NY Times 50 Best Thrillers of the 21st Century
I'll be honest: many times when I see a list like this, I'm typically let down, most often by the books that were left out (it is an absurdly difficult task to choose from so many) but also by the inclusion of some head-scratchers. That was mostly the case for their 100 Best Books of the 21st Century list published at the start of this year.
So my expectations were limited heading into this one...but then the New York Times Book Review (and, more importantly, the 62 writers—many of them my favorites—that they asked to vote for their top 10) managed to nail it on this one.
That's not to say the list is perfect, but it's far closer to great than not. Here's what they picked and my thoughts on each book.
Their take: "Alix Summers, a successful podcaster, meets Josie Fair at her local pub, where — coincidentally — they’re each celebrating their 45th birthday. Before long Alix has agreed to make Josie the subject of an upcoming show. But as Josie tells her story and the women’s lives become increasingly entwined, Jewell’s expertly constructed slow-burn moves from mildly disquieting (why is Josie always wearing at least one form of denim?) to actively creepy (doesn’t she have her own house?) to unputdownably terrifying (what is she doing on Alix’s ring camera?). Until the last page, you won’t know who, exactly, to believe."
My take: It's been hanging around my TBR for a while, but I generally don't love an untrustworthy narrator. I often find it to be a sort of cheap crutch you can use to allow plot holes and unnecessary trickery. BUT, I continue to hear this is good, and I think I'm going to have to make time for it.
Their take: "This fiendishly clever nesting-doll of a novel comprises two stories — wildly different, equally delicious — for the price of one. In the first, a British book editor named Susan Ryeland reads the latest submission by a famous, irascible mystery writer (no one sends up his own profession as delightedly as Horowitz) and finds it dotted with clues to a real-life crime. In the second, there is the manuscript itself, a pitch-perfect Agatha Christie pastiche set in a quaint English village and featuring the proudly umlauted detective Atticus Pünd. Like Pünd’s dim but enthusiastic sidekick, you’ll find yourself in the dark until the very end."
My take: When authors write about the profession, it's like catnip for other authors (and many reviewers). This one sounds great.
Their take: "All the Colors of the Dark opens in 1975 when two teens, Patch and Grace, fall in love in the blacked-out basement where they’re being held by their kidnapper. 'I liked the idea that they’d never seen each other,' Whitaker told The Times in an interview, 'just two people getting to know each other when everything else was stripped away.' His poetic blockbuster unspools over 27 years while Patch — freed from captivity but still tortured — searches for his lost love."
My take: Yes! I was fortunate to get my hands on an ARC of this in 2024, and I couldn't wait until I could talk about it with a broader group of people. Whitaker's We Begin at the End remains my favorite book of the last several years, but if I remove myself from some of the emotional attachment I have to how much I loved that one, I could argue this is a more mature and evolved composition. Do yourself a favor and read them both.
Their take: "'I think the baby hates me,”'Blythe Connor confesses days after giving birth. Abandoned by her own mother, abused by her grandmother, she has approached parenthood with reluctance. Now she is convinced her daughter, Violet, is fundamentally evil, a suspicion seemingly confirmed by a family tragedy. Written almost entirely as a tense second-person confession to her skeptical husband, Audrain’s debut is an ice bath in book form."
My take: I loved this one; it made my Best of 2021 list, and it's such a well-executed premise, right down to the shocking final reveal. After shitting on the unreliable narrator three books prior, I adjust course and praise it here. Shame on me for inconsistency! But please overlook that and find time to work in this one. It's a great book club book that you'll remember for a while.
Their take: "Christine Lucas, diagnosed with not one but two forms of amnesia, is doing what she can to get on with her life. But as her memories begin to flicker and return, the stomach-churning details flooding her mind don’t add up with the story she’s long been told by her husband and her psychiatrist. In the thriller world, an amnesia diagnosis, a sinister husband and an unreliable shrink may be all-too-familiar tropes, but Watson deftly exploits them as, in the words of our reviewer, 'goose bumps rise.'"
My take: Ooh, I'd forgotten about this one. I know I read it, but I can't remember if I really liked it or really didn't. Oh, the irony! I think this one was good; I'll trust Riley Sager who put it at the top of his list.
One email on the first of every month with a summary and rating of each book reviewed over the past 30 days, and a look at where the year's ranking stands.