her standalone novels, since the likes of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile (both part of the Hercule Poirot series) are strong contenders. Still, And Then There Were None is something kind of special.

Maybe not having Poirot or Miss Marple at the center of it all makes things feel more suspenseful and dangerous. 10 people show up on an island, and they keep dying one by one, with the lack of a clear central character – and the title suggesting there could well eventually be none – making anything possible. It’s a murder mystery where there isn’t one wholly heroic detective character who you can (almost certainly) trust is not involved. It’s perfectly suspenseful, undoubtedly intense, and, in the end, one of the absolute greatest thrillers ever written.